We’re coming to the end of this year’s awards, and the guitar list mostly reflects the albums that would make it to the top albums list, so I’ve left it for late. This was the first list where I truly felt guilty excluding a few contenders, but the upside is they should feature on the giant best album list that I have in mind. The disclaimer one more time…

Disclaimer:

  1. Everyone has different definitions about which band, album and song is progressive and which isn’t. For simplicity, I have stuck to albums classified as progressive rock or metal either on rateyourmusic.com and occasionally based on what I think. Most of the albums with prog as a subgenre are included.
  2. When it is says Song in the title, it specifically means a song belonging to an album classified as progressive based on point 1.
  3. EPs or Live Albums not considered for any of the performance lists, I intend to have separate awards for them.
  4. Only one track per album, and Between the Buried and Me’s Automata double albums have been combined so more bands get exposure.

Criteria for Judgement:

Three criteria for judging the guitar: Riffs, riffs and riffs. Memorable melodies and solos obviously have added value, but are relatively meaningless if the riffs are generic.

A playlist with the entire list in order, including the special mentions, is at the bottom of the page. Scroll on!

Special Mentions

Patrick Loisel and Mathieu Marcotte on ‘Mater Dolorosa’ (Augury – Illusive Golden Age)

Nick DePirro on ‘Trading Shadows’ (Night Verses – From the Gallery of Sleep)

Matt Knox and Damian Herring on ‘Devotion – Blood for Ink’ (Horrendous – Idol)

Sam Harchik on ‘Quest’ (Aviations – The Light Years)

Mariusz Duda on ‘Acid Rain’ (Riverside – Wasteland)

Gabriel Guardian on ‘Awake’ (Immortal Guardian – Age of Revolution)

Esa Holopainen and Tomi Koivusaari on ‘The Bee’ (Amorphis – Queen of Time)

Robin Staps on ‘Silurian: Age of Sea Scorpions’ (The Ocean – Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic)

Chen Balbus and Idan Amsalem on ‘The Cave’ (Orphaned Land – Unsung Prophets and Dead Messiahs)

Johnar Håland and Kjetil Pedersen on ‘Origin’ (In Vain – Currents)

 

#10

Victor Miranda Martin on ‘Petrichor’ (Keor – Petrichor)

Genre –  Progressive Rock (Clean Vocals)

Thoughts – The only song on the list that has a big influence of the acoustic guitar. The melodies are lush and the build-up as well as follow-through to the song’s Wilson-ish heavier moments is exquisite.

#9

Magnus and Pontus on ‘Withering’ (Agrimonia – Awaken)

Genre – Atmospheric Sludge Metal,  Progressive Metal (Harsh Vocals)

Thoughts – Highlights include overwhelming atmospherics and sharp riffing (See 5:37, 6:27) that complement the harshes beautifully.

#8

Joe Gosney on ‘Slow Seas’ (Black Peaks – All that Divides)

Genre – Progressive Rock, Post-Hardcore (Mixed Vocals)

Thoughts – The guitarist (on the entire album) uses the Mastodon sound better than the band itself in recent memory. Lookout for the section from 3:20.

 

#7

Brody Uttley and Jon Topore on ‘The Silent Life’ (Rivers of Nihil – Where Owls Know My Name)

Genre – Progressive Metal, Technical Death Metal (Mixed Vocals)

Thoughts – Notice how the guitars take things up a notch during the chorus.

#6

Richard Henshall and Charles Griffiths on ‘Puzzle Box’ (Haken – Vector)

Genre –  Progressive Metal (Clean Vocals)

Thoughts – It has the sort of intense riffing that we’ve come to expect from the Haken classics, with its chorus and outro especially reminiscent of ‘The Architect’. And how cool is the chord progression at 3:00?

#5

Paul Waggoner and Dustie Waring on ‘The Proverbial Bellow’ (Between the Buried and Me – Automata II)

Genre –  Progressive Metal (Mixed Vocals)

Thoughts – I complained when the first Automata released that Waggonner seemed to have a lost a tad bit of influence in the writing. Two months later ‘The Proverbial Bellow’ comes along and I look like a complete fool. I’m not complaining though..

 

#4

Steffen Kummerer and Rafael Trujillo on ‘Clandestine Stars’ (Obscura – Diluvium)

Genre – Technical Death Metal, Progressive Metal (Harsh Vocals)

Thoughts –  Complex riffs with rigorous noodling that are also a load of fun to listen = ideal tech death guitar.

 

#3

Morean, Danny Tunker and Christian Muenzner on ‘Chaos Theory and Practice’ (Alkaloid – Liquid Anatomy)

Genre – Progressive Metal, Technical Death Metal (Mixed Vocals)

Thoughts – The guitars are the major force behind the bouncy, reggae-style signature sound of the song.

#2

Danny Lopresto, Cam Blokland and Sean Timms on ‘The Crossroads’ (Southern Empire –  Civilisation)

Genre – Progressive Rock (Clean Vocals)

Thoughts – A thirty minute song that has more memorable guitar moments than most bands’ discographies: the Pink-Floydish solo around 6 minutes in, exuberant heavier sections (about 12 minutes in, for example)… I could go on but discover them for yourself!

 

WINNER!

Matt Moss and Kev Pearson on ‘War Squids’ (Slugdge – Esoteric Malacology)

Genre –  Death Metal, Progressive Metal (Harsh / Mixed Vocals)

Thoughts – The whole album is a treasure trove of riffs, hard-hitting and incredibly varied. I could pick any song and place it here, they are all winners.

 

What are your favourite guitar moments and / or tracks from 2018?

Would love to hear from you! Let me know either in the comments here, on Facebook or on Instagram. You can follow me on Spotify (You might get a sneak peak of the awards a day in advance! )

Here’s the Spotify playlist of all the above tracks: