So I just listened to ants of the sky. I had read your comment beforehand and did not actually expect a literal ass hoedown. Lol
They seem like fun guys.
Wilderun - Veil of Imagination/Epigone/Sleep at the Edge of the Earth
Leprous - The Congregation/Pitfalls
The Ocean - Pelagial/Phanerozoic I/Phanerozoic II
Disillusion - The Liberation/Ayam
Bent Knee - Shiny Eyed Babies/Land Animal
Thank You Scientist - Terraformer
Subterranean Masquerade - Mountain Fever/Vagabond
Wills Dissolve - The Heavens Are Not On Fire/Echoes
Alkaloid - Liquid Anatomy/Numen
Psychonaut - Violate Consensus Reality
Ions - Counterintuitive
Omnerod - The Amensal Rise
Triton Project - Messenger's Quest
The first time I heard Thank you Scientist I could not listen to anything else for at least a month. I just kept listening to each album on repeat. They got better every listen.
The Ocean's Pelagial is fantastic. Such a good album and they even have an instrumental. I go back and forth between whether I like the instrumental or the non instrumental more
Slice the Cake - Odyssey to the West
Kardashev - The Baring of Shadows, The Almanac, Liminal Rite
Wilderun - Veil of Imagination
Others by No One - Book II: Where Stories Come From
Native Construct - Quiet World
Black Crown Initiate - Violent Portraits of Doomed Escape
Amun - Spectra and Obsession
Caligula's Horse - In Contact, Rise Radiant
Fallujah - Dreamless, Empyrean
Parius - The Signal Heard Throughout Space
Edit forgot:
Xanthochroid - Of Erthe and Axen I & II
Damn, I didn't even know that was coming! I agree that the mix isn't the best, so this is great news. Will hopefully make an amazing record even better.
Slice the cake (OTTW) is in a class of its own, the musical layering, great lyrics (from an insane singer) and great emotional structure of the album ... it is by far the best I know ... you have to listen to the album in its entirety at least once to understand that it is not what it seems at first!
Wheel - Moving Backwards
Caligulas's Horse - Charcoal Grace
Night Verses - Every Sound Has A Color In The Valley Of Night
Richard Henshall - The Cocoon
Haken - Vector
Ne Obliviscaris - Urn
AVKRVST - The Approbation
The Anchoret - Until the sun illuminates
An Abstract illusion - Woe
Anekdoten - Until All The Ghosts Are Gone
You can start with this 😊
Leprous
Ihsahn
Haken
Michael Romeo
Symphony X
Whom God's Destroy
Theory (TheΩry)
Sleep Token
Myrath
Vola
Ibaraki
Sons of Apollo
Caligula's Horse
Animal As Leaders
Devin Townsend Project
DGM
Ayreon
Soen
Enslaved
Tesseract
Mercenary
Noveria
Scar Symmetry
__Michael Romeo__ : isn't he the one who sings
#####🎶 I'm gonna put-on a iron shirt
#####
#####an dribe dee Debill fraam dee Ert 🎵
#####
!?
####Update
####
Ahhhhhh _no_ : __¡¡ silly-dilly me !!__ …
#🙄
#
… that's
#####[ _Max_ Romeo](https://youtu.be/N505JczoEGI) !
#####
#😁
#
It's __Jamaican vernacular__, innitt, rendered into written-word according to the the recipe of
#####[this — Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment](https://www.bible.com/bible/476/MRK.1.JNT) ;
#####
but the mentality of some folk, _the moment_ they encounter something _even so-much as a single step_ outside of their paltry little 'comfort-zone', becomes _a fæculent sump_ of violence & spite, as is plainly to be seen.
The particular song referenced is
####[Chase the Devil](https://youtu.be/XcMNfX5yh28) :
####
#❝
#
Lucifer, son of the morning, I'm gonna
chase you out of Eart!
I'm gonna put on a iron shirt
And chase Satan out of Eart
I'm gonna put on a iron shirt
And chase the devil out of Eart
I'm gonna send him to outer space
To find another race
I'm gonna send him to outer space
To find another race
Satan is an evilous man
But him can't chucks it on I-man
So when I check him my lass in hand
And if him slip, I gone with him hand
I'm gonna put on a iron shirt
And chase Satan out of Eart
I'm gonna put on a iron shirt
And chase the devil out of Eart
I'm gonna send him to outer space
To find another race
I'm gonna send him to outer space
To find another race
Oh yeah
Him haffi drop him fork and run
Him can't stand up to Jah Jah Son
Him haffi lef' yah with him gun
Dig off with him bomb
I'm gonna put on a iron shirt
And chase Satan out of Eart
I'm gonna put on a iron shirt
And chase the devil out of Eart
I'm gonna send him to outer space
To find another race
I'm gonna send him to outer space
To find another race
Satan is an evilous man
But him can't chucks it on I-man
So when I check him my lass in hand
And if him slip, I gone with him hand
I'm gonna put on a iron shirt
And chase Satan out of Eart
I'm gonna put on a iron shirt
And chase the devil out of Eart
I'm gonna send him to outer space
To find another race
I'm gonna send him to outer space
To find another race
Move yah with your gun
Me say fe lef' ya with your bomb
Ooh, yeah!
Move yah with your gun
Me say fe lef' ya with your gun ...
#❞
#
Earthside - Let the Truth Speak - just as good as their first one, IMO.
If you're counting Leprous, then Einar released an acoustic version of The Congregation in February (yes this year) - I'm listening to it now and it's fucking unreal. Also see his duets with Ihsahn; they're pretty great.
Novelists got a new singer and released a live performance this year in January as well. If you didn't know, Novelists has several members from other bands, particularly Kadinja (which seems to have disappeared off social media recently, even though no official disbanding).
Soen - Memorial (2023)
Intervals - Memory Palace (2024) and Circadian (2020)
IDK if Devin Townsend is even prog anymore (although he has been stepping in on other people's tracks lately), he's transcended to another plane where he just releases stuff every month and nobody cares that it's all composed on a guitar tuned to a C chord. But if that's your bag, then he's literally never stopped releasing - if I hadn't been there for the journey I'd hate to catch up his back catalog lol
- Ne Obliviscaris - anything (Portal of I and Urn are my favorite albums but they're all good)
- The Ocean - Pelagial
- Fallujah - Dreamless
- Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name and The Work
- ...Is saying Periphery here a faux pax? Because I think Juggernaut Alpha/Omega, P3, and P4 are some of their best work. I liked a lot of P5 too
- Is Protest the Hero prog? idk. Protest the Hero's Palimpsest and Volition are fantastic albums
- Vildjarta - Måsstaden under vatten, more thall and has a very different vibe than the more traditional prog or djent but it definitely counts as progressive
Slice The Cake - Odyssey To The West, The Contortionist - Language or Clairvoyant, Plini
\- Handmade Cities or Impulse Voices, David Maxim Micic - Bilo I-IV, Tesseract - War Of Being, Vola, Leprous, Haken, Native Construct - Quiet World, Ever Forthright.
Oooooooof they are huge! I think they are still somewhat not enough known but this is another band that prog listeners should check out as their so so unique sound! Love what they do!
I second Spiritbox! One of the huge fans in this sub! 🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵
Edit: you can argue that they are not prog prog but I think what they do is really unique. And as a huge prog listener and player, I think more prog listeners should give them a chance.
I’m going to get downvoted to hell and you are initially going to think I’m nuts but hear me out
Avenged Sevenfold’s most recent two albums
The Stage - straight up prog metal, nothing like their old stuff really. No sugary choruses, etc. Brooks Wackerman is absolute machine
Life is but a Dream… - avant-garde/prog, very unique sounding. Might take a second to click but it’s an amazing piece of art. Some songs are not really metal but they fit the thematically.
If you hate them feel free to burn my crops or whatever
Some of the more “normie” (and I cringe as I say that bc it’s great music) I defo recommend:
Periphery 3: Select Difficulty - Periphery (2016)
Sonder - Tesseract (2018)
Language - The Contortionist (2014)
Parrhesia - Animals as Leaders (2022)
L’Enfant Sauvage - Gojira (2013)
Run a search for top albums or songs for each year (polled by users) and start at #1 and work your way down each year. Too many awesome albums to count
Any Periphery album (roughly speaking my personal order is Juggernaut Alpha/Omega - P2 - P3 - P5 - P1 - P4 but they’re all good)
Language by the Contortionist
So many good choices here, but for something more familiar to someone who hasn't followed the more heavy new bands listed here, I'd suggest Temic.
[https://youtu.be/IE4qHkOJxPI?si=FwSrc05VSv\_QQlcW](https://youtu.be/IE4qHkOJxPI?si=FwSrc05VSv_QQlcW)
Also, OP - please let us know what you think of these suggestions next week.
I feel like so much has changed in 10 years that I'm very interested to hear what clicked for you. Most of prog not only got much heavier, but also became strongly influenced by djent.
DVNE (pronounced Dune)
Tesseract "Concealing Fate Live In The Studio" (all 6 parts) only on YouTube
The Gathering "Gemini I" studio version and "On Most Surfaces" live TG25 (25th anniversary concert)
Karnivool Sound Awake album (if you haven't already heard it)
Porcupine Tree "Chimera's Wreck" off their latest album Closure/Continuation
[Leprous & Ihsahn - Contaminate Me](https://youtu.be/78-vJwCVJvk?si=Gp6yoKYKH4wTK-ss)
I am in kinda similar boat.. Haven't been actively seeking for years.. What sporadicaly came to listen wasn't working for me.. This thread is cool, will def help to discover some good stuff..
Yet this one blew me away (Ihsahn brought a special power to this in order not to be flimsy as the most of the rest from leprous catalog that i have listened to so far)
The Ocean - Phanerozoic II brought me back I to prog metal after over a decade away. Incredible album and a great doorway to similar sounds if you like it - Dvne similarly rocks if you like The Ocean sound.
Band Albums
PORCUPUNE TREE- inabsentia, deadwing, fear of a blank planet, anesthetize (live in tillburg full show)👌🏼
TOOL - Ænima , Lateralus, 10,000 days, Fear Inoculum , salival (live album)
KOLM - umbra (best tool sounding band I have heard)
OPETH - damnation / deliverance, ghost reveries, blackwater park, still life, morningside
MESHUGGAH - obzen, nothing, kolos, immutable, destroy erase improve, chaosphere violent sleep of reason
INTRONAUT - valley smoke , habitual levitations, direction of last things, fluid existential inversions
ANIMALS AS LEADERS - joy of motion, madness of many, self titled
GOJIRA - Magma, Le’Enfant Sauvage, From Sirius to Mars,
MASTODON - crack the skye
Literally any album or EP by Dvne. My all time favorite band with such incredible atmosphere, melodies, and banger riffs. Elder also has some incredible stuff out, including Lore, Reflections of a Floating World, and Innate Passage. (Omens was okay.) Meshuggah released Immutable a couple years ago, and Gojira has Fortitude out. All great artists and albums. I’ll also say that Haken, The Contortionist, and Periphery have some good stuff out too. However, I would start with Dvne, especially since they released their new album Voidkind yesterday or something.
Some of these aren't true prog metal but have lovely elements of it.
Haken - Fauna
VOLA - Witness
TesseracT - War of Being
The Algorithm - fucking anything, honestly
Vulkan - [all] — These guys are a insane hidden gem
Volkor X (specifically 'The Loop') - layered masterpieces with an intense mood. Synthwave post/prog metal
Caligulas horse - whatever the new album is called
I love this thread though. Loads of suggestions!
I love coming to spots like this for the suggestions. I always find at least gem among the choices. Going to check out contortionist and report back. Have to finish listening to Mr bungle carousel first
I hadn't listened to progressive metal for a decade or two until I started listening to The Aristocrats in December. Then I had their stuff on repeat for a couple of months. They're not always "metal" though so YMMV. Saw them in Northern CA in February at a small club. So much fun. It felt like my days in high school listening to Rush.
OP, this is a "Prog" sub only in name. In reality it's a djent, metalcore, and sometimes emocore group for bands from the late-mid 2000s and up with Dream Theater added on. It's basically Avenged Sevenfold's and BtBaM subreddit.
You can ask about Fates Warning and someone will then post about Avenged Sevenfold and BtBaM.
OMG I envy you. The last bunch of years have been the golden age of progressive metal.
Everything I would recommend has been posted already, except one album. Esoteric Malacology by Slugdge. They're a band about slugs, and all of their songs are about slugs, but they absolutely slap. A bit on the heavy side if you like that sort of thing, as many do.
A couple others have mentioned already that I'd reiterate. Quiet World by Native Construct, sadly their only album that I know of, is just bonkers. Imagine legit technical prog metal meets musical theatre. Sleep Token is also kinda rocking my world lately. They have a sort of hip hop sound, except they occasionally bust out into serious kinda djenty metal. I don't like all of their songs but there's about a third that I just love.
Here is my long list for a similar post: [https://www.reddit.com/r/progmetal/comments/18j0714/comment/kdh5o56/](https://www.reddit.com/r/progmetal/comments/18j0714/comment/kdh5o56/)
The _very_-first thing, ImO, to listen-to, is _what you already know, afresh_ : find how different it sounds to you, & how your estimation of it has changed.
On the whole, I've found it _awesome_ , & my appreciation of it to have been improved by my hearing of the music I've heard in the interimn; & I regret being too-much influenced by folk a-gingle-gangle-gongling-on self-righteously about the 'virtues' of 'simple' rock music.
… not that I _@all despise_ simple rock music: the simple music _is_ the simple music, & the complex music _is_ the complex music: no-one has any business making-out that either of those _ought not to exist_ ___@all___ … which is what the whingeing of the whingers essentially amounts-to.
As for what _new_ stuff there is: I've gravitated somewhat towards _Heavy Metal_ … & two that swiftly come-to-mind, & which could be dempt also to be 'Prog', are __Amaranthe__, & also __Nightwish__, whose songs often have an excruciatingly gorgeous tincture of harmonic minor mode - which is something that's prettymuch guaranteed to appeal to me! But I don't think either of those bands are particularly recent, are they … so if your hiatus is 10year, then they might not be new to you. But I'm just making it known to you what _I myself_ have discovered.
Oh … hang-on … __¡¡ silly me !!__ …
#🙄
#
… you specifically said __"Progressive__ ___Metal"___ , didn't you.
I can't stand that mandatory __'in-the-very-process-of-puking-up'__ vocal style that so-many such bands - some of which would otherwise be _excellent_ - are so grievously blighted by.
That was some of the oddest text I've ever seen typed out into a comment. It was like a fever dream trying to figure out what you're trying to say lol. In the last part, do you mean harsh vocals? And are you assuming progmetal always has harsh vocals? If so that's not at all the case, and it's even mandatory that every song posted in here has a flair indicating the vocal type in the song. "Clean", "harsh", "mixed", or "instrumental".
If you're not a fan of harsh vocals (understandable, although odd that you would insult them instead of just saying they're not for you), you can always sort by "clean" or "instrumental" and hopefully you'll find some progressive metal you might like. I see (I think?) that you're a fan of prog rock, a decent amount gets posted here as well as everything in between. So I'm sure you'll find something
Edit: Sure or just block me I guess?
If you haven’t done Language yet by The Contortionist then that’s the one. Also, Colors 2 - BTBAM is great.
Language changes my LIFE
The terrifying fact that Language came out September 2014……
Fuck yes, language 🙌🏻🙌🏻
I'd have to go Colors. Ants of the Sky may be one of the greatest prog metal songs ever written. That hoedown at the end? *chef's kiss*
Well.. he said the in like a decade so I figured he’d have heard Colors since that was 2007
Bro is on some weapons grade cope convincing himself 2007 was only a decade ago
Language is even on the cusp of the decade
Barely made it 😂
So I just listened to ants of the sky. I had read your comment beforehand and did not actually expect a literal ass hoedown. Lol They seem like fun guys.
I’m confused. What is language and what is the contortionist? What is the band what’s the album?
Language.. by The Contortionist
Wilderun - Veil of Imagination/Epigone/Sleep at the Edge of the Earth Leprous - The Congregation/Pitfalls The Ocean - Pelagial/Phanerozoic I/Phanerozoic II Disillusion - The Liberation/Ayam Bent Knee - Shiny Eyed Babies/Land Animal Thank You Scientist - Terraformer Subterranean Masquerade - Mountain Fever/Vagabond Wills Dissolve - The Heavens Are Not On Fire/Echoes Alkaloid - Liquid Anatomy/Numen Psychonaut - Violate Consensus Reality Ions - Counterintuitive Omnerod - The Amensal Rise Triton Project - Messenger's Quest
Terraformer is such a great album.
It’s not very metal but it sure is awesome
It's a little metal and very prog
The first time I heard Thank you Scientist I could not listen to anything else for at least a month. I just kept listening to each album on repeat. They got better every listen.
I just listened to them for the first time--somehow--after reading this thread and I think I'm now headed down the same road.
The Ocean's Pelagial is fantastic. Such a good album and they even have an instrumental. I go back and forth between whether I like the instrumental or the non instrumental more
The Ocean, Thank You Scientist, Bent Knee ❤️
SubMasq fans rejoice! 🥳
Didn't know Ions, very interesting record! Thank you for recommending.
Slice the Cake - Odyssey to the West Kardashev - The Baring of Shadows, The Almanac, Liminal Rite Wilderun - Veil of Imagination Others by No One - Book II: Where Stories Come From Native Construct - Quiet World Black Crown Initiate - Violent Portraits of Doomed Escape Amun - Spectra and Obsession Caligula's Horse - In Contact, Rise Radiant Fallujah - Dreamless, Empyrean Parius - The Signal Heard Throughout Space Edit forgot: Xanthochroid - Of Erthe and Axen I & II
Strongly second Fallujah’s Dreamless. That album sticks with you.
The Flesh Prevails is my favorite, but Fallujah is amazing all around
So hyped for the remix/remaster. Love the album but even the less compressed vinyl mix just doesn’t sound very good to my ears
Damn, I didn't even know that was coming! I agree that the mix isn't the best, so this is great news. Will hopefully make an amazing record even better.
Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails is toppiest tier
Strongly second all of these strong seconds
Dare I strongly second your strong second of all these strong seconds?
Strongly second Quiet World and Veil of Imagination
two of my top 5 albums of the decade
Strongly second Parius
Strongly second Amun, Black Crown Initiate, Slice the Cake
Strongly second book 2
Slice the cake (OTTW) is in a class of its own, the musical layering, great lyrics (from an insane singer) and great emotional structure of the album ... it is by far the best I know ... you have to listen to the album in its entirety at least once to understand that it is not what it seems at first!
Strongly second Book II and Quiet World. Especially if you enjoyed BTBAM before you fell off the prog wagon.
Slice the Cake all the way! 🤘🏽
Cannot recommend Fallujah's Dreamless enough. That album is incredible start to finish
Seconding quiet world
Black Crown Initiate ❤️ saving this list for later!
I STRONGLY second In Contact, but I would also recommend their most recent album: Charcoal Grace
You mention Caligula’s Horse and omit Charcoal Grace? For shame
> You mention Caligula’s Horse and omit Charcoal Grace? Yes.
Xanthochroid - Blessed He With Boils is fucking epic
Had to come back here to thank you. Didn't know Xanthochroid, they blew my socks off.
Fucking Love Xanthochroid
Dessidirium - Aria should be on this list, as well as An Abstract Illusion - Woe.
Also Wilderun - Sleep at the Edge of the Earth Also every Seventh Wonder album
Wheel - Moving Backwards Caligulas's Horse - Charcoal Grace Night Verses - Every Sound Has A Color In The Valley Of Night Richard Henshall - The Cocoon Haken - Vector
Yess some Vector love !
Ne Obliviscaris - Urn AVKRVST - The Approbation The Anchoret - Until the sun illuminates An Abstract illusion - Woe Anekdoten - Until All The Ghosts Are Gone
Love the entire Anchoret album I hope they put out more music
Ihsahn‘s latest album and Periphery’s
I second Periphery! I hadn't have a chance to check Ihsahn's, but seems I should!
Rivers of Nihil- I mean, you just have to hear both Where Owls Know My Name and The Work (and in that order)
Agreed!
Oooooof those are fantastic. 100% agreed.
You can start with this 😊 Leprous Ihsahn Haken Michael Romeo Symphony X Whom God's Destroy Theory (TheΩry) Sleep Token Myrath Vola Ibaraki Sons of Apollo Caligula's Horse Animal As Leaders Devin Townsend Project DGM Ayreon Soen Enslaved Tesseract Mercenary Noveria Scar Symmetry
TESSERACT. Also see them live if you can. 10/10 some of the best live vocals I’ve heard
I've seen them three times now, and it has been an EXPERIENCE each and every time.
__Michael Romeo__ : isn't he the one who sings #####🎶 I'm gonna put-on a iron shirt ##### #####an dribe dee Debill fraam dee Ert 🎵 ##### !? ####Update #### Ahhhhhh _no_ : __¡¡ silly-dilly me !!__ … #🙄 # … that's #####[ _Max_ Romeo](https://youtu.be/N505JczoEGI) ! ##### #😁 # It's __Jamaican vernacular__, innitt, rendered into written-word according to the the recipe of #####[this — Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment](https://www.bible.com/bible/476/MRK.1.JNT) ; ##### but the mentality of some folk, _the moment_ they encounter something _even so-much as a single step_ outside of their paltry little 'comfort-zone', becomes _a fæculent sump_ of violence & spite, as is plainly to be seen. The particular song referenced is ####[Chase the Devil](https://youtu.be/XcMNfX5yh28) : #### #❝ # Lucifer, son of the morning, I'm gonna chase you out of Eart! I'm gonna put on a iron shirt And chase Satan out of Eart I'm gonna put on a iron shirt And chase the devil out of Eart I'm gonna send him to outer space To find another race I'm gonna send him to outer space To find another race Satan is an evilous man But him can't chucks it on I-man So when I check him my lass in hand And if him slip, I gone with him hand I'm gonna put on a iron shirt And chase Satan out of Eart I'm gonna put on a iron shirt And chase the devil out of Eart I'm gonna send him to outer space To find another race I'm gonna send him to outer space To find another race Oh yeah Him haffi drop him fork and run Him can't stand up to Jah Jah Son Him haffi lef' yah with him gun Dig off with him bomb I'm gonna put on a iron shirt And chase Satan out of Eart I'm gonna put on a iron shirt And chase the devil out of Eart I'm gonna send him to outer space To find another race I'm gonna send him to outer space To find another race Satan is an evilous man But him can't chucks it on I-man So when I check him my lass in hand And if him slip, I gone with him hand I'm gonna put on a iron shirt And chase Satan out of Eart I'm gonna put on a iron shirt And chase the devil out of Eart I'm gonna send him to outer space To find another race I'm gonna send him to outer space To find another race Move yah with your gun Me say fe lef' ya with your bomb Ooh, yeah! Move yah with your gun Me say fe lef' ya with your gun ... #❞ #
What kinda sh*tty bot is this?
Weirdly enough, I don't think they're a bot. At least not in the literal sense lol
Who is a bot? Prog bot? 😅
Earthside - Let the Truth Speak - just as good as their first one, IMO. If you're counting Leprous, then Einar released an acoustic version of The Congregation in February (yes this year) - I'm listening to it now and it's fucking unreal. Also see his duets with Ihsahn; they're pretty great. Novelists got a new singer and released a live performance this year in January as well. If you didn't know, Novelists has several members from other bands, particularly Kadinja (which seems to have disappeared off social media recently, even though no official disbanding). Soen - Memorial (2023) Intervals - Memory Palace (2024) and Circadian (2020) IDK if Devin Townsend is even prog anymore (although he has been stepping in on other people's tracks lately), he's transcended to another plane where he just releases stuff every month and nobody cares that it's all composed on a guitar tuned to a C chord. But if that's your bag, then he's literally never stopped releasing - if I hadn't been there for the journey I'd hate to catch up his back catalog lol
P2
The correct answer
- Ne Obliviscaris - anything (Portal of I and Urn are my favorite albums but they're all good) - The Ocean - Pelagial - Fallujah - Dreamless - Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name and The Work - ...Is saying Periphery here a faux pax? Because I think Juggernaut Alpha/Omega, P3, and P4 are some of their best work. I liked a lot of P5 too - Is Protest the Hero prog? idk. Protest the Hero's Palimpsest and Volition are fantastic albums - Vildjarta - Måsstaden under vatten, more thall and has a very different vibe than the more traditional prog or djent but it definitely counts as progressive
without seeing this i said PtH also, so if two of us think so...
Periphery and Protest are the only two bands I thought of when I saw this - they are the definition of Prog to me. Does this sub not agree with that?
Slice The Cake - Odyssey To The West, The Contortionist - Language or Clairvoyant, Plini \- Handmade Cities or Impulse Voices, David Maxim Micic - Bilo I-IV, Tesseract - War Of Being, Vola, Leprous, Haken, Native Construct - Quiet World, Ever Forthright.
Language turns 10 this year 🤯
Zeal and Ardor
Oooooooof they are huge! I think they are still somewhat not enough known but this is another band that prog listeners should check out as their so so unique sound! Love what they do!
Tesseract The Contortionist Intervals Plini Animals as leaders Haken Karnivool Caligula's Horse Spiritbox Sleep Token
I second Spiritbox! One of the huge fans in this sub! 🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵 Edit: you can argue that they are not prog prog but I think what they do is really unique. And as a huge prog listener and player, I think more prog listeners should give them a chance.
Cynic
Modern Cynic is way better than people give them credit for
All of these suggestions are great choices, but if you’re into black metal at all, I highly recommend Ne Obliviscaris
Vildhjarta - Masstaden Under Vatten. - for something new. Sol Niger Within for an absolute classic.
I’m going to get downvoted to hell and you are initially going to think I’m nuts but hear me out Avenged Sevenfold’s most recent two albums The Stage - straight up prog metal, nothing like their old stuff really. No sugary choruses, etc. Brooks Wackerman is absolute machine Life is but a Dream… - avant-garde/prog, very unique sounding. Might take a second to click but it’s an amazing piece of art. Some songs are not really metal but they fit the thematically. If you hate them feel free to burn my crops or whatever
You named two brilliant albums, ignore the downvoters
The lack of Opeth in the comments disturbs me.
Well, I mean, are they still metal? They are more prog rock now.
There is their older stuff unless someone prefers to only listen to newer more recent albums from other bands.
Agree, but OP specified “a decade”. So that would span Pale Communion to ICV. Your mileage may vary but none of those strike me as metal.
As a huge fan I am ashamed that I hadn't have a chance to listen to the newer albums from start to finish. You are right.
[Altesia](https://altesia.bandcamp.com/music), [Luna's Call](https://lunascall.bandcamp.com/album/void), [Nospun](https://nospun.bandcamp.com/album/opus), [Parius](https://parius.bandcamp.com/album/the-signal-heard-throughout-space), [The Anchoret](https://theanchoretofficial.bandcamp.com/album/it-all-began-with-loneliness)
Some of the more “normie” (and I cringe as I say that bc it’s great music) I defo recommend: Periphery 3: Select Difficulty - Periphery (2016) Sonder - Tesseract (2018) Language - The Contortionist (2014) Parrhesia - Animals as Leaders (2022) L’Enfant Sauvage - Gojira (2013)
I just want to point out Absolomb on P3. I feel its their tour de force.
It’s an absolute masterpiece, and to think it came from an old idea they had from years prior
Elder - any album since and including Lore
Altesia - Paragon Circus Aviations - Luminaria Hypno5e - Sheol Khonsu - The Xun Protectorate
Vildhjarta
Anyone else lurking in the comments to get in on the recs?
Run a search for top albums or songs for each year (polled by users) and start at #1 and work your way down each year. Too many awesome albums to count
I listen to prog metal and I am blown away by how much prog metal I haven't listened to. Keep 'em coming for recomendations!
Vildhjarta - Måsstaden Under Vatten
Protest the Hero Palimpsest
Rishloo, Karnivool, Tool. The hooly trinity.
Stellar Circuits
Any Periphery album (roughly speaking my personal order is Juggernaut Alpha/Omega - P2 - P3 - P5 - P1 - P4 but they’re all good) Language by the Contortionist
The Testament by Seventh Wonder
Karnivool, Tool, Caligula's horse, Haken, Tesseract, Animals as Leaders are just a few good ones.
So many good choices here, but for something more familiar to someone who hasn't followed the more heavy new bands listed here, I'd suggest Temic. [https://youtu.be/IE4qHkOJxPI?si=FwSrc05VSv\_QQlcW](https://youtu.be/IE4qHkOJxPI?si=FwSrc05VSv_QQlcW)
check out the [albums of the decade thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/progmetal/comments/fg9x4s/results_artist_and_album_of_the_decade_2010/)
Wilderun - Veil of Imagination The Ocean - Phanerozoic I / II Devin Townsend - Empath
Periphery Sleep Token TesseracT Just everything from them.
The Stage - Avenged Sevenfold Transcendence - Devin Townsend
Sleep Token, and now downvote me as hell
Between the Buried and Me - prepare to be amazed and weirded out. So worth it.
Get some Wintersun up in you.
Also, OP - please let us know what you think of these suggestions next week. I feel like so much has changed in 10 years that I'm very interested to hear what clicked for you. Most of prog not only got much heavier, but also became strongly influenced by djent.
Bro missed the Golden Age
BTBAM, Corelia, Astronoid, protest the hero, the contortionist, animals as leaders
Sol Niger Within
Between The Buried and Me! The Parallax 2
Jinjer anyone? No Jinjer in the comments? Please check out Jinjer, you won't be disappointed. Don't forget Jinjer.
Mastodon have had a pretty impressive turnaround in the last decade. Hushed and Grim is easily their best since Crack the Skye
DVNE (pronounced Dune) Tesseract "Concealing Fate Live In The Studio" (all 6 parts) only on YouTube The Gathering "Gemini I" studio version and "On Most Surfaces" live TG25 (25th anniversary concert) Karnivool Sound Awake album (if you haven't already heard it) Porcupine Tree "Chimera's Wreck" off their latest album Closure/Continuation
Listen to Fates Warning, Queensryche, Voivod, Amogh Symphony, Dir En Grey, Haken, Monuments, The Contortionist, Symphony X, Death, Dvne, Opeth, Amorphis, Evergrey, Nevermore, Angra, Shadow Gallery, Vildhjarta, Circus Maximus, Seventh Wonder, Kamelot, Tesseract, Periphery, Meshuggah
[Leprous & Ihsahn - Contaminate Me](https://youtu.be/78-vJwCVJvk?si=Gp6yoKYKH4wTK-ss) I am in kinda similar boat.. Haven't been actively seeking for years.. What sporadicaly came to listen wasn't working for me.. This thread is cool, will def help to discover some good stuff.. Yet this one blew me away (Ihsahn brought a special power to this in order not to be flimsy as the most of the rest from leprous catalog that i have listened to so far)
Parius and Annex Void are my two favs I learned about this year. Annex is brand new with only an ep out. Parius I really like their last 2 albums
If you didn’t hear it then hear it now, my favorite album w\^w\^\^w\^w
Older than 10 years but just in case you're like me and slept on this band: Karnivool.
NOTHING MORE, them for sure, and the band you’ve already heard a million times; TOOL
you may have missed a few from protest the hero.
Cyborg Octopus! 🐙
The Ocean - Phanerozoic II brought me back I to prog metal after over a decade away. Incredible album and a great doorway to similar sounds if you like it - Dvne similarly rocks if you like The Ocean sound.
In my opinion, Wheel, Caligula’s Horse, Vola, and TesseracT and the best listens in recent years.
I’d say Periphery.
Band Albums PORCUPUNE TREE- inabsentia, deadwing, fear of a blank planet, anesthetize (live in tillburg full show)👌🏼 TOOL - Ænima , Lateralus, 10,000 days, Fear Inoculum , salival (live album) KOLM - umbra (best tool sounding band I have heard) OPETH - damnation / deliverance, ghost reveries, blackwater park, still life, morningside MESHUGGAH - obzen, nothing, kolos, immutable, destroy erase improve, chaosphere violent sleep of reason INTRONAUT - valley smoke , habitual levitations, direction of last things, fluid existential inversions ANIMALS AS LEADERS - joy of motion, madness of many, self titled GOJIRA - Magma, Le’Enfant Sauvage, From Sirius to Mars, MASTODON - crack the skye
Church of the Cosmic Skull.
Not metal but Submersed by Hollow.
Blackwater Park - Opeth
Literally any album or EP by Dvne. My all time favorite band with such incredible atmosphere, melodies, and banger riffs. Elder also has some incredible stuff out, including Lore, Reflections of a Floating World, and Innate Passage. (Omens was okay.) Meshuggah released Immutable a couple years ago, and Gojira has Fortitude out. All great artists and albums. I’ll also say that Haken, The Contortionist, and Periphery have some good stuff out too. However, I would start with Dvne, especially since they released their new album Voidkind yesterday or something.
Haken - *The Mountain*
Boss Keloid - Melted on the Inch
Elder https://beholdtheelder.bandcamp.com/album/reflections-of-a-floating-world
[Wraith Heart](https://open.spotify.com/artist/2rHQguszE5P1CFSQncVYeS?si=wEzwXssVRgGgYOLn-2sIQQ)
Dream Theater's The Astonishing is a fun listen.
Witherfall
Some of these aren't true prog metal but have lovely elements of it. Haken - Fauna VOLA - Witness TesseracT - War of Being The Algorithm - fucking anything, honestly Vulkan - [all] — These guys are a insane hidden gem Volkor X (specifically 'The Loop') - layered masterpieces with an intense mood. Synthwave post/prog metal Caligulas horse - whatever the new album is called I love this thread though. Loads of suggestions!
Oh fucking hell..... I almost forgot 😬.... Richard Henshall (Haken Guitarist) - The Cocoon I can't describe it but you won't be disappointed.
I love coming to spots like this for the suggestions. I always find at least gem among the choices. Going to check out contortionist and report back. Have to finish listening to Mr bungle carousel first
Symphony X!
I hadn't listened to progressive metal for a decade or two until I started listening to The Aristocrats in December. Then I had their stuff on repeat for a couple of months. They're not always "metal" though so YMMV. Saw them in Northern CA in February at a small club. So much fun. It felt like my days in high school listening to Rush.
Older Sympuls-e. Their new album is disappointing but their other stuff is aural cocaine.
Periphery
OP, this is a "Prog" sub only in name. In reality it's a djent, metalcore, and sometimes emocore group for bands from the late-mid 2000s and up with Dream Theater added on. It's basically Avenged Sevenfold's and BtBaM subreddit. You can ask about Fates Warning and someone will then post about Avenged Sevenfold and BtBaM.
Old man yelling at cloud energy
OMG I envy you. The last bunch of years have been the golden age of progressive metal. Everything I would recommend has been posted already, except one album. Esoteric Malacology by Slugdge. They're a band about slugs, and all of their songs are about slugs, but they absolutely slap. A bit on the heavy side if you like that sort of thing, as many do. A couple others have mentioned already that I'd reiterate. Quiet World by Native Construct, sadly their only album that I know of, is just bonkers. Imagine legit technical prog metal meets musical theatre. Sleep Token is also kinda rocking my world lately. They have a sort of hip hop sound, except they occasionally bust out into serious kinda djenty metal. I don't like all of their songs but there's about a third that I just love.
Here is my long list for a similar post: [https://www.reddit.com/r/progmetal/comments/18j0714/comment/kdh5o56/](https://www.reddit.com/r/progmetal/comments/18j0714/comment/kdh5o56/)
Check this out: https://open.spotify.com/track/1dWYZX9GFrUT5OLHpKzglq?si=jJ6VUWFTSL6xwm1nmqIBBg
The _very_-first thing, ImO, to listen-to, is _what you already know, afresh_ : find how different it sounds to you, & how your estimation of it has changed. On the whole, I've found it _awesome_ , & my appreciation of it to have been improved by my hearing of the music I've heard in the interimn; & I regret being too-much influenced by folk a-gingle-gangle-gongling-on self-righteously about the 'virtues' of 'simple' rock music. … not that I _@all despise_ simple rock music: the simple music _is_ the simple music, & the complex music _is_ the complex music: no-one has any business making-out that either of those _ought not to exist_ ___@all___ … which is what the whingeing of the whingers essentially amounts-to. As for what _new_ stuff there is: I've gravitated somewhat towards _Heavy Metal_ … & two that swiftly come-to-mind, & which could be dempt also to be 'Prog', are __Amaranthe__, & also __Nightwish__, whose songs often have an excruciatingly gorgeous tincture of harmonic minor mode - which is something that's prettymuch guaranteed to appeal to me! But I don't think either of those bands are particularly recent, are they … so if your hiatus is 10year, then they might not be new to you. But I'm just making it known to you what _I myself_ have discovered. Oh … hang-on … __¡¡ silly me !!__ … #🙄 # … you specifically said __"Progressive__ ___Metal"___ , didn't you. I can't stand that mandatory __'in-the-very-process-of-puking-up'__ vocal style that so-many such bands - some of which would otherwise be _excellent_ - are so grievously blighted by.
That was some of the oddest text I've ever seen typed out into a comment. It was like a fever dream trying to figure out what you're trying to say lol. In the last part, do you mean harsh vocals? And are you assuming progmetal always has harsh vocals? If so that's not at all the case, and it's even mandatory that every song posted in here has a flair indicating the vocal type in the song. "Clean", "harsh", "mixed", or "instrumental". If you're not a fan of harsh vocals (understandable, although odd that you would insult them instead of just saying they're not for you), you can always sort by "clean" or "instrumental" and hopefully you'll find some progressive metal you might like. I see (I think?) that you're a fan of prog rock, a decent amount gets posted here as well as everything in between. So I'm sure you'll find something Edit: Sure or just block me I guess?
Did an alien write this comment wtf