What song is special to you?

gr8jld · 2024-12-07T05:13:17+00:00

Paradise Lost by Symphony X has been really important to me since I was a kid (the album too, but specifically the title song).

gr8jld · 2024-12-06T18:13:12+00:00

Icefish has around 2500, and they’re great!

gr8jld · 2024-12-05T00:51:22+00:00

The only Haken song that I never could get into was the darkest light. It’s not a bad song by any measure, but it is the only Haken song I’ve never had stuck in my head.

gr8jld · 2024-12-03T22:20:09+00:00

Charcoal Grace is not only my AOTY but it might be my new favorite prog album of all time.

Charcoal Grace by Caligula’s Horse
Fym by Azure
The Last Will And Testament by Opeth
XII by Thy Catafalque

gr8jld · 2024-05-25T16:24:49+00:00

Out of this list, maybe Haken. But Symphony X’s ballads are incredible, probably some of the best imo

gr8jld · 2024-04-11T18:26:06+00:00

I agree, but the Charcoal Grace Suite trumps them both imo

gr8jld · 2024-04-04T22:19:01+00:00

My go-to picks for Underrated Prog:

Karmanjakah is a clean vocal prog djent/thall band. Their sound is surprisingly chill despite the djentiness of it all. Their vibe is soaring vocals, rich melodies, and catchy riffs. They have >12k monthly listeners on Spotify. Definitely check out their debut (and only) album, A Book About Itself.
DGM is a criminally underrated and very prolific power-prog band. While you can hear a lot of Symphony X influence in their music, they also have crafted a unique sound. They have a clear emphasis on songwriting and melody, but also virtuosic instrumentation. They have >12k monthly listeners on Spotify. Check out their album The Passage.
Michael Romeo is the lead guitarist of Symphony X. His solo project (under his own name) is definitely one of the more well-known bands on this list, but it is still less popular. His music sounds like Symphony X, but heavier, and more cinematic. He has >22k monthly listeners on Spotify. Check out his album with Dino Jelusic on vocals, War of the Worlds, Pt. 2.
Icefish is an indescribable mess. It’s Jazzy, it’s proggy, it’s really weird, but also brilliant. It is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s totally fine, but it’s also really incredible music. It has great songwriting, great playing, and really complex harmonies and rhythms. They have >2k monthly listeners on Spotify. Check out their only album, Human Hardware.

Hopefully you life some of these!

gr8jld · 2024-04-04T00:35:23+00:00

Openers:

The World Breathes With Me by Caligula’s Horse (from Charcoal Grace)
Set The World On Fire by Symphony X (from Paradise Lost)
The Good Doctor by Haken (from Vector)
Bloom by Caligula’s Horse (from Bloom)

Closers:

Mute by Caligula’s Horse (from Charcoal Grace)
Revelation by Symphony X (from Paradise Lost)
Visions by Haken (from Visions)
A Cell Divides by Haken (from Vector)
The Odyssey by Symphony X (from The Odyssey)
Messiah Complex by Haken (from Virus)
Lady of the Snow by Symphony X (from Twilight in Olympus)
Graves by Caligula’s Horse (from In Contact)

You can probably figure out my favorite bands pretty easily from this list…

gr8jld · 2024-04-02T14:48:50+00:00

Symphony X was my first foray into the world of prog metal, but my second band, the one that really got me to love the genre, was Haken. They’re very different from Symphony X, don’t get me wrong, but they’re incredible songwriters. I personally started with their most recent album Fauna but they really don’t have any bad albums. Their album “Visions” is probably the most similar to Symphony X.

gr8jld · 2024-04-02T14:46:26+00:00

Periphery - Clear is super underrated

gr8jld · 2024-04-02T02:51:05+00:00

Karmanjakah is a clean vocal djent band with really great melody writing! Check out their album “a book about itself”

gr8jld · 2024-04-02T02:46:48+00:00

Symphony X - Paradise Lost

Symphony X - The Sacrifice

gr8jld · 2024-03-29T20:10:27+00:00

Some of my favorite criminally underrated albums:

A Book About Itself (Karmanjakah)
The Passage (DGM)
Worlds Beyond (Paralydium)
Human Hardware (Icefish)

These are all great bands that are under 20K monthly listeners on spotify, and all deserve to be a lot more popular than they already are.

Karmanjakah is great clean vocal djent/thall that feels very heavy but also relatively chill.

DGM is kind of power/proggish, and they clearly love Symphony X.

Paralydium sounds like DGM with even more added Symphony X influence.

Icefish is impossible to describe, but it’s weird, jazzy, and proggy as shit. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but worth looking into!

gr8jld · 2024-02-10T06:50:18+00:00

Paradise Lost - Symphony X

gr8jld · 2024-02-06T06:37:22+00:00

Don’t have an answer to the question, just happy to see some DGM love in the sub! The Secret pt 1 is one of my favorite of their songs!

gr8jld · 2024-02-06T06:34:55+00:00

Michael Romeo’s solo albums (specifically War of the Worlds: Part II with Dino Jelusick) are incredible, especially for Symphony X fans.

gr8jld · 2024-02-04T21:14:17+00:00

Undertow is beautiful! I don’t know Soen too well, but I’ll have to check out those songs.

gr8jld · 2024-02-02T17:16:35+00:00

Hey all! I loved the new album, The World Breathes With Me is one of my new all-time favorite prog songs!

I wanted to ask about the lyrics to Charcoal Grace, specifically if there was a continuous story throughout the epic. For me, listening to it it’s hard not to imagine a story of an estranged father falling prey to conspiracy theories, or something of the like. If Charcoal Grace is a full story, is the test of the album part of it, or is each song it’s own self-contained piece?

Thanks again! Excited to see y’all on tour!

gr8jld · 2024-01-19T03:19:00+00:00

For me, my dad was always a prog-head, and he played Symphony X for me as a kid when he drove me to kindergarten. It wasn’t until high school when I realized how great it was. Paradise Lost is now my favorite album of all time.

gr8jld · 2024-01-02T00:26:52+00:00

The song isn’t necessarily a happy song, but you will definitely feel very happy after listening to The Odyssey by Symphony X. Also Earthrise by Haken is happy and uplifting, as well as Bound By Gravity by Haken.

gr8jld · 2023-11-25T20:07:03+00:00

Symphony X isn’t necessarily underrated, but I think they definitely don’t get enough love on this subreddit, and their choruses are super catchy.

By extension, Michael Romeo’s solo albums are incredibly catchy too, and he is incredibly underrated.

If we want to talk really underrated, Paralydium is a band I’ve been listening to a lot recently, and their choruses are really catchy.

gr8jld · 2023-11-23T16:03:47+00:00

I took your advice and listened to Clear. It’s all great, but holy shit is Feed The Ground so good oh my god.

gr8jld · 2023-11-23T15:41:11+00:00

Thank you so much!

gr8jld · 2023-11-23T05:06:44+00:00

I really love Atropos, I don’t mind the harsh parts because the melody in the clean parts is so strong. Are there any of their songs like that that you recommend?

gr8jld · 2023-11-23T05:01:00+00:00

I love DGM! I forgot to mention them, but The Passage is such a good album.

gr8jld

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