My seven favorite Progressive Metal bands
Why should you listen to Tool, Dream Theater and Opeth all the time when there are much better bands from around the world? This doesn't mean these three are bad. No, I like Tool but focusing on just a few progressive
composers gets more boring than any tennis match. From wicked japanese gangsters with strange underpants to a band which likes Game of thrones a lot. Such groups and many more can be explored in this blog today by one special person. - You. |
| 1 | Barren Earth
As winners of "Year's New Comer" in the Finnish Metal Expo 2011 you already know that you'll experience true talents from these Nordic people. Olli-Pekka Laine had composed in the year 2007 some tracks which didn't fit in many of his earlier projects like Mannhai so he decided to make his best decision of his life. He married Jar Jar Binks. I'm just kidding. He formed Barren Earth and since then they've delivered us, the untalented fans of |
| 2 | Au revoir michelle
님은 먼곳에 (In the distance) starts with the smooth and wonderful voice of the vocalist. Afterwards oriental-like guitar riffs shine through the darkness. The song itself is in the midtempo so you can easily soak in every second of it like a sponge. What I personally enjoy about them is that their music is always different. As example a different song from the same album could be a perfect Tool song and please don't hate me for this sentence but it sounds better than every Tool song combined I've listened to (I like Tool by the way). |
| 3 | Misogi
禊 (Misogi) is the purification process which is proceeded by people who believe in shinto. This ritual can be described as incredibly demanding and it involves standing under a waterfall to cleanse oneself of human impurities. From the country with the uprising sun originates the in Higashi-Abiko, Chiba based group Misogi. If you always wanted another great band like Sigh you should take a look at these masters of sounds. |
| 4 | Oceans of Slumber
Now I could put their vocalist who is a woman and dark skinned in the foreground but this would be just stupid. Can't we just enjoy the talent of all the members of Oceans of Slumber? I bet she is annoyed to get such questions in interviews all the time - "How is it as black woman to be in the metal scene?" instead of "How were you able to sing in such a unique way in wonderful songs like 'winter'? |
| 5 | Ningen Isu
Their name is a reference for a famous book but also many of their songs are unique. If King Crimson and Black Sabbath had a baby it would just sound like them. Wajima and Suzuki have a local accent called "Tsugaru dialect", which adds a spooky atmosphere to their songs. They always wear Kimono and "Fundoshi" on stage.
Wajima looks like an literary master of the Meiji era, Suzuki paints his face white and looks like a Buddhist monk. He wears "Fundoshi", old Japanese underwear, under the Kimono. While Nakajima wears a Koikuchi shirt and sunglasses and he looks like a Japanese gangster. In the band's early days, Suzuki often wore cloths like Nezumi-otoko, a rat man (a character of "Ge-Ge-Ge no Kitaro" by Shigeru Mizuki), which made them already impressive. |
| 6 | Nox Vorago
From the popular Gothenburg comes this band which released their latest album this year. They produce music that truly incorporates every element of the bands’ collective creative being. There is not much known about this group from Sweden but we all know most of Sweden's best acts come from Gothenburg. Why don't you give them a chance, my friend? |
| 7 | Myrath
As 'Game of thrones' you definetely should recognize this lady on the thumbnail whom these musicians have decided to write a tribute for. With Folk elements from the Middle East you can expect 1001 positive emotions everytime a song by them is played. You don't believe me? Okay, listen to the following masterpiece to change your mind. |
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