check out Zebulon Pike's album "And Blood was Passion"

listened to some samples on their site and decided to buy the cd, came in the mail today...awesome shit. ( http://www.zebulonpike.com/news.asp )

I love progressive stuff like Planet X, Dream Theater, Liquid Tension, Symphony X, etc...but I'm just one step shy of being totally enthralled because their sound, though they are amazing musicians, tends to have a slight cheesy factor. maybe it's the synths or that progmetal lead guitar "distortion," i don't know...but ZP fixed that.

These guys have the spirit of a prog metal band in that their song stuctures are complex, they play in odd times, and they are very precise and technical, but they lack that cheesiness. They use heavy downtuning and heavy distortion, very grungy (not to be confused with 90's grunge) and solid. at the same time that you're being pleased with amazing guitar work, you're banging your head and wanting to kill something cute and fuzzy. and they dont fuck up awesome music with retarded vocals, another bane of prog metal.

for some reason I liken them to Isis...not that they really sound like Isis (these guys are much better musicians), but they have a similar heavy low-key sound. they call themselves "doom-laden instrumental stoner metal" and i think that sums it up pretty well. it's hard to describe, but it's good. they don't play with the same speed that the aforementioned bands often use, these guys are more mid-tempo overall...it's not an album to play for someone who's all about blazing speed and pure technicality; these guys are most definitely more focused on composition. the drummer reminds me of brann dailor (mastodon) on vicodin...doesnt play as relentlessly as dailor, but still has a similar innovative style when the music calls for it. i'd place it as a chill album (a la isis), but at the same time the music itself is more than enough to hold your interest (perhaps unlike isis). so you can play it in the background if you're looking for some music to chill to, or you can crank it up and really get into it.

GREAT album to spark up to



[Edited on January 9, 2006 at 5:52 PM. Reason : d'oh]

1/9/2006 5:49:03 PM

Checked out a couple of the samples....I really dig their sound. And I agree with you paerabol, I listened to a lot of the bands you mentioned a few years ago, but have since kinda grown out of them. Symphony X is especially cheesy, and that turns me off quite a bit. I may just have to pick up that ZP album.....

Also, if you're looking for some great prog metal, check out King Crimson's latest album "The Power To Believe." It's not all instrumental, but a majority of the album is though. The track "Level Five" is prog metal at it's finest. No cheese here.

Their 1974 album "Red" is also considered by many to be one of the first prog metal albums, and I'd have to agree. The last track "Starless" is IMO one of the finest pieces of music ever put on tape.

1/9/2006 7:26:46 PM

Awesome...though I hear about King Crimson a lot, I've never actually gotten into them because the few sound samples I've heard reminded me a lot of those other bands. Though that may not be accurate, that's always the impression I've had. I guess I can't say I've given them a fair shot though, and if you feel the same way about those bands and still like "The Power to Believe," I'll definitely have to check it out.

1/9/2006 10:17:24 PM

The problem i have with prog rock/metal is, like in Dream Theater's case...they have all the talent in the world, but they still cant write a song.

1/9/2006 11:07:16 PM

hah yes

1/10/2006 12:28:31 AM

bttt

1/10/2006 10:07:53 PM

Quote :

"The problem i have with prog rock/metal is, like in Dream Theater's case...they have all the talent in the world, but they still cant write a song."

But the thing is, prog bands aren't trying to write songs. Their compositions are meant to push the limits of their playing and challenge the listener. A lot of prog bands can be good songwriters as well. I can name about 10 Dream Theater songs off the top of my head that show great songwriting skills. Check out some of Yes and Genesis's work in the 80s, great songwriting on albums like 90125 and Duke.

I personally enjoy a lot of prog rock; at least until it gets too cheesy(read: Symphony X ). Tales From Topographic Oceans(Yes) is probably my favorite album of all time, and that is pretty much the epitome of all that is prog rock. Long complex arrangements, musical masturbation, and an incredible self-indulgence.

There's a time for concise songwriting, but part of what makes prog "prog" are the longer songs and technical parts. And being a musician myself, nothing impresses me more than seeing 4 or 5 guys on stage pull something like that off.

1/10/2006 11:06:35 PM

have you heard of Spock's Beard? I heard about them in another thread and I have yet to check them out...

and I'll have to agree with you about Yes...AMAZING band, vastly underrated and underappreciated aside from the small cult following

1/10/2006 11:16:54 PM

Quote :

"Awesome...though I hear about King Crimson a lot, I've never actually gotten into them because the few sound samples I've heard reminded me a lot of those other bands. Though that may not be accurate, that's always the impression I've had. I guess I can't say I've given them a fair shot though, and if you feel the same way about those bands and still like "The Power to Believe," I'll definitely have to check it out."

King Crimson is probably the band that progressed the most over the years. If you go through their discography, you'll find that there are around 6 different eras of the band, which sound COMPLETELY different from one another. They're different from other Prog bands in the fact that they aren't so much concentrated on having sections for one member to "show off," but rather coming up with arrangements and songs that challenge each member of the band. They do a lot of improvising on stage, as well as written songs.

One of my favorite eras of the band existed in the mid-90s, and is known among fans as the "double-trio" version of King Crimson. It consited of 2 drummers (Pat Mastelotto and Bill Bruford), 2 guitarists (Adrian Belew and Robert Fripp), and 2 bassists (Tony Levin and Trey Gunn). Check out the music on the album "THRAK" if you're interested in hearing some of that stuff.

I would definitely recommend "The Power To Believe" as well, I think you might enjoy that one. But I would probably recommend downloading a few tracks from each of those albums to see if you'd dig the music. Some people just don't really "get it." It's very different from a lot of prog that you've probably heard, and I don't want you to waste your money if you don't like it. I'd recommend these tracks to grab: Level Five, The Power To Believe II, VROOOM, Coda: Marine 475, Dinosaur, One Time, Eyes Wide Open, Starless, and One More Red Nightmare.

I have their whole catalog and zillions of live releases, and those albums and songs are what I would recommend to you....enjoy!

1/10/2006 11:18:24 PM

Quote :

"have you heard of Spock's Beard? I heard about them in another thread and I have yet to check them out..."

Ah yes, one of my favorite so-called "new-prog" bands. Neal Morse has a fantastic voice. If you're worried about high operatic man vocals, don't worry here. Neal is more of a mid-range singer.

Musically they remind me a lot of Yes, mixed in with some early Genesis and Gentle Giant(pretty obscure prog band). They have the uncanny ability to write some pretty complex music with melodies that will get your foot tapping. Their bass player Dave Meros reminds me a lot of Chris Squire from Yes, and their drummer Nick D'Virgilio is one of the finest. He plays some very interesting drum parts, and still finds the time to GROOVE HARD.

I'd personally recommend any of the albums they did with Neal Morse in the band, especially:

V
The Kindness Of Strangers
The Light
Beware Of Darkness

individual tracks you may want to check out:

The Light
June
The Doorway
The Good Don't Last
At The End Of The Day

[Edited on January 10, 2006 at 11:24 PM. Reason : .]

1/10/2006 11:24:13 PM

Great, thanks for the suggestions...I never knew Tony Levin was in that band, though I guess I don't really know anything about them anyway. I love Bozzio Levin Stevens, so that's all the more reason for me to check them out.

I really need to update my p2p software, I havent downloaded any music that wasnt streaming off some site in a long time

1/10/2006 11:25:21 PM

thanks for all the info man, i've been trying to find some good prog bands to get into. sounds like i need to be talking to you and MetalRed a little bit more

1/10/2006 11:27:46 PM

Ah, you can stream some tunes from progarchives.com

Here are some direct links:

Spock's Beard: http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive_rock_discography_BAND.asp?band_id=320

King Crimson: http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive_rock_discography_BAND.asp?band_id=191


Hmmm...seems like they only have some of the shorter, less prog spock's beard songs up. Give those a listen, but stay away from the last 2. Those tracks are from the two post-neal morse albums "Feel Euphoria" and "Octane." While they're not bad albums, they are pretty different than the ones with Neal Morse, as Neal was the main songwriter in the band.

Quote :

"thanks for all the info man, i've been trying to find some good prog bands to get into. sounds like i need to be talking to you and MetalRed a little bit more"

Glad to be of some help

[Edited on January 10, 2006 at 11:30 PM. Reason : .]

1/10/2006 11:29:42 PM

Spock's Beard isn't what I was expecting, and I like it. I like the clean, tight sound...and the fact that it's actually progressive music.

and I like King Crimson for the same reasons...and it's amazing the different sounds they produce, even on that small cross section on progarchives

1/10/2006 11:59:55 PM

Ive been on a Tony MacAlpine kick lately, and the stuff he did while he was with Planet X is pretty goddamn good.

Also, check out Uncle Moe's Space Ranch. its more to the fusion side but still very interesting

1/11/2006 12:23:17 AM

check out Spiral Architect. They are off the map.

1/11/2006 9:47:33 PM