Can I just generally recommend the American prog rock band Yezda Urfa? They made a demo and a self financed, self-released LP in 1976, and no one cared.
A bit of Yes, a bit of Gentle Giant, a bit of Tull and a whole lot of weird which makes for an absolutely great sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9I9OjNZL-c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51L2fMDv6YE

New Ion Vein song. Album out July 4/8.
I'm not really convinced by this song. Too much "aggression", not enough progressive. But then again, the name of the song is "Anger", maybe it's part of a concept. I won't pass judgement until I've heard the full album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApS2NfTImEE

Hey, anyone here know any albums or bands along the lines of Conception's In Your Multitude? I'm talking about music that, while still definitely proggy, sticks to riffier, more compact songs around 3-4 minutes in length. Awesome vocals are definitely a huge plus.

Do you know Secrecy? Their vocalist (intentionally effeminate/"weak") isn't anything like Roy Khan but they have the crunchy and compact thing down well (and I consider Art in Motion to be one of the greatest metal albums I know of).

That's a bit more old school than what I was expecting, though it was also quite good. Sure, the vocals aren't great, but they're serviceable and the band sticks to the criteria I was looking for. Lots of cool leads too. Thanks, man!

Speaking of Conception, have you heard their first demo? Very Weird!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW0h4oYhKaQ

For a fraction of a second I thought that was Khan. Glad to know it's only Ostby's brother

I've been listening to Riverside's Second Life Syndrome and I'm enjoying it. I wanted to know your opinion on the band, and perhaps albums recommendations if you have.

I trust you know Slauter Xstroyes, friend? They have a few longer songs but most are quite compact, riffy as hell, and John Stewart is one of the greatest metal vocalists. Also Voivod if by some weird chance you haven't heard 'em yet, try 'Dimension Hatross' and 'Nothingface'. Nothingface is a little lighter on the riffs but the songs are fairly short and the vocals kill. Sorry if you know both these bands, mate, I'll see if I can dig anything else up.

EDIT: Oh yeah, Aeons End's 'Spiral Seas' is quite good thrashy prog with a female vocalist. It can be hard to find so PM me if needed.

EDIT 2: Forgot all about Holocaust's little gem of an EP 'The Sound of Souls'. Compact song lengths with heavy Voivod influence. Check it out for sure.

Hey Empy, that Shadrane band is pretty good, checking them out atm.

@Jophelerx: familiar with and love both Slauter and Voivod Aeons End and Holocaust don't ring any bells though, so I'll check 'em out. Thanks!

Check out 'Hypnosis of Birds' and 'Covenant' as well if you like the Holocaust EP. The songs are longer on average but both records are top-notch. Both albums also have quality reviews if you want more info on 'em.

progressive metal varies widely in its sound because it's not a genre in any real sense, its a descriptor describing metal bands(of many different 'base' genres) that incorporate progressive elements into their music.



Henry Cow(and Art Bears as well)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b8iG3S ... b8iG3Sn7DA



Gong maybe, but its hard to figure out what you actually want since early pink floyd sounds different to KC who weren't very psychedelic. maybe you want some space rock? try Hawkwind.

I so agree with you Opus. Yezda Urfa was quite possibly one of the most overlooked bands in prog rock. Strange memories attached to that music...
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gold ira rollover

Looking for progressive metal similar to Arch/Matheos' Sympathetic Resonance and Constantine's Divine Design: both albums consist of long, exciting and adventurous songs but still sound focused, to the point and have cool guitarwork to offer.

Well, this is a bit of a stretch but how about ADRAMELCH - "Broken History"?

I don't know if any similar requests have been made, but I don't want to sort through 17 pages. I really enjoy when bands have lots of changes in their music, rhythmically. I mean in the sense of how classic Fates Warning, Mercyful Fate, Rush, etc would start with one riff and change frequently. It doesn't have to be any vintage, but I'd prefer it to not be too keyboard heavy or really airy, if that makes sense. I don't generally mind extremity, I enjoy Atheist, or song length. This isn't as necessary, but I'd like the actual rhythm section to be strong and audible.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

@StainedClass95

A little more on the power metal side of things: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRtAhGGQYXM

Any Psychotic Waltz album.

Both of these were very good, I thank you.

What a great band! I was thinking this sounds like a mix of Fates Warning and Steel Prophet, and who commented on the video: Rick Mythiasin

I take it you've heard CYNIC - "Focus"?

What about both WATCHTOWER albums? Amazing rhythm section there.

What about CAULDRON BORN and HELSTAR?

Seconding Cauldron Born, and Helstar to a lesser extent - check 'Remnants of War' for the most riff changes, I think (Temple of Blood may be able to recommend something else). Slauter Xstroyes is probably the best band I've heard for this, tones of riff and tempo changes throughout the songs, the debut especially is killer music, check out my review if you like. Also check out Maelstrom (progressive power/thrash one), especially their 'This Battle to Make History, Yet History Never Comes' demo. A bit more extreme, but you said that wasn't an issue, and the main extreme factor is the vocals, anyway. The first demo has some first wave black metal influence, but the second demo doesn't, really.

I'll assume you've heard Voivod, Holocaust (former NWOBHM band) takes a lot of influence from them on their later work, start with The Sound of Souls EP and go through 'The Courage To Be' album. Chozzen Phate also fit the bill here with their 1995 demo, they take a lot of influence from both FW and Watchtower, excellent stuff. Hope that keeps you busy for awhile!

Another good one if you're up for a WATCHTOWER clone is the first SIEGES EVEN album.

Or the first SPASTIC INK album. Pretty jaw-dropping rhythm section there.

I'm aware of Cynic and Helstar, but I don't enjoy them. I am familiar with and do enjoy Watchtower and Voivod. On the ones I hadn't heard before, Sieges Even, Cauldron Born, Slauter, Holocaust, and Chozzen Phate were enjoyable to various degrees. Spastic Ink was enjoyable too, 50 min of YYZ+, but is a demanding listen. Maelstrom didn't work too well, it seemed really over the top, and the production was definitely hurting the music. I do appreciate the help.

If you guys are interested in Oracle(Prodigy) I recommend their only Demo "As Darkness Reigns". It's really good all the way, and it's like an hour long!

Different from my previous request, I've gotten into an ELP kick lately. I was wondering if there were any metal bands that resembled their classic, BSS and back, sound of impressive keys, great diversity from track to track, aggressive, but jazzy drumming, and good vocals. I have no concerns towards the lyrics, degree of extremity, or song length.

I would certainly love to know of ELP like metal bands considering they are basically my favorite non-metal rock band. I am sure you have at least heard of V: The New Mythology Suite though. I really like both ELP's and V's drumming style and neo-classical tendencies.

^ That's a good album, but it's not as cohesive at changing styles as ELP were. I'm not sure how much I like choir-vocals and seemingly random Pantera-like riffs contrasting against each other. It's also definitely going towards the "epic," whereas ELP could be epic and then go to another place entirely. It also doesn't seem as "different" as Tarkus, BSS, etc. I do occasionally see what you're talking about with the drumming, but he seems to lay off more often and isn't as loud in the mix.

Again, good album, but not quite what I'm looking for.

Ars Nova from Japan may not be a metal band, but it's a wonderful tribute to ELP nevertheless. Try their "Android Domina" album first. The drumming may not be as interesting as Palmer's (well, it's a drum machine after all!), but the Emerson-aspect is constantly present.

I'm looking for Progressive Metal with a darker touch, something in the vein of Ihsahn, maybe a bit more "darker" than this...
Darker shouldn't compellingly equal more black metal, just a darker approach/atmosphere...

Just getting into MEKONG DELTA but it's a lot to digest ...

... what would you all say are their 3 best songs for me to check out?

Any bands that cross over with metal and rock?

For progressive metal that takes heavily after progressive rock, check out Psychotic Waltz.



Missed this post. To me they're more of an albums band, but if I had to pick out a few stand-outs...

Prophecy (relatively accessible by the standards of their 80s material)
True Believers (transition between their thrashiest 80s material and their purer 90s prog period, less daunting than the 20 minute title track)
The 5th Element (their only album that sounds like this but it's actually my favorite one)

Thanks HamburgerBoy! That was really helpful. I think the 3rd one was my favorite.

I'll take this to mean something in between prog rock and prog metal.

The Psychotic Waltz recommendation is excellent. Also, just a few days ago I was listening to Canvas Solaris and I think they'd fit the bill. Lots of prog rock elements but heavier than usual for that style, yet not quite heavy enough to really be metal. Very awesome though.

Also Rush, but you probably already knew that.

Any other prog rock bands that have a metallic edge to them? Are bands like Porcupine Tree and Riverside of that sort?

Beardfish are prog rock but they do have some metal influences here and there. This track is pretty damn metal.

Just remembered Dark Suns and Green Carnation. Probably Pain of Salvation would fit, too, but I've never heard them. You might also like Zombi.

From what little Porcupine Tree and Riverside I've heard, I'd say the latter fit the bill while the former probably don't, but I couldn't say for sure, they might have some more metallic stuff which I haven't heard.

By the way, Prog Archives has a whole category of bands dedicated to that sort of thing. (Edit: and they have Porcupine Tree in there, so I was probably wrong about them.)

The latest Threshold is quite prog-rock



...which leads us to Ayreon

This will probably come as no surprise to those in the know, but I just made a pleasing discovery.

Ved Buens Ende, who made one album (Written In Waters) then more or less sunk into obscurity, in fact continued under the name Virus. This means that the promising new material on the 2006 rehearsal tape actually got the full studio treatment, on Virus' album The Black Flux. It's awesome, particularly Strange Calm which has been on repeat here for days!

Maybe not 'news' as I say... but I'm loving this discovery, thought others might too.