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Last Active 08-12-22 2:52 pm
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| (Weird) Progressive Metal - Hidden Gems?
The list was prompted, in part, by my assembling of an expansive listening (whose death and black metal segments already prompted two previous lists) of (new) music I have been checking these past few months and will be continuing to check out for the foreseeable future. For this instalment I will be focusing on obscure forms of (often rather avant-gardistic) progressive metal, most of which I have not listened to but am, for now, quite excited to check out alongside some stuff I have listened to recently and enjoyed quite a bit. | | 80 |  | Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects
Sol Niger Within
Not yet listened to (new addition): breaking the rules of this list by adding this particularly renowned progressive metal album by Meshuggah guitarist Fredrrik Thordendal, simply because I have not yet listened to it in full and because it is perhaps slightly less well known than Meshuggah's own work. | | 79 |  | Shardik
Cruelty Bacchanal
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some hyper-technical/complex avant-gardistic progressive metal with strong avant-prog currents from three veterans of the experimental metal scene. | | 78 |  | Octopus
Bonsai
Not yet listened to (new addition): hyper-obscure Chilean progressive metal with strong jazz-rock inflections (this being the band's sophomore release). | | 77 |  | Counter-World Experience
Music For Kings
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some fairly genre-bending heavily jazz-fusion-infused progressive metal music with (strong) thrashy and prog-rock currents. | | 76 |  | Kobong
Chmury Nie Bylo
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some avant-gardistic proto-djent progressive metal (added from the longer listening list but also rec'd by arthropod below). | | 75 |  | Alarum
Natural Causes
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some hidden gem of fusion-infused progressive metal with strong tech-thrash inflections from this fairly prolific band's third full length. | | 74 |  | At War With Self
Circadian Rhythm Disorder
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some hyper-technical mathy progressive metal from this obscure group's fourth record. | | 73 |  | Ansur
Warring Factions
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some hidden gem of boundary-pushing extreme metal fusing death and black metal alongside prog rock into a prog metal amalgam. | | 72 |  | Vortice
Host
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some technically refined djenty progressive metal from this Spanish band's third full length. | | 71 |  | Annex Void
Will I Dream
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some progressive djenty metal from this obscure band's debut record (had to add this to the site myself; heard fragments from this and was vey intrigued). | | 70 |  | Monogono
Amuk
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some progressive mathcore from this hyper-obscure Portuguese band's one and only record (which was added to this site for this list). | | 69 |  | Last Chance to Reason
Level 2
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some techy, mathy, core-influenced progressive metal (similar, I suspect, to BTBAM). | | 68 |  | Five Star Prison Cell
Slaves of Virgo
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some very technical, djenty, progressive mathcore from this obscure band's sophomore record. | | 67 |  | Maneating Orchid
Miasma
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some out-there progressive mathcore from this Indian band's debut record. | | 66 |  | Mirror Neuron
Great Content
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some progressive mathcore: let's hope this record's title provides an accurate description of its music. | | 65 |  | The Gabriel Construct
Interior City
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently a complexly refined fusion of progressive rock, jazz fusion, and modern progressive metal from this musical project of Gabriel Lucas Riccio (with Travis Orbin on drums). | | 64 |  | Pressure Points
Remorses to Remember
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some heavily prog-rock influenced progressive metal with deathened inflections to boot. | | 63 |  | Nostoc
Rites of Passage
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some groovy deathened progressive metal from this Costa Rican band's recent debut album (added to this site for this list). | | 62 |  | The Aphelion
Nascence
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some progressive metal with strong deathened inflections from this obscure band's sophomore release. | | 61 |  | Isolation Tank Ensemble
Heliography
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some avant-gardistic fusion of progressive metal and avant-garde progressive rock with avant-folk and balkan folk music influences (which I had to add to the site myself). | | 60 |  | Radiant Knife
Pressure
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some progressive (post-hardcore-inflected) sludge metal from this band's fourth full length.
P.S. After listening: another soft-edged, tepid, overly repetitive, structurally flat slab of sludge metal that perhaps aims for a Mastodon-type progressive sludge sound but, in fact, mostly lacks any of its most appreciable hallmarks: technical intensity, temporal variation, angular compositional unfoldings, and so on. This is a boring derivation that falls to realise the potential of its core aesthetic (~2.0). | | 59 |  | Philosophobia
The Constant Void
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some technically refined progressive metal (closer to the Pain of Salvation/Dream Theater side of things so one reviewer on bandcamp averred).
P.S. After listening: derivative, soft-edged, tepid slab of progressive metal that feels like listening to a dumb-downed, de-complexified, somewhat popified version of Dream Theater’s already fairly ‘neutered’ brand of progressive metal (~2.0). | | 58 |  | OWDWYR
Receptor
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some fairly insane technical/grindy avant-gardistic progressive (technical death) metal that could have just as easily ended upon on the death metal list.
P.S. After listening: experimental slab of technical progressive death metal combining relatively dull chuggy riffs organised into fairly appealing jagged rhythms (if not all that consistently) and progressive flourishes that do not add much (such as keys, softer passages, strange melodies, and some saxophone), into a mess of a record that is at times appreciably technically intense and at others tediously straightforward and derivative. The end result is a confusing mess with glimpses of promise that only occasionally bubble to the surface (~2.5). | | 57 |  | Trudger
Void Quest
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some progressive crusty sludge metal on this post-ten-year-hiatus record.
P.S. After listening: devastatingly heavy, unrelentingly grindingly intense progressive sludge metal with crusty undertones that, in part, reminds me of early Mastodon at their best, if lacking their most technically intense apexes, filled with jagged rhythms (that sometimes repeat a little too often), somewhat angular song structures (if anything not angular enough if you ask me), and lots of nifty crunchy/dissonant voicings (though also a lot of straightforward head-smashing riffs). Rather enjoyable if not entirely distinguished record (3.0+). | | 56 |  | Special Providence
Essence of Change
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some genre-bending progressive strongly fusion-infused and prog-rock-inspired progressive metal from what I understood to be this band's most acclaimed record.
P.S. After listening: extremely technically precise progressive metal music with a very strong prog-rock and jazz fusion influence, whose immensely competent instrumental performances, in particular the excellent lead work, and complexly angular compositional structures provide a rewardingly dynamic listening experience, like a less absurdly technical Planet X. That being said, the style remains a little ‘soft’, at times, very consonant, not particularly harsh or intense: the latter, conditioned by the lack of more undiluted metallic influences, makes this a little less riveting than one would hope. Still, this is mostly enjoyable (~3.0). | | 55 |  | Anewabyss
Dreading My Thoughts
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some hyper-obscure instrumental progressive metal with strong deathened inflections (written when its creators were still in high school: who knows, it might be good).
P.S. After listening: almost enjoyable slab of progressive instrumental mental with some subdued old school death metal influences, that unfolds across fairly angular if still a little structurally underdeveloped compositions, with some decent leadwork, bass lines, and drumming, if not enough to stand out much or be consistently appealing, insofar as the record remains a little too soft-edged (2.5+). | | 54 |  | Modern Man
Modern Man
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some hyper-technical twisted instrumental avant-garde progressive metal with strong blackened inflections from this obscure outfit's one and only record (had to add this one myself).
P.S. After listening: particularly well-produced, very competently performed slab of instrumental progressive dissonant black metal with much break-neck angularity, blistering intensity, and saturated with dissonant/crunchy phrasings that is still a little too attached to the norm of musical repetition to make the most of its challenging musical aesthetic. Even still, this is a fairly enjoyable record (3.0+). | | 53 |  | Datûra
Obsidian
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some progressive post metal from this Polish band's debut record (had to add this one to the site myself).
P.S. After listening: particularly well-produced, competently executed progressive post metal with an impressive vocal performance that is, unfortunately, so compositionally flat, so over-repetitive that it bores to no end, while lacking the devastating conclusions its tedious build ups would promise. Disappointing (~2.0). | | 52 |  | Orakle
Eclats
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some progressive, heavily blackened metal from this French band's third record (from people affiliated with Diapsiquir).
P.S. After listening: iteration of progressive black metal merging extended multiphasal compositions with blackened aesthetics, always occasionally borrowing the complex crunchy phrasing and jagged grooves from dissonant black metal, the latter marking those sections of the most appreciable angular complexity yet only occurring sporadically: indeed much of the record remains ensnared within more structurally flat proceedings that appear rather tepid/bland by comparison. This ultimately makes for a record with glimpses of potential that, unfortunately, starts to grate/bore by the end. Very much a missed opportunity (~2.5). | | 51 |  | Drainbow
The Tower of Flints
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some avant-gardistic progressive metal fusing many traditional styles of metal into an experimental concoction (had to also add this to the site myself).
P.S. After listening: experimental slab of progressive metal drawing on the founding styles of metallic music, in particular heavy, thrash and death metal (with a tinge of doom), fusing them into an unusual, jagged, concoction filled with angular grooves and narly yet strange phrasings, accompanied by competently performed vocals (that range from heavy metal cleans to death/thrash growls). Yet, in spite of its qualities, the record also feels rather too reliant on simply reiterating the basic components of aesthetic foundation, its phrasings still too conventional far too often. A record with clear potential that still falls short (2.5+). | | 50 |  | The Creator
Hells
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some progressive mathy sludgy progressive metal from this band's one and only record.
P.S. After listening: similar in character to many of the progressive mathcore records discussed below, though here the record fuses the math metal influences with a strong progressive sludge sound: however, much like the former, it remains too structurally repetitive, too straightforward, and too by-the-numbers to make a positive impression. Despite the high production value and adroit playing, it is boring, lacking the blistering angular intensity to makes its aesthetic work. (~2.5). | | 49 |  | Act of Entropy
Abyssal Esurience
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some avant-garde metal from this multi-instrumentalist duo whose bandcamp tags include genres such as avantgarde jazz, avantgarde black metal, experimental noise rock and technical death metal (colour me intrigued).
P.S. After listening: just a sequence of uninterestingly phrased (atonal) guitar noises endlessly repeated until a given song fissels out, with a few vacuous electronic effects thrown in for good measure. A nothing album (~1.0). | | 48 |  | L.I.G.O.
no one safe
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some hyper-technical progressive math metal bookended by a King Crimson cover (a good sign).
P.S. After listening: another record similar in style and approach to the one other proggy mathcore/math metal records directly below it which, much like those records, suffers from a similarly flawed approach, though this is by far the worst offender with its not particularly appealing distorted blackened vocals and its tendency to consistently over-repeat its musical phrasings (none of which are particularly interestingly composed). A disappointing record (~2.0). | | 47 |  | Heatenic Noiz Architect
Already A Legend
Not yet listened to (new addition): more progressive mathcore/math metal from an obscure debut album that is this unkown band's only output (had to add this one myself).
P.S. After listening: a record similar in style and approach to the one directly below it, sharing many of its major flaws. Distinctively, it takes a more straightforwardly intense almost ‘thrash-like’ approach to proggy mathcore, securing intensity yet at the expense of angular complexity. Ultimately, I similarly find the listening experience wearying; it fails to appeal of the style it seeks to emulate (~2.5). | | 46 |  | II II II (UK)
Frequency Illusion
Not yet listened to (new addition): one and only record from this progressive mathcore outfit (usually this kind of stuff appeals to me greatly).
P.S. After listening: a record that takes the slightly softer, less hectic parts of DEP’s style of progressive mathcore, adds somewhat insipid lyricism to the mix, and transforms that into the basic sonic foundation of an entire record: one that maintains an appreciable degree of dissonant/metric jaggedness, yet lacks the hectic intensity definitive of the mathcore sound, failing to push the envelop on its exploration of temporal intensity. Consequently, the record’s lack of dynamic contrast makes it rather wearying to listen to by the end. Ultimately flawed (~2.5). | | 45 |  | Wanzwa
Wanzwa
Not yet listened to (new addition): debut record from this experimental outfit producing some (odd) variant of djenty instrumental progressive metal.
P.S. After listening: a record in may ways similar to the one directly below it, drawing from a similar range of influences and taking a similarl(y) (flawed) approach, though here the music is entirely instrumental, more ‘djenty’, and, I feel, slightly more unpredictable, more complexly refined, and densely layered, if still too structurally flat/repetitive to make a lasting impression. Almost good (2.5+). | | 44 |  | Aerodyne Flex
Transmissions
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some progressive fusion-infused, core-influenced progressive metal (ala Between the Buried and Me's Colors) on this obscure outfit's one and only record.
P.S. After listening: effectively a dumb-downed version of BTBAM’s progressive metalcore style of progressive metal which, as a more tepid derivation, is effectively a less refined, less compositionally or sonically complex reiteration of their sound, that, for the most part, lacks the hectic forward movement of their core inspiration’s more structurally dense material (while also lacking much of the hectic genre-bending that defines it). This makes for a boringly indistinctive if competently performed record that fails to push the envelop in any way (~2.5). | | 43 |  | Seth Angerer
Multiple Tonality Disorder
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some hyper-technical progressive, djenty, mathy, symphonic (I assume very polytonal) metal music from this Austrian one-person project.
P.S. After listening: my thoughts about this record are similar to the dreadful 6:33 album reviewed below, yet without silly samples (if not insipid lyrics) (~1.5). | | 42 |  | Garden Wall
Forget the Colours
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some hyper-complex fusion of progressive metal and avant-garde progressive rock (this being supposedly this band's most acclaimed release).
P.S. After listening: an in view my largely failed fusion of avant prog and progressive metal, with somewhat manic (largely) clean vocals (typical of avant-prog), fairly angular somewhat jagged song structures and occasional use of highly dissonant or unusual (harmonic) phrasings (again both typical of avant-prog) that nonetheless fails to push the envelop in any way while being far too repetitive, far too structurally flat to make the most of its core approach, remaining far too bound to more conventional and bland phrasings and patterns (that start to grate after a while). If its aesthetic has potential, its sonic realisation remains elusive (~2.0). | | 41 |  | Apokatastasia
Shedding
Not yet listened to (new addition): apparently some obscure (possible hidden gem) of progressive metal music with (strong) 'gothic' inflections.
P.S. After listening: an album that can similarly criticised to The Anchoret record below, though here we have a mostly instrumental record, marked by regular violin accompaniment, that is, unfortunately, bland, repetitive, and uninspired (~2.0). | | 40 |  | Aversed
Erasure of Color
Not yet listened to: strong melodic-death-metal inflected progressive metal (or highly progressive melo death maybe).
P.S. After listening: effectively another iteration of the faux-prog, this time of a strongly deathened character, however, whose popified song structures with their simplistically phrased ethereal consonance stands in jarring contrast to the aggressively intense extreme metal sections which make clear the immense competency of the musicians involved here and the unfulfilled promise of this record: if it had leaned fully into that style and further intensified the angularity and complexity thereof, this might have been actually enjoyable. As it stands, however, it is another reminder that progressive metal fused with soft popified ethereality is not a workable aesthetic (at least to me). Disappointing (~2.0). | | 39 |  | Lalu
Paint the Sky
Not yet listened to: progresive metal solo project (with guest musicians) with strong prog-rock influences.
P.S. After listening: effectively another iteration of the faux-prog pop already dreadfully put on display on the Nospun record I discussed below (~1.5). | | 38 |  | Lunar (USA-CA)
Tempora Mutantur
Not yet listened to: apparently some heavily death-metal inflected progressive metal record.
P.S. After listening: a severely dumbed-down less harmonically, rhythmically, and compositionally complex derivation of Opeth’s titular progressive rock fused with (melodic) death metal style that can be critique in a similar manner to The Anchoret album below): ambitious, competently performed, well-produced, but oh so soft, straight, and flatly bland, so overwrought, so entirely uneventful (~2.0). | | 37 |  | The Gorge
Mechanical Fiction
Not yet listened to: apparently some progressive metal with strong mathcore (and even sludgy) inflections.
P.S. After listening: already dumbed-down progressive mathcore neutered further by being stretched out into derivative post-metal soundscapes, filled with nifty rather jagged rhythms, fairly by-the-numbers chuggy riffs (though there are some decent phrasings here and there), technically precise drumming and bog-standard hardcore vocals: neither having the massive weight of The Ocean (clearly a major source of inspiration) nor the technical intensity of a DEP or the like, this record hints at the promises of both styles, but ultimately flatters to deceive (~2.5). | | 36 |  | Cobra the Impaler
Colossal Gods
Not yet listened to: apparently some sludge-metal inflected progressive metal (with thrashy/stoner influences).
P.S. After listening: a record similarly flawed to The Anchoret’s It All Began With Loneliness (described below), though, here, taking as its central source of inspiration the progressive sludge metal sound of (later era) Mastodon, of which this is at best a dumbed-down derivation that fails to push the envelope (~2.0). | | 35 |  | Mawiza
Ül
Not yet listened to: apparently some groovy progressive metal (with Mapuche folk music influences: intriguing).
P.S. After listening: the historical emergence of modern Chile out of the rubble of the Spanish Empire culminated in the (ongoing) genocidal settler-colonial invasion of its southern regions, including the territories of the Indigenous Mapuche (the Occupation of Araucanía) and Selk’nam: this progressive groove metal record made by Mapuche artists, sung/growled in their language Mapuzungun, and fused with their folk music, seems to me to carry part of the brutal weight of that history, granting it a unique emotive puissance. Anticolonial fury is voiced through temporally jagged grooves, crunchy riffs, extended use of pinch harmonics, and immense (largely harsh) vocals. Inspired by the sound of Gojira, thus inheriting some its weaknesses (overrepetition, overreliance on chugs), this is an iteration of that style more powerful than the French band has ever made (3.5+). | | 34 |  | The Anchoret
It All Began With Loneliness
Not yet listened to: apparently some highly prog-rock-infused progresive metal (with jazz fusion inflections).
P.S. After listening: a record that could be similarly criticised to the dreadful one directly below it on the same terms, though to a far lesser degree insofar as its particular form progressive metal (this time more explicitly fused with jazz, note the saxophone) is far less dumbed-down and more complexly structured: that being said, it remains fairly soft-edged and fairly bland/derivative all the same, even if featuring slightly more metallic intensity. Again, it’s competently performed (shoutout to the drummer especially) and well-produced. Again, its core elements remain insufficiently adventurous to warrant much appreciation. 'Soft' prog (~2.0). | | 33 |  | Nospun
Opus
Not yet listened to: apparently some more straightforward if highly rated melodic prog metal concept album.
P.S. After listening: perhaps the worst kind of modern progressive metal: prog in its popified form, deprived of all boundary-pushing or transgressive elements, bereft of any challenging complexity, polished to the point of lacking any abrasiveness, any tension, any metallic intensity, granted repetitive song structures, paying but minimal lip service to progressive metal’s polyvalent aesthetic through bland derivative reiterations of its blandest tropes: faux-prog that reproduces everything that prog music sought to move beyond; it is well produced and competently performed, but largely irredeemable besides (~1.5). | | 32 |  | Symbolicance
Symbolicance
Not yet listened to: had to add this obscure album myself (apparently some totalist prog-extreme mindfuck).
P.S. After listening: an extremely bloated (largely) failed attempt to push the boundaries of blackened extreme metal ala Jute Gyte, taking a similar approach of long winding compositions filled with noisy dissonant/atonal riffs, noise sound effects, synth layers, sometimes fused into moments of suffocating intensity. Yet, what this record lacks are the complex phrasings and polyvalent rhythms of Gyte’s microtonal black metal, as well as the necessary dynamics to prevent the extended soundscapes from becoming overly repetitive: hence what one is ultimately left with is a massive album during which, for the most part, nothing much happens (certainly nothing especially appealing); an overwrought mess of a record (~2.0). | | 31 |  | Conjoined Twin Octopus
The Infinite Pregnancy
Not yet listened to: apparently some strong 'core-inflected' avant-gardistic progressive metal music.
P.S. After listening: a failed attempt to fuse progressive mathcore with nu metal and electronic (dance) music, which, it appears to me, is clearly aiming to match the hectic technically precise insanity of a DEP while adding in a smattering of distant influences to spice up the sound, influences that are articulated in simplistic phrasings that fail to match well with the general mathcore orientation here. Indeed, much of the music is far too constrained, far too repetitive, far too ‘straight’ to match the unhinged abrasiveness its aiming for, with, perhaps, the fourth track being the only exception: the latter, however, is but a rather derivative and bland iteration of the sound the whole album is failing to replicate (~2.0). | | 30 |  | Eigenstate Zero
Shape of God Thought of Sun
Not yet listened to: riff-heavy heavily death-metal inflected progressive metal from this one-person outfit.
P.S. After listening: a complex and impressively ambitious fusion of progressive metal and deathened extreme metal with, consequently, a strong dynamic contrast and general forward motion, that is excellently produced and tightly performed, yet extremely bloated, with its riffs hit-or-miss (sometimes appreciably complexly phrased, sometimes oddly derivative/simplistic), its drumming precise yet by-the-numbers, and its bass/vocal lines serviceable if far from distinguished: overall the record cannot justify its exceedingly long runtime or realise its rather lofty ambitions, its compositions too sparsely populated with the kind of intense complexity that warrants their length and befits the aesthetic approach. Every song runs out of steam before its conclusion and so, too, does the record (~2.5). | | 29 |  | precettö
Greasing the Wheels of the Killing Machine
Not yet listened to: had to add this obscure Australian band myself (apparenty some genre-bending progressive avant-gardism).
P.S. After listening: a strange concoction of what I am inclined to describe as ‘technical brutal death metal’, complete with gurgly guttural vocals languishing in the background of the mix, and progressive genre-bending, including extensive use of samples, electronic effects, and acoustic interludes, that succeeds, perhaps, more as a political statement befitting the current historical moment than as a sonic project: it remains, in some sense, too structurally underdeveloped, too rudimentary in its angularity to really draw me in musically, though its political agitation resonates with me intensely; flawed if promising record (~2.5). | | 28 |  | The Conjuration
Gospel
Not yet listened to: apparently some highly avant-gardistic progressive metal with very strong deathened inflections.
P.S. After listening: a strange mixture of technical death metal and modern progressive metal of an appreciably angular character with appealing technical intensity, that remains a little too derivative, a little too repetitive, a little too straightforward, for my liking, with some degree of technical precision missing to pull off its approach. The additional elements, the electronic effects, keys, and such, do not fit well with the more extreme metal components: indeed they are composed in an overly consonant manner that bespeaks the broader absence of 'dissonant' textures plaguing the record. It is, in a sense, insufficiently abrasive, its extremity feels somehow tepidly ‘neutered'; it flatters to deceive (~2.5). | | 27 |  | 6:33
Deadly Scenes
Not yet listened to: apparently some extremely quirky modern progressive metal (with a drum machine unfortunately).
P.S. After listening: to put concisely, this bland, utterly structurally flat, and derivative slab of musico-aesthetic goofballery is what would happen if Mr. Bungle’s own brand of hyper-complex genre-bending metallic absurdity where stripped of almost all of its structural density, compositional complexity, and manic intensity, and reduced to an exceedingly bland extraction with one of the worst sample selections I’ve encountered. A horrid failure of sonic 'experimentation' (~1.5). | | 26 |  | Verwaint
It Now Remains For Us To Explain
Not yet listened to: supposedly some obscure avant-gardistic technical progressive thrash metal.
P.S. After listening: not entirely as advertised: bog-standard thrash metal, awkwardly composed, not particularly impressively performed or produced, filled with simplistically phrased by-the-numbers thrash riffs, punky drumming, and so on, alongside really dreadful vocals, that lacks any technical intensity. Perhaps it is a little more jagged than more mainstream thrash, but that is about it (~1.5). | | 25 |  | Sketch The Sky
Hidden Villages
Not yet listened to: supposedly some guitar-focsed instrument mathy, fusiony, djenty progressive metal.
P.S. After listening: all my criticisms of the 1980 album below apply in equal measure, if not more so, to this utterly tepid record which, on top of that, is painfully derivative in all that it does (which is not much). Giddy faux-prog (~1.5). | | 24 |  | Naikaku
Shell
Not yet listened to: apparently some heavily avant-prog-infused jazzy progressive metal.
P.S. After listening: a record quite similar, in terms of its main aesthetic influences, as the one directly below it, situated at the interstices of (avant) prog rock and progressive metal, with a strong emphasis on jagged funk-like grooves, excellently produced and executed with remarkable technical finesse. Though, here, the approach is far more ambitious and instrumentally varied, with the addition of keys, trumpet, and flute (the latter being especially prominent), incorporated into extended proggy compositions that unfold in an unpredictable manner, containing a greater degree of dynamic contrast and angularity, while still retaining an almost ‘whimsical’ tone which I find less appealing (I like my prog dark). I still find the record a little too ‘straight’ and repetitive for my liking, but this is demanding and complexly refined music that is, for the most part, worth hearing (3.0+). | | 23 |  | Step in Fluid
One Step Beyond
Not yet listened to: apparently some progressive, very jazz-fusion-infused and somewhat funky) metal music.
P.S. After listening: refined, extremely competently performed, excellently produced, instrumental progressive metal with (very) strong jazz fusion and funk (metal) currents, filled with expertly performed jagged grooves and exceedingly tasteful drumming, yet falling flat in its overwrought insistence on repeating these well-composed grooves to death, in its insistence on monotemporal mid-tempo unfoldings whose changes are often too predictable, and on its often fairly simplistic/derivatively phrased heavy prog riffs and funky drum syncopations: ultimately this record is too 'straight' for a ‘prog’ record, too insistent on providing the listener with a steady legible grounding when it should be displacing it constantly (in my view). Competently inoffensive, yet wearying (2.5+). | | 22 |  | 1980
1980
Not yet listened to: apparently some progressive mathy (djenty, fusiony) metal music from this obscure debut.
P.S. After listening: similar, in some sense, to the record below it, except entirely lacking in any extreme metal (technical) intensity or angularity, instead opting for an extremely toned-down math-rock inspired fusion prog sound that feels entirely toothless and bereft of the structurally dense complexity that may have otherwise made it appealing. This record keeps things way to safe, too simple and accessible to warrant appreciation. Faux-prog that fails to be sonically challenging (~2.0). | | 21 |  | Continuo Renacer
Continuo Renacer
Not yet listened to: another hidden gem of progressive technical (deathened, djenty, jazzy) metal music.
P.S. After listening: put concisely, this is extremely technically refined competently performed instrumental progressive metal with strong fusion influences and a certain tinge of old-school tech death, with not amazing production value. Guitar playing is technically impressive though the phrasing is a bit conventional/clean for my liking; the very audible bass playing could be similarly praised and criticised. The compositions are enjoyably angular, though the cleaner sections drag a bit. Overall a quite enjoyable record indicative of much promise (3.0+ nearing a 3.5). | | 20 |  | Atrox
Orgasm
Not yet listened to: apparently some hidden gem of avant-gardistic djenty, jazzy progressive metal.
P.S. After listening: strange concoction of gothic metal, progressive rock, and fairly derivative chuggy progressive riffing accompanied by impressively performed vocal lines, the latter being the record’s standout quality yet unable to compensate for the sheer simplicity and repetitiveness of this record’s soundscapes. The musical performances and overall production quality is admirable, here, but the individual parts are simply far too straightforward to really make a lasting impression (~2.5). | | 19 |  | Gire
Gire
Not yet listened to: supposedly some hidden gem of avant-gardistic progressive (deathened) industrial metal.
P.S. After listening: apparently Tamás Kátai (from Thy Catafalque) is involved in this record which perhaps explains why it suffers from many of the same flaws as his other work: genre-bending and aesthetically innovative, surely, but also structurally simplistic, bloated, overly repetitive, a mishmash of uninteresting elements haphazardly thrown together to create something vaguely progressive sounding that ultimately flatters to deceive. This record was a chore to get through: monotone industrial deathened progressive metal with horrible distorted vocals that bores one to death; the terrible production value does not help (~1.5). | | 18 |  | Alchemist
Spiritech
Not yet listened to: apparently some hidden gem of early experimental progressive metal (with deathly inflections).
P.S. After listening: overwrought, overly repetitive, and structurally flat progressive metal with strong psychedelic rock currents stretched into excessively long atmo-sludge compositions, whose builds lack the necessary dynamic finesse and whose conclusions lack the earth-shattering heaviness necessary to make this aesthetic approach work sonically: what one is left with is a bloated mass of a record that bores to no end and becomes inceasingly exasperating to listen to (~2.0). | | 17 |  | Ashbreather
Hivemind
Not yet listened to: supposedly some adventurous abrasive sludgy progressive metal (ala Mastodon).
P.S. After listening: single 37-minute plus progressive sludge metal journey which is at its best when it ventures into these fairly complexly layered guitar-driven grooves or ramps up its moments of intensity during its few crescendos, yet which, for the most part, lingers in a much more boring realm of structurally flat, overly repetitive sludge metal (with some proggy tropes) and vacuous interludes (~2.5). | | 16 |  | Candiria
Surrealistic Madness
Not yet listened to: supposedly some avant-gardistic fusion-infused (deathened) progressive mathcore.
P.S. After listening: progressive mathcore with strong thrashy, (early) death metal, and jazzy inflections with a surprisingly raw production value and an appreciable percussive precision exercised across angular compositions filled with complex staccato (poly)rhythms. Even still many of the songs here feel underdeveloped, with the musical phrasings (i.e. the riffs) feeling overly simplistic and often being repeated to the point of boredom, giving the compositions a structurally flattened character unwarranted by the jagged aesthetic of the record’s rhythmical approach. The jazzy excursions feel fairly bog-standard and add little (as do the interludes). The vocal technique is pretty awful. Almost promising yet very flawed (~2.0). | | 15 |  | Amogh Symphony
Abolishing the Obsolete System
Highly technically refined progressive metal with excellent passages of intensely complex instrumental layering which loses the plot a little, I feel, whenever it ventures into its softer electronic excursions (which it does far too often: ~3.0). | | 14 |  | Confessor
Condemned
Extremely metrically wacky, angular, progressive 'doom' metal combining hyper-precise jagged (if somewhat simplistically phrased) riffs and drumming (of a uniquely appreciable complexity) with strangely voiced cleans (~3.0). | | 13 |  | Coprofago
Unorthodox Creative Criteria
An almost uncannily competent reiteration of Meshuggah's early sound (circa DEI): impressive if derivative (~3.0). | | 12 |  | Smiqra
Rɡyaɡ̇dźé!
A ruthlessly abrasive, incessantly unpredictable, and unrelentingly intense progressive/experimental technical thrash metal excursion from the mind behind Hoplites which does run out of good ideas a little by the end (~3.0). | | 11 |  | Lowen
Do Not Go To War With The Demons Of Mazandaran
Wonderfully produced progressive/doom metal whose subtly sophisticated instrumental layering is as much its strength as the immense lead vocal performance, though its stylistic approach does run out of steam a little by the end (~3.0). | | 10 |  | Zorbas Crisol
Wiña
Avant-gardistic fusion of highly technically refined progressive metal and jazz fusion with incredible highs of structurally dense and intensely complex instrumental interplay that, unfortunately, runs out of ideas a little too quickly (~3.0). | | 9 |  | Doom (JPN)
Human Noise
Quirky progressive (even avant-gardistic) technical thrash metal combining hyper-precise technical thrash metal riffing, syncopated drumming, and fretless bass noodling, into unpredictable, often rather dense, soundscapes (3.0+ nearing a 3.5+). | | 8 |  | C.B Murdoc
Here Be Dragons
Extremely complex Meshuggah-core with an abrasive (almost deathly) edge that takes (poly)rhythmical complexity to immense heights without loosing a sense of infectious groove (apparently Haake likes them, I can see why: 3.5+). | | 7 |  | Thrailkill
Everything That Is You
Technically refined, exceedingly polished (wonderfully produced) instrumental progressive metal in the vein of Animals As Leaders. At its bests when it leans into the heavier, more aggressive, structurally dense side of its sound, but becomes slightly more derivative in its cleaner/quieter moments. Very enticing (3.5+). | | 6 |  | Twisted Into Form
Then Comes Affliction to Awaken the Dreamer
Highly technically refined (somewhat deathened, somewhat jazz-fusiony) progressive metal defined by immense instrumental prowess, extensive fretless base noodling, metric acrobatics and structurally dense instrumental escapades, all accompanied by fairly by-the-numbers heavy-metal cleans: promising if somewhat stylistically unvaried (3.5+). | | 5 |  | Spiral Architect
A Sceptic's Universe
Ibid., if slightly more refined than the former which is, in many ways, 'A Sceptic's Universe' 2.0 (3.5++). | | 4 |  | Buzzard (USA-VA)
Churp!!!
Extremely adventurous mathy technical-thrash-infused progressive metal with very competently performed (sometimes gritty but mostly) clean vocals, prominent bass noodling, and frankly immense drumming (3.5++).
(P.S. I accidentally added this band because I thought it was absent from the site only to realise that its name simply overlapped with another band and hence was not directly searchable: mods please delete my entry). | | 3 |  | Peculate
In Two (A)
Caustic political criticism of American capitalism wrapped in what I can, at this point, only describe as a wholly original, immensely complex fusion of mathcore-infused progressive metal and modern classical music (a reviewer on RYM aptly described it as 'serialist avant-garde barbershop mathcore') (3.5+ nearing a 4.0).
P.S. It's a 4.0 now. | | 2 |  | Collapsar
Integers
Extremely complex, compositionally refined, and indeed quite ambitious (if not always entirely successfully so) instrumental progressive metal with what I would be inclined to describe as a marked mathcore-edge to it: very promising effort (3.5+ nearing a 4.0). | | 1 |  | Autocatalytica
Vicissitudes
Extremely technical avant-gardistic progressive mathcore-inspired metal music grand in scope, refined in its instrumental layering, and with an incessant structural density and complexity. Outstanding effort (4.0+). | |
Jmal00
04.23.26 | You ever hear Labyrinth by Equinox? Might be up your alley | pyroflare77
04.23.26 | I have to stan Gonin-Ish when it's appropriate | MementoMori
04.23.26 | @Jmal00: have not will add to the list (thanks for the rec.)!
@pyroflare77: actually on the list somewhere (at a point I did not reach while creating this one). | AffableMartyr
04.23.26 | 18 and 38 are sick | Emim
04.23.26 | SikTh - Death of a Dead Day
Panzerballett - s/t
Ninjaspy - PI Nature
Destrage - Are You Kidding Me? No. | Emim
04.23.26 | Some wacky stuff in there | MementoMori
04.23.26 | @AffableMartyr: consider me hyped.
@Emim: the SikTh album I've listened to (outstanding record). Same goes for the Panzerballet one (again outstanding record) and the Destrange one (not a massive fan, might revisit though). Ninjaspy one I was unfamiliar with (thanks for the rec.). | Emim
04.24.26 | Panzerballett are super underrated. You might be the first one I've rec'd it to that's actually heard them lol
| OwMySnauze
04.24.26 | Last Chance to Reason - Level 2
This album is such a fun adventure | MementoMori
04.24.26 | @Emim: inclined to agree regarding the underratedness of Panzerballet. Of course, anything that fuses weird jazz with weird metal attracts me like a moth to a flame.
@OwMySnauze: was already somewhere in my listening list (at a point I did not get to when making the above one), but thanks for the rec anyway. | arthropod
04.24.26 | I’ll take a look at some of these, interesting list. If I was to rec,
Kobong - Chmury nie było
Picture avant-garde proto-djent. Same timeframe as early Meshuggah. | MementoMori
04.24.26 | @anthropod: Kobong I did already stumble upon (located at a point in my listening list I did not get to when comprising the above one which is far shorter). Got the same impression reading up on their style as your description: enticing. I'll probably be expanding this list sometime soon with more obscure stuff.
| VlacDrac
04.27.26 | Sweet list. | Deez
04.27.26 | massive props for confessor
minus points for it not being a 5 | Jmal00
04.27.26 | Yeah same. That confessor album is so sick. Fates Warning Doom | MementoMori
04.27.26 | @Deez/Jmal00: doom not my genre whatsoever; also find the riffs fairly boring in their construction and the production lackluster. Love the drum playing here, but the drum production I find far less appealling. Still, I can understand why for those really into doom Confessor is upper echelon stuff. | Deez
04.27.26 | Its not even the doom thing theyre labelled prog doom but theres not loads of doom in it. It was just so ahead of its time, they released that in 91!! was there many obscure underground tech metal that production was great back then? Plus theres so many slight nuances in those riffs, if you listen close. I would never argue though i hated that record for YEARS and totally get why people dont love it as much as me. | Donchivo
04.27.26 | Wow, interesting list! I would add Wayd - Barriers ,weird Progressive metal with some hints of Death Metal | MementoMori
04.27.26 | @Deez: it's certainly not your standard doom but the pacing, instrumental tone, and compositional approach (perhaps even the vocals, though they are far less 'tonal' than most classic doom vocals) are certainly doom-tinged. I admit, there are some nuances to the riffs (it's not just pure 'chugs'), but I still find them fairly vapid. It is true that production was generally poor in that era but I've heard better.
@Donchivo: Wayd is on my listening list (but at a point I did not get to when making this shorter list). Certainly one I could add when expanding it. | Donchivo
04.28.26 | for Alchemist: Spiritech is way more atmospheric and Spacey, but if you want Prog Weirdness I suggest to check Lunasphere instead.
Overall they are both amazing Albums though!! | MementoMori
04.28.26 | @Donchivo: noted! | Demon of the Fall
04.29.26 | 'Kovtun - Black Goat' seems interesting thus far. Significant dark jazz / ambient elements. Vastly contrasting dynamics to suit. I'm not 100% sold on the execution yet, but it certainly warrants inspection. | smaugman
04.29.26 | never heard of any of these, so i believe ya | MementoMori
04.29.26 | @smaugman have only heard a few of these myself as of now (as the list indicates), but of course what works for me might not work for you.
@Demon of the Fall: thanks for the rec (may very well check)! |
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