Favorite Epic Progressive Metal Records
Not ranked, order is random.
Only one record per band allowed.
Followers:
Devin Townsend – Terria, Therion – Vovin, Hacride – Lazarus, Primordial - To the Nameless Dead, Into Eternity - Buried in Oblivion, Secrets of the Moon – Sun, The Old Dead Tree - The Nameless Disease, Cynic - Traced in Air, Cronian – Erathems, Sear Bliss - The Arcane Odyssey, Orphaned Land - Mabool (The Story of the Three Sons...), Xanthochroid - Of Erthe and Axen: Act II, Periphery - Juggernaut, Ansur - Warring Factions, An Abstract Illusion - Illuminate the Path, In Vain – Aenigma, Island – Island, Slugdge - Esoteric Malacology, Janvs – Vega, Klabautamann – Merkur, Emancer - Twilight and Randomness, Nocte Obducta - Sequenzen einer Wanderung, Virus (NO) - The Black Flux, Gaahls Wyrd - GastiR - Ghosts Invited, Barren Earth - A Complex Of Cages, Countless Skies - Glow |
| 1 |  | Opeth
Blackwater Park
Great door opener to that genre. Probably i like Still Life more. |
| 2 |  | Leprous
Bilateral
It is the perfect album for bringing prog fans to metal. Leprous lost that momentum on their following records. |
| 3 |  | Sweven (SWE)
The Eternal Resonance
Heavily underrated record. Its flow feels like a long meditation. |
| 4 |  | Rivers of Nihil
Where Owls Know My Name
For me that record is the perfect allrounder when it comes to metal and different metal genres. |
| 5 |  | Solstafir
Otta
Solstafir has a very strong back-catalogue, but Otta stands out: it is a dark and beautiful but depressive monolith of an record. You can feel the wild nature of island while listening to it. It's a piece of art. |
| 6 |  | Wilderun
Epigone
Masterpiece here. Feels so fluid just like one long song. Some parts are heavily stolen from the old Opeth style but Wilderun managed it to execute them on the same level like the original. |
| 7 |  | Ihsahn
After
Not an easy pick for me. I feel more connected to the angL-record but have to admit that After is his best one and essential when it comes to progressive metal. Don't like the sax. |
| 8 |  | Dark Suns
Grave Human Genuine
Underrated german band which sounds different on every record they did. Their last ones were pure prog rock. Grave Human Genuine was their second album and for me their most interesting and heavy one. No song sounds like the other here for the price that the whole album has not the best flow. At its best moments Grave Human Genuine is bringing Tool in mind when it comes to fantastic vocals embedded in an intense all-surrounding atmosphere. |
| 9 |  | Disillusion
Back to Times of Splendor
Another underrated german band which unfortunately has reached their top already on their debut full length called Back to Times of Splendor. The following albums are solid but Back to Times of Splendor is at this extraordinary Opeth-like quality level which not many bands were capable of during their whole career. What a debut! |
| 10 |  | Between the Buried and Me
The Silent Circus
Difficult pick but this BTBAM is my favorite in the end although it leans more on the metal-corish side of progressive music which is generally not a plus. Here it works well because The Silent Circus is unpredictable every second. Outstanding. |
| 11 |  | Agalloch
Ashes Against the Grain
Simply a perfect record. Many bands tried to copy Agalloch or wanna sound like them but they all fail. And not many metal records are more inspirational than Ashes Against The Grain or The Mantle. I hate the right-wing rumours which concern a few years of the band which for me seriously takes some joy of listening to them. |
| 12 |  | Gorguts
Colored Sands
For me this should be one of the best extreme metal records ever made. I adore how challenging and unique this is. It grows forever. There is no other record like this. |
| 13 |  | Dream Theater
Train of Thought
Tough pick but in the end Train Of Thought leaves Black Clouds and Silver Linings and Systematic Chaos behind for this list entry. Dream Theater are one of the best bands ever on this planet when it comes to musicianship. Train Of Thought is their most (thrash) metal and puzzly one. It sounds like their ...And Justice For All. I don't like the odd rap parts on it because back in its days it was new metal prime time. Besides that it is the perfect and ultimate progressive metal album. |
| 14 |  | Enslaved
Vertebrae
You could chose a lot of Enslaved records for this list. Vertebrae did it for me because with that they went all-in for a more complete progrock aesthetic. The songs feel wide and cold like visiting a glacier in the north. It is the ultimative music for me to think of th beauty of a rough nature and landscape. Vertebrae is also their most coherent and consistent album. It flows phenomenal with a kind of calm and peacefull atmosphere. All of their other records, earlier and later ones, are more choppy and grueling in comparison. |
| 15 |  | Moonsorrow
Verisäkeet
One of the very few bands with a all-the-way-through more than strong discography like Agalloch, Enslaved or Opeth. I don't like the band anymore because of their friendship with right wing dumb ass bands but musically they are outstanding. |
| 16 |  | Edge of Sanity
Crimson II
Dan Swano and his Edge Of Sanity comeback is awesome. He delivered us part two of the Crimson masterpiece. Crimson II offers music for every metal fan out there. You can find everything here that makes metal the great genre which we all love. |
| 17 |  | Aquilus
Bellum I
This is a one man project which mixes classical music with progressive black metal. Pretty remarkable and dramatic. |
| 18 |  | Falls of Rauros
Key to a Vanishing Future
Falls of Rauros are an underrated band. How long will that be? Everyone who likes progressive metal and tolerates black metal vocals and a folky edge should listen to them. Maybe their songwriter lacks on creating highlights which makes it difficult to let this record grow on you. I especially love the earth warm production on this. |
| 19 |  | Persefone
Metanoia
I am deeply impressed bei Metanoia. Persefone always brought us great and challenging music but Metanoia made an addict out of me. I have so much fun discovering this record. |
| 20 |  | Be'lakor
Vessels
Vessels feels so fresh and vivid. It never ages. It is unpredictable. Its production is mess and masterclass at the same time. You really need a lof of spins to realize its greatness. Before that this album seems to make not much sense. One of my favorite records of all time. |
| 21 |  | Gojira
From Mars to Sirius
This is Gojiras groundbreaking record. It connects the two worlds wall of sound/post metal and more traditional metal genres and therefore is equally interesting for ISIS and Cult Of Luna fans and for metalheads. With their following records they totally went for the metal path. |
| 22 |  | Ne Obliviscaris
Urn
Mysterious album here. It took a very long time to grow on me. Its production is strange, its compositions are unorthodox and also the clean vocals needs getting used to and reminds of power metal vocals. The other records of the band are interesting, too. Their debut is a little bit wild for what it is and their second album feels more like an EP, so Urn did it to this list in the end. |
| 23 |  | Tool
Lateralus
Lateralus had changed the way how i am listening to music when it was released. It is best when you hear it loud in a dark room with candles on. It can get you in a hypnotic and meditative way like no other record. |
| 24 |  | ISIS
In the Absence of Truth
Not really a metal band. But this records feels right for this list anyways. I love the dry production und that it lets you think of an angry version of Tool. |
| 25 |  | Becoming The Archetype
Terminate Damnation
Epic debut back in the days. The band could never reach its level again and changed too much away from progressive to ordinary metalcore with breakdowns and moshparts. Probably they wasted their talent with this decision. All in all this is one of the best progressive metalcore records ever made. |
| 26 |  | Extol
Synergy
Extol were one-of-a-kind band with all of their records sounding completely different from each other. Synergy is their weird one. Just look at the album cover! It is their most technical one and the one with crazy compositions, with jazzy parts and with the most energy. It's their ADHD record. You have to love it if you are into interesting music in general. |
| 27 |  | Obsequiae
The Palms Of Sorrowed Kings
Exciting black metal album with medieval flair. There is an undeniable groove going on if you listen closely. |
| 28 |  | First Fragment
Gloire Eternelle
Insane tech metal marathon! Impressive. If it is too much for you, then say you don't like it and not that it is not good. Having a blast listening to every note on this and still discovering new things all the time. |
| 29 |  | Chapel of Disease
...And As We Have Seen The Storm
What an incredible talented german death metal band and what an astonishing album this is. It is timeless! This one leads you from metal to classic rock tunes, too, and is a pleasure to listen if you like hard rocking guitar music. Some might say that this is death'n'roll but the songs are way too long and complex structured for being that. It's more black metal in it. |
| 30 |  | Death
The Sound of Perseverance
Genre classic forever. No words needed. |
| 31 |  | Alustrium
A Monument to Silence
Incredible grower. At first you could think of an ordinary modern death metal record but there is much more beyond. And the album is stronger with every song. |
| 32 |  | Soilwork
Overgivenheten |
| 33 |  | Inter Arma
Paradise Gallows
Creative and epic trip full of sludge, black metal and whatever. Hear it loud, it's massive. |
| 34 |  | Ikuinen Kaamos
The Forlorn
An early and fantastic blackened Opeth-clone without any clean vocals. |
| 35 |  | Eternal Storm
Come the Tide
Epic death metal record which sounds blackend evil and beautiful at the same time. |
| 36 |  | Akercocke
Renaissance in Extremis
What an comeback record! Akercocke matured with this one. They've always been an interesting and exciting band but here they spiced up their sound with more common progressive parts and more clean vocals. Result is excellent musicianship without sounding less evil and dangerous. |
| 37 |  | Blotted Science
The Machinations of Dementia
Excellent instrumental (sic) proggy death metal. |
| 38 |  | Sculptured
Embodiment
Math rock is a genre but what about math metal? Listen to this record, it is truly special. |
| 39 |  | Believer
Gabriel
Strong technical progressive thrash metal. We all know Believer and their evolving sound over the years. I don't like their latest step into singing clean vocals and the metalcore feeling. Gabriel was free of all of that. |
| 40 |  | In Vain
The Latter Rain
Another impressive debut here. Avantgarde progressive blackened metal which entertains you every minute. It sounds like a totally matured mix of different influences but in deed this was a debut album. |
| 41 |  | In Mourning
Garden of Storms
Stellar release with tons of groovy riffs and fantastic melodies so it does not matter that In Mourning isn't the most innovative band out there. |
| 42 |  | Noltem
Illusions In The Wake
Incredible quality on this debut record. Artwork and production is stellar. It is awesome that you can hear a lot of love for traditional metal here besides the modern progressive folky black metal. |
| 43 |  | Alda
Tahoma
Highest praise for this album. Alda nailed it with Tahoma and offer a delightful journey full of epic atmosphere. There is nothing dark on this album, just bittersweet melancholy, sadness, beauty and a lot of song parts with interesting twists and groove. The not so rare clean singing sounds with kind of insecurity which gives the whole record a nice small DIY-character and gladly forces the record to be an emotional one. The only complain for this masterpiece album could be that the production is a way too much lo-fi for this kind of music (or not?). But maybe this was intended and some surely will like it. Lo-fi and black metal is always fitting. And the rough parts are indeed black metal on Tahoma. |
| 44 |  | Panopticon
Autumn Eternal |
| 45 |  | Fen
Carrion Skies
Fen is the band which combines black metal and classic post rock atmosphere. This is hard to imagine but you have to admit while listening to this band, that the description is right. Carrion Skies should be their best record and has to be listed here. Great music. |
| 46 |  | Klabautamann
Merkur |
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