Yngwie Malmsteen Rising Force does not count due to 2 songs with vocals, but this would probably be my favorite instrumental album.

Spastic Ink - Ink Complete/ Jarzombek is amazing and the whole thing is so unconventional and the rhythm section of Perez and B Jarzombek is just as awesome.

Ron Jarzombek - Solitarily Speaking of Theoretical Confinement/ Like Spastic Ink but a true solo project. The flow is maybe a little more typical than Spastic Ink.

Derick Sherinian - Vortex/ lots of fun and he showcases a bunch of great guitarists.

Paul Gibert - Werewolves of Portland/ the leads are incredible on this and it is just so entertaining.

What do you like?

-Any Bongripper album

-The only complete Yngwie Malmsteen instrumental I've heard was his 1978 demo "Powerhouse" and although it's a long time ago, I remember liking it quite a lot.

-It's not metal, but as you said rock I don't mind mentioning Camel's "The Snow Goose".

Bongripper is awesome

Bongripper is absolutely the number one choice.

I never saw anyone else mention the obscure Spanish act Tetraskel, and I have no memory of how I encountered it, but I highly recommend his only release 'Preindoeuropean metal': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQcbUj-WmHY

I fucking love this track.

I don't like instrumental rock/metal at all, there's even very few instrumental songs that I don't think could have been skipped. I can listen to like a Tony MacAlpine album, but more from a studying point of view.
But, all the songs I've heard from Nuclear Power Trio have been great. Sure, the imagery is an eye-catcher, but their music is really listenable.

My Sleeping Karma

I'm completely obsessed with this guys for some time now, great musicianship.

One that came to mind right away is something released this year.

The Eternal by Iceland's Óreiða is pretty incredible.

I have a big soft spot for Jeff Loonie’s Zero Order Phase. Also obligatory shoutouts to Marty Friedman and Jason Becker’s best works.

the first three Blind Idiot God albums

I love instrumental rock and metal! I listen to a lot of surf rock and instrumental 1980s shred when I'm in the mood for instrumental stuff. Here's some random favorites, with some instrumental death metal and prog rock thrown in for good measure.

Camel - The Snow Goose

Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells

The Chasm - A Conscious Creation from the Isolated Domain - Phase I

Joe Satriani - Surfing with the Alien

The Ventures - The Ventures in Space

StarGazer - A Merging to the Boundless: Void of Voyce

Thanks for the recs guys. I listened to Nuclear Power Trio and it was a lot of fun. I am unfamiliar with a lot of this stuff and I am looking forward to checking these albums out over the next few weeks.

you omitted the best ron jarzombek album of them all: blotted science - the machinations of dementia

also, i really like apocalyptica's inquisition symphony, even though their later material doesn't move me much

For some reason I went Post-Metal on this.

Sagor Som Leder Mot Slutet - II
Pelican - Forever Becoming
*shels - Plains Of The Purple Buffalo

I listen to lots of instrumental music, for me vocals are the least essential element, and can ruin great music if done wrong.

A couple of my favourite instrumental bands, not really metal though:

Noxagt, sludgey instrumental noise-rock from Norway.
https://youtube.com/channel/UChAS9BTv4tQkDXa9gTeRSGw

Maserati, US space-rock
https://youtu.be/1--d-jNKekI

Mugstar, UK psych/space-rock
https://youtu.be/by5UlUZLil0
https://youtu.be/ToXmEOC2kKA

Ozric Tentacles, UK psych/space-rock legends
https://youtu.be/vJte6gACx8o

If you're into tech/prog stuff, the first two Liquid Tension Experiment records might work wonders for you. I spent a lot of time listening to these when I was in my teens and 20's.



Ron Jarzombek definitely needs to be mentionned in threads about the best instrumental metal albums. But you left out Blotted Science - The Machinations of Dementia, which I find to be the crowning achievement of his career. Ink Complete is also amazing though!



This, very much this. All their LPs have something great to offer.

Both Gordian Knot albums are definitely up there for me. I've also enjoyed everything by Canvas Solaris and Counter-World Experience. The three Abnormal Thought Patterns albums are also quite fun.

I still spin Loomis' side project Conquering Dystopia once in a while. Great stuff as far as purely instrumental work goes IMO, and makes me wonder what he could be doing nowadays if he wasn't in Arch Enemy



More djenty but I also like some of Intervals' early stuff

Hidria Spacefolk - Astronautica, bit similar to Ozric's, but heavier with less keys, This is latest, all of them are good.

https://youtu.be/nWAV6JbZj20

And Spacelords, quess the genre

https://youtu.be/Z36u0-QGe6A

Kong - Mute Poet Vocalizer
https://kong1.bandcamp.com/album/mute-poet-vocalizer

Chris Poland - Return to Metalopolis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij-dAkn ... hS7ZfTQJNw

Orrery - Nine Odes to Oblivion is a fully instrumental black metal band that oddly still captures the spirit of black metal without vocals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgEqIczURQs

Suprised no one mentioned these yet.

Karl Sanders - Saurian Meditiation
Karl Sanders - Saurian Exorcisms

There is some chanting/minor vocals on a few songs but these are essentially Insturmental albums. (e.g. Elder God Shrine on Saurian Meditation)

THIS is why I love places like this!
This will keep me busy for days haha!!

The first two Gore albums. "Hart Gore" and "Mean Man's Dream". More in the noise rock genre but I can see metal fans being into 'em. Excellent stuff.

The first two Dysrhythmia albums, Contradictions and No Interference are up there for me.

I've been enjoying this French band called Forge recently they're instrumental post-metal with really interesting drums:

https://forgeband.bandcamp.com/album/the-weight-of-us

Also Mairu's debut ep is great. More post-metal:

https://mairu.bandcamp.com/album/the-sacred-dissonance

And more post-metal but of a more chilled out proggy type. Ornith from Galway, Ireland:

https://ornith.bandcamp.com/album/barren

I have been working my way through these recs.

Abnormal Thought Patterns - the guys from Zero Hour, nice!

The Jeff Loomis stuff - I only listened to two songs off of Conquering Dystopia and Zero Order Phase but it's great. I hope this guy joins up with Graham Bonnet for an Alcatrazz album.

Liquid Tension Experiment - 1st album is a blast!

Bozzio Levin Stevens - not a rec but was out around the same time as Liquid Tension and it is pretty good.

Blotted Science - a little thick and heavy for me, buy it has its merits. I am glad I gave this a chance.

I also enjoyed the debuts from Marty Friedman, Jason Becker and Joey Tafolla (but Tafolla's 2nd album is even better!).

Thanks again, I am still working through the stuff mentioned in this thread.

Some of my favorites have been mentioned (Jason Becker - Perpetual Burn, Liquid Tension Experiment, Marty Friedman - Dragon's Kiss), so I'll just add a couple more:

Jason Becker - Perspective (Sample: Rain, End of the Beginning feat. Michael Lee Firkins and Blue) One of my idols.

Cacophony - Speed Metal Symphony (Becker and Friedman)

Vinnie Moore - Mind's Eye (favorite VM album) and Time Odyssey (Jordan Rudess on keys! Race With Destiny is a masterpiece). All his albums are great.

Satriani: +1 for Surfing with the Alien but also Flying in a Blue Dream (Sample The Forgotten Pt1 and Pt2)

Mattias IA Eklundh (guitarist of Freak Kitchen): His three Freak Guitar albums (Sample Print This! Insane originality and ideas)

Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal - The Adventures of Bumblefoot (sample Q Fever). My favorite "modern" guitarist (1995 is fairly recent!). Well, he has some excellent singles as well (like Cintaku - great but wait for the solos!)

Buckethead - impossible to keep track but I've played the shit out of Pike #65, which is one of his most famous, written about his mother when she passed away. Utterly beautiful.

On a semi-ontopic note: Everyone should listen to the drum and bass tracks only version of Death's Human. Utterly amazing, like an album within an album.

I think Satriani's Unstoppable Momentum could pass for metal, so, here it is