Contemporary-sounding instrumental music pls, so no lyrics/vocals.

I already know that some good post-rock, modern classical, ambient and drone will work, but I'm looking to this forum to provide some heavier album suggestions. I was thinking of something a bit like heavy psych/post-metal... nothing TOO crushing in a way that it would disrupt the thought process.

BTW... I realize that a lot of it also depends on what I'm reading, but just think of things that will probably work for most books/in general.

Of course, if anyone wants to suggest music that's not heavy as well, it's all good as long as you're not recommending classical music

I end up back at Godflesh or ambiance. Instrumental metal is so riff driven, and riffs are why I listen to metal anyway, so it's tough to focus on the book... Where is the middle ground?

I'd go with Mytra, Exivious, Spastic Ink and T3h Shred Boiz, for sure. These are all fantastic instrumental metal bands, considerably heavy, and modern (I supose). When you say post-rock, I assume you're including Explosions in the Sky. If not, they're definitely not to be missed. I too cannot listen to music and read, but I imagine these would work fine, though Mytra may be limited to fiction based around outer space/intergalactic travel.

I think Scale the Summit is really good for reading. Liquid Tension Experiment is another one. You could also try Behold...the Arctopus! And there's also Jeff Loomis' solo album, Zero Order Phase which has some pretty heavy riffs.

Ozric Tentacles. Progressive, psychedelic, spacey, and about a million other genres at the same time. They're completely instrumental - on every album, I believe - except for voice, which is not used as typical, but as an "instrument," if that makes any sense. Get Strangeitude first; that's what I did.

Pelican for sure.

I'd go for some Ron Jarzombek personally, such as Solitarily Speaking of Theoretical Confinement. It's tech-prog, but very imaginative and seems as though it could be great for reading fantasy books as it paints a whole landscape of sound with its twists and turns. Of course, instrumental leaves much up to interpretation since the story is not fed to you lyrically. Also, his other bands, like Blotted Science and Spastic Ink are quite brilliant. Ink Complete by Spastic Ink seems like it would be great to go with reading. At least to me.

Isis definitely. Especially then Panopticon album.

Isis have vocals. Sure they're not all over the album, but the band is definitely far from instrumental.

Whenever opportunity arises I like to mention Fuck Buttons. It's "electronic" I guess but is heavy as hell. They have long songs that could be described as "repetitive" but have a knack for letting an idea work just until it really starts to resonate with you before switching things up. They technically have vocals but they're so distorted and low in the mix that they're really just another layer of noise. Very heavy music.