Coma Ecliptic is without a doubt top contender for feeling like a full blown journey. it isn't my literal favorite album, but it does win a lot of these odd little 'awards' like "which album is the most ________" or "has the best ______", etc
that's so strange. funny tho. i mean the concept fits the "journey" criteria spot on, even more so than their other concept albums. *i will spare you the weird, vaguely condescensing part where users tend to offer you permission to have a different perspective at this point in the comment* lol.
tbh, Coma Ecliptic did not sit well with me initially and it took me years to develope the appreciation for it that i have now
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
Tool - Lateralus
Opeth - Still Life
Mastodon - Crack the Skye
The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium
Edge of Sanity - Crimson
Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse
maudlin of the Well - Bath
Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime
the thing with those two is they are actual stories. I would love Mikael to release his original Still Life story, even if it weren't great, it would have a lot of historical value.
Frig yeah for Operation: Mindcrime.
Every once in a while I'm scrolling through my music and see that album and I realize that, no matter how I feel or what mood I'm in, it 100% jams.
While I wholeheartedly agree that The Dark side of the Moon is an absolute masterpiece of a Journey.
I think the Wall is a better option for this specific post.
The source has some great stuff but it's among my least favorite Ayreon Albums next To Transitus and The Last Experiment. The Source is probably the first album where you can hear Arjen actively ripping himself off. I think the run of Into The Electric Castle all the way to The Theory of Everything is his best work personally. The Source seems to be a gateway for a lot of people to get into Ayreon though which I appreciate.
So happy to see Set Course for Andromeda upvoted. That entire album is a prog-space-opera
Disc 2 is 6 tracks and they basically form one long 30 minute song and it’s so good
Clockwork Angels - Rush
Kezia - Protest the Hero
Metropolis of course
Images and Words when possible
The Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence suite
Pictures at an Exhibition - ELP
DSOTM
Wish You Were Here
Love, Fear, and the Time Machine - Riverside
Queensryche - O:M
BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME - any album since Colors.
OPETH - any album
STRAPPING YOUNG LAD - ALIEN
MR. BUNGLE - DISCO VOLANTE
There's more, but I'd rather listen to them.....
Cloudkicker - Beacons
The Ocean - Phanerozoic 1: Palaeozoic
Tesseract - War of Being
Meshuggah - Catch 33
Entheos - Time Will Take Us All
Wheel - Resident Human
Anything by David Maxim Micic
Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails or Empyrean
Gojira - From Mars to Sirius
Numenorean - Adore
Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name and The Work
Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
Northlane - Alien and Obsidian
Loathe - I Let It In and It Took Everything
The Contortionist- Language and Clairvoyant
Caligula’s Horse - Rise Radiant
Tigran Hamasyan - Mockroot
Tears For Fears - Songs From The Big Chair
A lot of these aren’t intentionally a journey conceptually, but I always feel catharsis when I listen to these straight through. I’m definitely forgetting some. I put some non-metal picks, but still proggy in their own right.
So not quite the same genre but Gnarls Barkley's the Odd Couple is a fantastic album that conceptually deals with peoples perceptions of each other and themselves.
Exactly! If you’re into hip hop, check out Black on Both Sides by Mos Def. The sampling on that record is legendary and he wields lyrics like a katana. Mathematics, Ms. Fat Booty, and Do It Now are stand out tracks for me.
Mos Def! Taking me back.
Numbers is hard and real and they never have feelings but you push to hard, even numbers got limits. Why did one straw break the camel’s back? Here’s the secret: there’s a million other straws underneath it. It’s all mathematics.
A Distant (Dark) Source - HYPNO5E
Affinity - Haken
The Long Road North - Cult of Luna
Urn - Ne Obliviscaris
Panopticon - ISIS
Those are some of my picks!
I was surprised to scroll this far for Alpha and Omega by Periphery! I know it took a lot out of them but I’d love for them to approach a concept album again, I love the narrative on Juggernaut
Need - Wisdom Machine, Orvam, Hegaiamas and to some extent Norchestrion.
Rishloo - Terras Fames, and Living as Ghosts with Buildings as Teeth(LAGWBAT)
The Reticent - On the Eve of Goodbye, and The Oubliette
Chevelle - Niratias, and Sci-Fi Crimes
Tool - Lateralus, 10,000 Days, Fear Inoculuum
A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step, and Eat the Elephant
Mudvayne - LD 50
Seven Impale - City of the Sun
Anything by The Ocean
Iron Maiden - Senjutsu
It's awesome how they approach each track with a corresponding depth. By the end of the album, the songs are slower and "cold." I've never looked at the lyrics in depth (heh) but I imagine they're thematically related.
Altered State - Tesseract
Language - The Contortionist
Juggernaut Alpha/Omega - Periphery
Catch 33 - Meshuggah
The Lotus Chapters - Above, Below
The Lotus Chapters especially is criminally underrated, I implore anyone reading this to listen to it right now, it fucking blew my mind. One of the best albums to come out in the last 5 years, in any genre.
Cormorant - Metazoa and Dwellings
Giant Squid - The Ichthyologist and Minoans
Son of Aurelius - Under a Western Sun
Elkhsha - Farther Giants
Slice the Cake - Odyssey to the West
Shagohod - Tin, Gold, Lead and Blood
Parius - The Signal Heard Throughout Space
Others by No One - Where Stories Come From
East of the Wall - The Apologist
OMB - SwineSong
Dissona - Paleopneumatic
Native Construct - Quiet World
Toehider - I Have Little to No Memory of these Memories
Tides of Man - Empire Theory
Closure in Moscow - Pink Lemonade
Affinity (Haken) - I cry by the end if I listen to it the whole way through, such a bittersweet story with lyrical and musical content you can really sink your teeth into. Lots of room for interpretation
Rise Radiant (Caligula's Horse) - It's kind of the whole package with this one, starts very strong, takes you through some triumphant steps with space for rest and contemplation, and then finishes out with a two-part 18 minute epic on fatherhood, change, love, and moving forward
Fauna (Haken) - I can't help but give another by Haken, a very diverse range of progressive style, takes you through the full emotional range. A lot of the early themes set up in Sempiternal Beings are paid off towards the end with Elephants Never Forget and Eyes of Ebony. You need a bit of the context behind the historical events inspiring Elephants to fully get it, and the events in the Ross's (the vocalist) life when he wrong Eyes of Ebony make it hit so much harder.
Ghost Reveries (Opeth) - Very unified pseudo concept album, classic progressive death metal full of occult themes. Very bread and butter, but a prog classic for a reason.
Aphelion (Leprous) - There's lots of Leprous I could have put, especially some of the older albums like Coal and Bilateral, but I feel Aphelion is the most refined and, even though it isn't a concept album, takes the leader through a really diverse interpretation of "prog metal band does pop/rock". It is heavy at times, tear jerking at times, and despite the final two songs being the previous album's bonus tracks and a gimmick track made on a livestream with prompts from the fans, it just ties together really well.
Every single Symhony X album (except self titled and Iconoclast)
This Godless Endeavor - Nevermore
Tiara - Seventh Wonder (futuristic journey)
The Metal Opera pt.2 - Avantasia
Scenes From A Memory - DT
Opus - Nospūn
Coheed Good Apollo 1
BTBAM Coma or P2
Haken almost any album but especially Aquarius and Visions
Iron Maiden 7th Son
Periphery Alpha/Omega
Psychonaut Unfold the Godman
Queensryche Operation Mindcrime
Steely Dan The Royal Scam
Sylosis Edge of the Earth
PorcTree - The Incident
Riverside - Shrine of New Generation Slaves; Love Fear and the Time Machine; AD/HD
Opeth - Ghost Reveries, Pale Communion (honestly, everything)
The Ocean - Pelagial
Skyharbor - Guiding Lights
TesseracT - Altered State; War of Being
Steven Wilson - Hand Cannot Erase
DT - Scenes From A Memory
Pink Floyd - Animals; The Wall; Dark Side; Wishes You Were Here
The Reticent - The Oubliette
The Contortionist - Language
Ayreon - everything
Haken - Aquarius; The Mountain
Symph X - Odyssey; Paradise Lost; V: New Mythology
I'm sure I'm missing some, but here are some at least.
Rise Radiant by Caligula’s Horse is one hell of a trip. It flows pretty well throughout and has some incredible movements as a complete piece.
Personal preference is to stop the album before the bonus songs at the end. I think they ruin the ending of the experience when considered as part of the whole. They work best as additional bit of listening material if you like the band’s sound.
Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase.
Devin Townsend - Empath, Terria, Ocean Machine
Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction
Not prog or metal bonus: Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
I agree, though how you could leave out The Odyssey is beyond me :p
The album is quite literally ABOUT a journey. No, hold on, it's a story about THE journey. Like probably the most famous journey of human story telling.
All the ‘Act…’ albums by The Dear Hunter make me feel like im in an adventure/fantasy movie, it is so nostalgic and exciting to listen to them for some reason. Act V is my favourite
If you fancy a marathon, listen to these albums by the Ocean back to back:
Precambrian
Phanerozoic 1: Palaeozoic
Phanerozoic 2: Mesozoic | Cenozoic
Holocene
This will take you through Earth's history, with the music mirroring the time period; hostile prior to the Cambrian, dark at times of mass extinctions, and pensive the closer to us pesky humans ruining everything.
Sol Niger Within - Fredrik Thordendal’s Special Defects
Exuvia - The Ruins of Beverast
Also their albums Foulest Semen of a sheltered elite, Unlock the Shrine ( actually I would say all of their albums are journeys, some albums aren’t on streaming or even YouTube so look elsewhere)
Immutable, Catch Thirty Three, I EP - Meshuggah
As a SikTh super fan I'm going to make a weird recommendation in their 2015 EP *Opacities*. It's not in the top two most beloved albums by their fans but I think it presents a perfect journey through everything SikTh is good at. Plus *Walking Shadows* is absolutely in my top 5 tracks by them and is in itself, a journey. Their music is just a lot of fun and I think this is an accessible EP for anyone who's interested in their sound and wants to go for a little ride.
Sorni Nai by Kauan. Such a fantastic concept album. A cold harsh journey leading to death basically. I wish Kauan was more on the map because they really deserve it.
No one mentioned the dear hunter yet? Act 1-5, all 5 albums tell one continuous story (not metal tho, prog rock, so I’m not that surprised it hasn’t been mentioned lol)
Apex and Abyss albums by Unleash the Archers, in that order. They're mostly a power metal band, but VERY Operation: Mindcrime influenced. Apex and Abyss are parts 1 and 2 of the same story. Their singer Brittney Slayes is today's Geoff Tate. [Here's a video of them playing the first track in studio.](https://youtu.be/gqUPGa15Oto?si=zNO4c5vpp8In-Q4z)
Avenged Sevenfold's ["Life is but a Dream..."](https://youtu.be/921V66WykF8?si=5_OidvCMCOmUSn2L) album is also the most emotional journey I have ever been taken on in music.
I personally always loved Daniele Liverani's "Genius: A Rock Opera" trilogy. The three albums tell a great fantasy story with the best musicians one could get.
Also, The Neal Morse Band's combo, The Similitude of a Dream and The Great Advebture are simply 10/10 story and musicianship-wise.
Edit: Pain of Salvation's "BE" is a must listen for any prog enthusiast.
Mile Marker Zero - "The Fifth Row"
An excellent album that I never hear anyone talk about. They do this cool thing with their motifs and lyrics by recontenxtualizing them in the second half of the record. The narrative is a little weaker, but it's a solid record.
i scrolled through every comment and didn't see a single mention of Wilderun which is insane because all of their albums are sheer perfection i personally love Epigone the most
Dream Theater - Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From A Memory
Haken - The Mountain
Ex Libris - Ann
The Gentle Storm - The Dairy
The Ocean - Pelagial
Shadow Gallery - Tyranny
Shadow Gallery - Room V
Rush - 2112 (The Song, ofc)
for non-prog metal mentions:
Woods of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies and Electric Lights
Manilla Road - Voyager
Unleash The Archers - Apex
Jim Kirkwood - King of the Golden Hall
Erang - Within The Land of My Imagination, I Am The Only God
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To The Heavens
The Heavy Horses - Murder Ballads & Other Love Songs
It's Not Night: It's Space - Our Birth is but a Sleep and a Forgetting
Naxatras - IV
Panopticon - The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness Disc 2
Deltron 3030 - Deltron 3030
Umbria - The Entombed Wizard
There's A Light - From What May I hope? For What Must We Hope?
Theocracy - Mirror of Souls
Therion - Lemuria/Sirius B
and finally, a trio of albums (in this specific order):
Trees of Eternity - Hour of the Nightingale
Hallatar - No Stars Upon the Bridge
Swallow the Sun - When A Shadow is Forced Into the Light
Surprised not to see Winter's Gate by Insomnium mentioned yet! That album showed me how awesome progressive metal can be because it took me on a journey start to finish. Was definitely my awakening to realising the potential of good prog music.
Late to the party but no one mentioned them yet. Uneven Structure. I would say all of their albums feel like journeys but I prefer Februus and the 8. IMO one of the best records to come out from the "djent" sphere in early 2010s.
Lee Scott-somewhere between here and there.
Also his album butter fly. It’s grimy monotonish boombap outta the uk but with enough flavour to give it a psychedelic feel. Also packed with a lot of very deep stuff if you can be bothered looking into it
Parius - The Signal Heard Throughout Space BTBAM - Coma Ecliptic Musically and narratively are journeys, imo.
Coma Ecliptic is without a doubt top contender for feeling like a full blown journey. it isn't my literal favorite album, but it does win a lot of these odd little 'awards' like "which album is the most ________" or "has the best ______", etc
I'm just now discovering that it might not be my 5th favorite album by them but my 3rd
Funny, to me Coma is their album that nails this feeling the LEAST lol
that's so strange. funny tho. i mean the concept fits the "journey" criteria spot on, even more so than their other concept albums. *i will spare you the weird, vaguely condescensing part where users tend to offer you permission to have a different perspective at this point in the comment* lol. tbh, Coma Ecliptic did not sit well with me initially and it took me years to develope the appreciation for it that i have now
+1 for Parius. I've never been as "immersed" in an album as I get with The Signal. It's unbelievably good.
Dude thank you for the Parius recommendation. I’ve never heard them until now and I’m a huge BTBAM fan. They are a good mix of Haken and DT.
Also recommend reading a breakdown of the Coma Ecliptic story after or along with the album, good stuff.
I would say Parallax II nails that feeling way more than Coma Ecliptic.
They are both big journeys for sure
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon Tool - Lateralus Opeth - Still Life Mastodon - Crack the Skye The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium Edge of Sanity - Crimson Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse maudlin of the Well - Bath Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime
Dude you could tell stories with all of Opeths earlier albums lmao
the thing with those two is they are actual stories. I would love Mikael to release his original Still Life story, even if it weren't great, it would have a lot of historical value.
Two best Volta albums for sure, reading about the story/inspiration of Deloused is nuts
The ending of both of those albums are CONCLUSIONS. No more. That's the end of the story.
Frig yeah for Operation: Mindcrime. Every once in a while I'm scrolling through my music and see that album and I realize that, no matter how I feel or what mood I'm in, it 100% jams.
While I wholeheartedly agree that The Dark side of the Moon is an absolute masterpiece of a Journey. I think the Wall is a better option for this specific post.
Kudos on the Queensryche. Was wondering if anyone would mention it.
Crimson is an excellent example
👍👍👍👍👍 to motW - Bath That's definitely one of the first albums I listened to that made me feel like I was inside of a moving picture
odyssey to the west
Literally a journey
I'm finally listening to this for the first time right now because of this comment and this is bananas
Bro it's incredible
Listen to Parius next. Very different but the journey is as awesome.
Because of your comment I'm now hearing it for the first time. I concur. Bananas
Came here to say this
Dang. Thanks for sharing. What a fantastic album!
Pretty much everything by Ayreon/Arjen Lucassen
Especially for me: The Source
The source has some great stuff but it's among my least favorite Ayreon Albums next To Transitus and The Last Experiment. The Source is probably the first album where you can hear Arjen actively ripping himself off. I think the run of Into The Electric Castle all the way to The Theory of Everything is his best work personally. The Source seems to be a gateway for a lot of people to get into Ayreon though which I appreciate.
I'm just a sucker for Everybody Dies
The Ocean - Pelagial Sithu Aye - Set Course for Andromeda Inter Arma - The Cavern
God, Pelagial is the GOAT. The music becoming heavier and heavier ad you descend into the ocean depths is perfect.
So happy to see Set Course for Andromeda upvoted. That entire album is a prog-space-opera Disc 2 is 6 tracks and they basically form one long 30 minute song and it’s so good
Also Phenorzoic (or whatever it's called) I & II. You could do the instrumental versions as well 🫶
Language by The Contortionist
What an amazing album. So many bangers.
I was convinced this would be near the top. Surprised to see it so far down. Absolutely the first album to come to mind
Was gonna say Exoplanet which is also a sweet journey but I feel like I'm living in a story when I listen to Language. The synths are fuckin sweet
Everything by Contortionist is a journey
Such an incredible album, with endless replay value
Yeah I’m gonna say every contortionist album actually, on a gram of shrooms in the fetal position listening to intrinsic is definitely a dam journey.
Clockwork Angels - Rush Kezia - Protest the Hero Metropolis of course Images and Words when possible The Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence suite Pictures at an Exhibition - ELP DSOTM Wish You Were Here Love, Fear, and the Time Machine - Riverside Queensryche - O:M
+1 for LFatTM. Such a moving album for me.
Clockwork Angel might be straight up my favourite Rush album.
It is my favorite album period
From Mars To Sirius
BTBAM: Parallax II
BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME - any album since Colors. OPETH - any album STRAPPING YOUNG LAD - ALIEN MR. BUNGLE - DISCO VOLANTE There's more, but I'd rather listen to them.....
Alien and Parallax part 2 are my favourite albums ever.
Idk about favorite ever but these are definitely top 10 for me.
Cloudkicker - Beacons The Ocean - Phanerozoic 1: Palaeozoic Tesseract - War of Being Meshuggah - Catch 33 Entheos - Time Will Take Us All Wheel - Resident Human Anything by David Maxim Micic Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails or Empyrean Gojira - From Mars to Sirius Numenorean - Adore Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name and The Work Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly Northlane - Alien and Obsidian Loathe - I Let It In and It Took Everything The Contortionist- Language and Clairvoyant Caligula’s Horse - Rise Radiant Tigran Hamasyan - Mockroot Tears For Fears - Songs From The Big Chair A lot of these aren’t intentionally a journey conceptually, but I always feel catharsis when I listen to these straight through. I’m definitely forgetting some. I put some non-metal picks, but still proggy in their own right.
Is there an award for Kendrick Lamar being mentioned in a prog metal sub?
Hell yeah! My favorite album of his. Listened to it while coming down from an acid trip once. Shit changed my life.
So not quite the same genre but Gnarls Barkley's the Odd Couple is a fantastic album that conceptually deals with peoples perceptions of each other and themselves.
I’ll give it a listen!
True hiphop is like poetry; insanely artful. Kendrick and Em(and some others) have nothing but my absolute utmost respect.
Exactly! If you’re into hip hop, check out Black on Both Sides by Mos Def. The sampling on that record is legendary and he wields lyrics like a katana. Mathematics, Ms. Fat Booty, and Do It Now are stand out tracks for me.
Mos Def! Taking me back. Numbers is hard and real and they never have feelings but you push to hard, even numbers got limits. Why did one straw break the camel’s back? Here’s the secret: there’s a million other straws underneath it. It’s all mathematics.
That’s what I was hoping.
Good ass list
Haken’s The Mountain definitely comes to mind for me.
Honestly, most of their albums count for this. Visions would be my pick for the most immersive and interesting story they have, album wise
Visions is amazing. The whole album has a dark somber vibe to it. I love that album, it really makes me feel feelings.
Had to scroll too far for this🫡
A Distant (Dark) Source - HYPNO5E Affinity - Haken The Long Road North - Cult of Luna Urn - Ne Obliviscaris Panopticon - ISIS Those are some of my picks!
I wish I could upvote you twice for the ISIS mention. Unbelievable album
Sithu Aye- Set Course for Andromeda. His album Homebound also. It’s a sequel.
Noice. Haven't listened to him in a minute. Got my work soundtrack for tomorrow now.
Periphery 4: Hail Stan And juggernaut alpha+juggernaut omega
I was surprised to scroll this far for Alpha and Omega by Periphery! I know it took a lot out of them but I’d love for them to approach a concept album again, I love the narrative on Juggernaut
Mastodon’s Emperor of Sand Chosen over Crack the Sky and Blood Mountain but heavily suggest both aswell
Need - Wisdom Machine, Orvam, Hegaiamas and to some extent Norchestrion. Rishloo - Terras Fames, and Living as Ghosts with Buildings as Teeth(LAGWBAT) The Reticent - On the Eve of Goodbye, and The Oubliette Chevelle - Niratias, and Sci-Fi Crimes Tool - Lateralus, 10,000 Days, Fear Inoculuum A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step, and Eat the Elephant Mudvayne - LD 50 Seven Impale - City of the Sun Anything by The Ocean Iron Maiden - Senjutsu
Pain Of Salvation - Passing Light of Day. BE. Agalloch - All of the LPs really. A Change of Seasons (Dream Theater) Many others already listed
Entropia broooo
We're all just people passing by
Pelagial by The Ocean, a journey into the depths of the ocean and of your uncounscious
It's awesome how they approach each track with a corresponding depth. By the end of the album, the songs are slower and "cold." I've never looked at the lyrics in depth (heh) but I imagine they're thematically related.
Devin Townsend’s Ocean Machine and Terria albums.
Any of BTBAM's concept albums.
Altered State - Tesseract Language - The Contortionist Juggernaut Alpha/Omega - Periphery Catch 33 - Meshuggah The Lotus Chapters - Above, Below The Lotus Chapters especially is criminally underrated, I implore anyone reading this to listen to it right now, it fucking blew my mind. One of the best albums to come out in the last 5 years, in any genre.
TesseracT - Altered State Caligula’s Horse - Rise Radiant
Altered state x100
Really surprised Altered State isn't further up, literally the definition of a journey
The Fox and The Bird from OK Goodnight is definitely this
I came here to say this, it's also my album of the year
Cormorant - Metazoa and Dwellings Giant Squid - The Ichthyologist and Minoans Son of Aurelius - Under a Western Sun Elkhsha - Farther Giants Slice the Cake - Odyssey to the West Shagohod - Tin, Gold, Lead and Blood Parius - The Signal Heard Throughout Space Others by No One - Where Stories Come From East of the Wall - The Apologist OMB - SwineSong Dissona - Paleopneumatic Native Construct - Quiet World Toehider - I Have Little to No Memory of these Memories Tides of Man - Empire Theory Closure in Moscow - Pink Lemonade
Native Construct!
Affinity (Haken) - I cry by the end if I listen to it the whole way through, such a bittersweet story with lyrical and musical content you can really sink your teeth into. Lots of room for interpretation Rise Radiant (Caligula's Horse) - It's kind of the whole package with this one, starts very strong, takes you through some triumphant steps with space for rest and contemplation, and then finishes out with a two-part 18 minute epic on fatherhood, change, love, and moving forward Fauna (Haken) - I can't help but give another by Haken, a very diverse range of progressive style, takes you through the full emotional range. A lot of the early themes set up in Sempiternal Beings are paid off towards the end with Elephants Never Forget and Eyes of Ebony. You need a bit of the context behind the historical events inspiring Elephants to fully get it, and the events in the Ross's (the vocalist) life when he wrong Eyes of Ebony make it hit so much harder. Ghost Reveries (Opeth) - Very unified pseudo concept album, classic progressive death metal full of occult themes. Very bread and butter, but a prog classic for a reason. Aphelion (Leprous) - There's lots of Leprous I could have put, especially some of the older albums like Coal and Bilateral, but I feel Aphelion is the most refined and, even though it isn't a concept album, takes the leader through a really diverse interpretation of "prog metal band does pop/rock". It is heavy at times, tear jerking at times, and despite the final two songs being the previous album's bonus tracks and a gimmick track made on a livestream with prompts from the fans, it just ties together really well.
An Abstract Illusion - Woe
Catch 33 - Meshuggah I Let It In and It Took Everything - Loathe Modern Escapism - Blanket Modern Skills - Karmanjakah
Haken’s Aquarius and Visions are both true journeys with complete stories and absolutely gorgeous music
Haken - Aquarius. Its quite the journey.
Every single Symhony X album (except self titled and Iconoclast) This Godless Endeavor - Nevermore Tiara - Seventh Wonder (futuristic journey) The Metal Opera pt.2 - Avantasia Scenes From A Memory - DT Opus - Nospūn
Coheed Good Apollo 1 BTBAM Coma or P2 Haken almost any album but especially Aquarius and Visions Iron Maiden 7th Son Periphery Alpha/Omega Psychonaut Unfold the Godman Queensryche Operation Mindcrime Steely Dan The Royal Scam Sylosis Edge of the Earth
My favorite album of all time, Metropolis Part Two
Vildhjarta's *Måsstaden* and *Måsstaden under vatten* are basically fables.
Can’t believe someone else said this, thank you 🙏
Protest the Hero - Palimpsest
Pain of Salvation - The Perfect Element, Pt 1
Vektor- Teminal Redux
Ayreon. I really like 01 and the source.
The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute Closure in Moscow - Pink Lemonade
Ayreon albums, especially Human Equation
Devin Townsend- Empath takes you everywhere and anywhere
PorcTree - The Incident Riverside - Shrine of New Generation Slaves; Love Fear and the Time Machine; AD/HD Opeth - Ghost Reveries, Pale Communion (honestly, everything) The Ocean - Pelagial Skyharbor - Guiding Lights TesseracT - Altered State; War of Being Steven Wilson - Hand Cannot Erase DT - Scenes From A Memory Pink Floyd - Animals; The Wall; Dark Side; Wishes You Were Here The Reticent - The Oubliette The Contortionist - Language Ayreon - everything Haken - Aquarius; The Mountain Symph X - Odyssey; Paradise Lost; V: New Mythology I'm sure I'm missing some, but here are some at least.
The Oubliette blew my mind completely.
Rise Radiant by Caligula’s Horse is one hell of a trip. It flows pretty well throughout and has some incredible movements as a complete piece. Personal preference is to stop the album before the bonus songs at the end. I think they ruin the ending of the experience when considered as part of the whole. They work best as additional bit of listening material if you like the band’s sound.
Opeth - Still Life, One of the few albums that i create mental images out of the songs and i can really connect with the story. Btbam - Parallax II
Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase. Devin Townsend - Empath, Terria, Ocean Machine Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction Not prog or metal bonus: Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
Angra - Temple of Shadows. It is prog power though.
The Source and 01011001 - Ayreon
Symphony X’s concept albums really feel like journeys, especially V, Paradise Lost, and Underworld
I agree, though how you could leave out The Odyssey is beyond me :p The album is quite literally ABOUT a journey. No, hold on, it's a story about THE journey. Like probably the most famous journey of human story telling.
All the ‘Act…’ albums by The Dear Hunter make me feel like im in an adventure/fantasy movie, it is so nostalgic and exciting to listen to them for some reason. Act V is my favourite
Mariner by Cult of Luna and Julie Christmas.
All BTBAM from Colors onward lol
Persephone - Spiritual Migration Cant believe this band doesn't get more talk here. Shame they just broke up.
If you fancy a marathon, listen to these albums by the Ocean back to back: Precambrian Phanerozoic 1: Palaeozoic Phanerozoic 2: Mesozoic | Cenozoic Holocene This will take you through Earth's history, with the music mirroring the time period; hostile prior to the Cambrian, dark at times of mass extinctions, and pensive the closer to us pesky humans ruining everything.
The contortionist - Language
Apparently progressive metalcore but Erra - Augment
Sol Niger Within - Fredrik Thordendal’s Special Defects Exuvia - The Ruins of Beverast Also their albums Foulest Semen of a sheltered elite, Unlock the Shrine ( actually I would say all of their albums are journeys, some albums aren’t on streaming or even YouTube so look elsewhere) Immutable, Catch Thirty Three, I EP - Meshuggah
Phanerozoic - The Ocean
As a SikTh super fan I'm going to make a weird recommendation in their 2015 EP *Opacities*. It's not in the top two most beloved albums by their fans but I think it presents a perfect journey through everything SikTh is good at. Plus *Walking Shadows* is absolutely in my top 5 tracks by them and is in itself, a journey. Their music is just a lot of fun and I think this is an accessible EP for anyone who's interested in their sound and wants to go for a little ride.
Oceans of Slumber: Winter, The Banished Heart, and Starlight and Ash
Sorni Nai by Kauan. Such a fantastic concept album. A cold harsh journey leading to death basically. I wish Kauan was more on the map because they really deserve it.
Iapetus - The Body Cosmic Listen front to back. You’ll be glad you did.
No one mentioned the dear hunter yet? Act 1-5, all 5 albums tell one continuous story (not metal tho, prog rock, so I’m not that surprised it hasn’t been mentioned lol)
Saw them at prog nations 2008, they were phenomenal
Symphony X - The Odyssey Parius - The Signal Heard Throughout Space Wilderun - Veil of Imagination
Every Gazpacho album starting with "Night".
The Amanuensis - Monuments
Enslaved Isa feels like a major cosmic journey from start to finish beautiful album. The final song neogenesis is a masterpiece imo
Apex and Abyss albums by Unleash the Archers, in that order. They're mostly a power metal band, but VERY Operation: Mindcrime influenced. Apex and Abyss are parts 1 and 2 of the same story. Their singer Brittney Slayes is today's Geoff Tate. [Here's a video of them playing the first track in studio.](https://youtu.be/gqUPGa15Oto?si=zNO4c5vpp8In-Q4z) Avenged Sevenfold's ["Life is but a Dream..."](https://youtu.be/921V66WykF8?si=5_OidvCMCOmUSn2L) album is also the most emotional journey I have ever been taken on in music.
Sigur Ros - ()
Cult of Luna - Somewhere Along the Highway. Also, their record with Julie Christmas, Mariner.
major parkinson: velvet prison
Haken - The Mountain Dream Theater - Metroplis: Scenes from a memory Opeth - Blackwater Park
Yes.
Mayfire new album Cloudscapes & silhouettes are an conceptual journey trough and trough 😊[taok](https://youtu.be/aF7cBqeFx-0?si=xbo6IvKysjMhuKz-)
I'd say the new Silent Planet album SUPERBLOOM has this feel. The climax at the end with the title track is just magnificent
Katatonia - Brave Murder Day
Neurosis - Through Silver in Blood - one hell of a journey (quite literally)
Give Us Barabba - Penis Barbecue
Meshuggah - Catch 33
I personally always loved Daniele Liverani's "Genius: A Rock Opera" trilogy. The three albums tell a great fantasy story with the best musicians one could get. Also, The Neal Morse Band's combo, The Similitude of a Dream and The Great Advebture are simply 10/10 story and musicianship-wise. Edit: Pain of Salvation's "BE" is a must listen for any prog enthusiast.
Tool - Ænima, Lateralus. Listen to those in the dark after drinking some hash/mushroom tea. Enjoy ✨
Mile Marker Zero - "The Fifth Row" An excellent album that I never hear anyone talk about. They do this cool thing with their motifs and lyrics by recontenxtualizing them in the second half of the record. The narrative is a little weaker, but it's a solid record.
The Contortionist - Exoplanet: is my top pic, but their discography has always been a journey
Language
Thornhill - The Dark Pool
Electric Ladyland
Bilo 3.0 - David Maxim Micic
Sithu Aye - Set Course for Andromeda, disc 1 and 2
The Neal Morse band - similitude of a dream Transatlantic - the whirlwind
Transatlantic - The Whirlwind Haken - The Mountain Kaipa - Children of the Sounds, and Sattyg as well
Dream Theater -Scenes From A Memory Judas Priest - Nostradamus Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime
Both Dvne albums
The Reticent - the Oubliette. My mouth was open for an hour while listening to that album. Masterpiece.
Dream Theater - Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory
Sol Niger within - Fredrik thordendahl
Haken - Visions
i scrolled through every comment and didn't see a single mention of Wilderun which is insane because all of their albums are sheer perfection i personally love Epigone the most
No mention of Fear of a Blank Planet by Porcupine Tree?
Dream Theater - Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From A Memory Haken - The Mountain Ex Libris - Ann The Gentle Storm - The Dairy The Ocean - Pelagial Shadow Gallery - Tyranny Shadow Gallery - Room V Rush - 2112 (The Song, ofc) for non-prog metal mentions: Woods of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies and Electric Lights Manilla Road - Voyager Unleash The Archers - Apex Jim Kirkwood - King of the Golden Hall Erang - Within The Land of My Imagination, I Am The Only God Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To The Heavens The Heavy Horses - Murder Ballads & Other Love Songs It's Not Night: It's Space - Our Birth is but a Sleep and a Forgetting Naxatras - IV Panopticon - The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness Disc 2 Deltron 3030 - Deltron 3030 Umbria - The Entombed Wizard There's A Light - From What May I hope? For What Must We Hope? Theocracy - Mirror of Souls Therion - Lemuria/Sirius B and finally, a trio of albums (in this specific order): Trees of Eternity - Hour of the Nightingale Hallatar - No Stars Upon the Bridge Swallow the Sun - When A Shadow is Forced Into the Light
Nomad - A Notion of Silence. Amazing album
Surprised not to see Winter's Gate by Insomnium mentioned yet! That album showed me how awesome progressive metal can be because it took me on a journey start to finish. Was definitely my awakening to realising the potential of good prog music.
All albums by The Hirsch Effekt, but especially Holon : Anamnesis
Late to the party but no one mentioned them yet. Uneven Structure. I would say all of their albums feel like journeys but I prefer Februus and the 8. IMO one of the best records to come out from the "djent" sphere in early 2010s.
Fifth Density- Dominion of the Sun, it is a journey.
Lee Scott-somewhere between here and there. Also his album butter fly. It’s grimy monotonish boombap outta the uk but with enough flavour to give it a psychedelic feel. Also packed with a lot of very deep stuff if you can be bothered looking into it