I had a few more awards in mind while compiling these lists, and will club them here just so we can get down to business with the big-hitters during the next couple of days. These are Best Guitar Solo on a Song (A new one!), Best Guest Performance on a Song, Best Instrumental Song and Best Debut Album. The number of nominees would differ from list to list, and there are Spotify playlists created for each of them. Since I don’t want this post to drag, I will leave explanations to the minimum. The disclaimer remains the same…
Disclaimer:
- Everyone has different definitions about which band, album and song is progressiveand which isn’t. For simplicity, I have stuck to bands classified as progressive rock or metal either on rateyourmusic.com and occasionally based on what I think. Albums with prog as subgenres are included.
- When it is says Song in the title, it specifically means a song belonging to an album by a band classified as progressive based on point 1.
- EPs or Live Albums not considered for any of the performance lists, I intend to have separate awards for them.
- Only one track per album, and Between the Buried and Me’s Automata double albums have been combined so more bands get exposure.
Best Guitar Solo in a Song
Criteria for Judgement: I have chosen solos that are fairly technical and, more significantly, have a notable influence on the song. If I have to give a rank to the solos: 16 to 20 are a seven out of ten, 11 to 15 an eight, 2 to 10 are a nine and the winner is a ten. However, they are all absolutely brilliant, do check out each one. The order of the songs within the same tier doesn’t matter.
20) Carrion Tide (Augury – Illusive Golden Age): Solo at 3:39
19) Putrid Fairytale (Slugdge – Esoteric Malacology): Solo at 3:58
18) Maestrick (I A.M. Living – Espresso Della Vita: Solare): Solo at 2:53
17) Ruby Pool (VOLA – Applause of a Distant Crowd): Solo at 2:45
16) Peykruve (Boss Keloid – Melted on the Inch): Solo at 6:04
15) Believe (Michael Romeo – War of the Worlds, Pt. 1): Solo at 6:05
14) Withdrawal (Barren Earth – A Complex of Cages): Solo at 3:45
13) Ashes of Dawn (The Sea Within – The Sea Within): Solo at 2:53
12) Veil (Haken – Vector): Solo at 10:10
11) Seekers of the Truth (In Vain – Currents): Solo(s) at 4:17
10) The Proverbial Bellow (Between the Buried and Me – Automata II): Solo at 7:23
9) Vale of Tears (Riverside – Wasteland): Solo at 3:39
8) Terence (Keor – Petrichor): Solo at 6:05
7) Chains Fall to Gravity (Orphaned Land – Unsung Prophets and Dead Messiahs): Solo at 6:11
6) Emergent Evolution (Obscura – Diluvium): Solo(s) at 2:43
5) Devotion – Blood for Ink (Horrendous – Idol): Solo(s) at 4:50
4) Sámr (Ihsahn – Ámr): Solo at 3:22
3) Subtle Change (Rivers of Nihil – Where Owls Know My Name): Solo at 6:16
2) Liquid Anatomy (Alkaloid – Liquid Anatomy): Solo at 3:22
WINNER! Cries for the Lonely (Southern Empire – Civilisation): Solo(s) at 16:07
Thoughts – The outro of the song comprises of a wave of solos, crashing and pulling you back in just as you’ve had a second to breathe: Utterly breathtaking stuff.
(They’re not even the only ones on the track, there’s a good bunch of ones at 11:39 that could’ve made it to the list on their own.)
Here’s the Spotify playlist of all the above tracks:
Best Guest Performance in a Song
Criteria for Judgement: How influential was the addition of a guest performer to the song? Could be anything in theory, but unintentionally the list only has guest vocals, saxophone sections and guitar solos.
15) Alissa White-Gluz [harsh vocals] on ‘Black Widow’s Web’ (Angra – Ømni)
14) Matthew Heafy [clean vocals] on ‘Soul Adventurer’ (In Vain – Currents)
13) Daniel Gildenlöw [clean vocals] on ‘Night’s Descending’ (Kingcrow – The Persistence)
12) Jakub Zytecki [guitar solo] on ‘Desire’ (Harvs – Illuminate)
11) Ester Rada [clean vocals] on ‘Choice’ (Yossi Sassi & The Oriental Rock Orchestra – Currents)
10) Marjana Semkina [clean vocals] on ‘Some Kind of Drowning’ (Subsignal – La Muerta)
9) Michael Mills [clean vocals] on ‘Deathless’ (Ostura – The Room)
8) Rob Townsend [saxophone] on ‘Ashes of Dawn’ (The Sea Within – The Sea Within)
7) Zach Strauss [saxophone] on ‘The Silent Life’ (Rivers of Nihil – Where Owls Know My Name)
6) Anneke van Giersbergen [clean vocals] on ‘Amongst Stars’ (Amorphis – Queen of Time)
5) Steve Hackett [guitar solo] on ‘Chains Fall to Gravity’ (Orphaned Land – Unsung Prophets and Dead Messiahs)
4) Jonas Renkse [clean vocals] on ‘Devonian: Nascent’ (The Ocean – Phanerozoic I: Palaezoic)
3) Bruce Lamont [saxophone] on ‘Upended’ (Howling Sycamore – Howling Sycamore)
2) Anneke van Giersbergen [clean vocals] on ‘Epilogie: Fly (IV)’ (Lux Terminus – The Courage to Be)
WINNER! Martina Horváth [clean vocals] on ‘Hajnali Csillag’ (Thy Catafalque – Geometria)
Thoughts – The song takes a good while to build, but culminates through Horváth’s soft, dulcet phrases, which play along Katai’s melodies in the most perfect manner.
Here’s the Spotify playlist of all the above tracks:
Best Instrumental Song
Criteria for Judgement: Are the riffs well contructed and/or the melodies momerable? Do the instrumentalists strive to continuously engage the listener in the absence of vocals? All the songs on the list tick both these boxes. The order is just personal favouries. I’ve mostly stuck to instrumental albums, as well as those instrumentals that aren’t short (< ~ four minutes) interlude concepts or acoustic breaks.
15) ‘Old Continent I’ (Atumatu – Duma)
14) ‘Love Juice’ (Owane – Yeah Whatever)
13) ‘Arktos I: Division’ (Nautilus – The Oceanwalker)
12) ‘Samvega Returns’ (RXYZYXR – II of V)
11) ‘Temptation’ (Harvs – Illuminate)
10) ‘Like a River’ (Long Distance Calling – Boundless)
9) ‘Battle Theme’ (Jarod Fedele – A Collection of Color)
8) ‘Message Sonore’ (Augury – Illusive Golden Age)
7) ‘Kaleidoscope’ (Gleb Kolyadin – Gleb Kolyadin)
6) ‘The Struggle for Survival’ (Riverside – Wasteland)
5) ‘CMF 9000’ (Tauk – Shapeshifter II: Outbreak)
4) ‘Gőte’ (Thy Catafalque – Geometria)
3) ‘Electrocommunion’ (Lux Terminus – The Courage to Be)
2) ‘Trading Shadows’ (Night Verses – From the Gallery of Sleep)
WINNER! ‘Nil by Mouth‘ (Haken – Vector)
Thoughts – Filled with dynamic and twisting riffs, moments of craziness (My jaw dropped when I first heard the intro), throwbacks (Cockroach King!), ‘Nil by Mouth’ is so good it even manages to make djent fun and snappy.
Here’s the Spotify playlist of all the above tracks:
Best Debut Album
Criteria for Judgement: Based on the four criteria: songwriting and lyrics, originality, execution and production. Consistency in the first criterion is the most important among them. Albums that have high replay value usually find themselves higher up on these lists.
#10 Sunless Dawn – Timeweaver
Genre – Progressive Metal, Death Metal (Harsh Vocals)
Thoughts – Timeweaver is a very mature debut, especially considering the progressive death genre is a hard one to crack. The album has both melodic, softer moments and crushingly heavy ones and the way they transition into each other is what makes the album work.
Links – YouTube // Spotify // Bandcamp // Apple Music
#9 Nautilus – The Oceanwalker
Genre – Progressive Metal, Post Metal (Instrumental)
Thoughts – Nautilus’ debut effort has heavy riffs, post- surrounds, appropriate calmer moments and the occasional surprise (Such as the sax on the very first track). Without ever needing to be overtly technical, this instrumental album remains engaging thanks to the band’s ability to consistently build atmosphere.
Links – YouTube // Spotify // Bandcamp // Apple Music
#8 Them Moose Rush – Don’t Pick Your Noise
Genre – Alternative Rock, Progressive Rock (Clean Vocals)
Thoughts – Using influences from both the indie world and progressive bands such The Mars Volta, Don’t Pick Your Noise is a fun debut effort, driven by Nikola Runjavec‘s infectious vocal style and catchy instrumentation.
Links – YouTube // Spotify // Bandcamp // Apple Music
#7 Hago – Hago
Genre – Progressive Metal (Instrumental, Guest Clean Vocals)
Thoughts – Hago’s selt-titled debut uses a whole array of influences from jazz, djent and oriental melodies to create their unique ‘falafel djent’ signature sound.
Links – YouTube // Spotify // Bandcamp // Apple Music
#6 Jarod Fedele – A Collection of Color
Genre – Progressive Rock (Instrumental)
Thoughts – A Collection of Color is an ambitious double LP, with a whopping forty-minute closer. Despite its length, the usage of arcade and video game sounds and Fedele’s extraordinary skill on the keys keep you on your toes.
Links – YouTube // Spotify // Bandcamp // Apple Music
#5 Gleb Kolyadin – Gleb Kolyadin
Genre – Progressive Rock, Jazz Fusion (Instrumental, Guest Clean Vocals)
Thoughts – Gleb Kolyadin, best known as the pianist of the Russian group iamthemorning, impresses on his debut self-titled album that combines a classical core with an array of guest musicians reknowned in the progressive rock scene.
Links – YouTube // Spotify // Bandcamp // Apple Music
#4 The Sea Within – The Sea Within
Genre – Progressive Rock, Art Rock (Clean Vocals)
Thoughts – The newly formed supergroup featuring the likes of Daniel Gildenlöw, Marco Minneman, Roine Stolt, among others, escapes the “too many masters spoil the broth” syndrome, creating a record with both a classic prog core and a modern sound.
Links – Spotify // Apple Music
#3 Immortal Guardian – Age of Revolution
Genre – Power Metal, Progressive Metal (Clean / Mixed Vocals)
Thoughts – Age of Revolution might not do much new, but the strong points that you expect from a prog-power record – powerful vocals, bombastic intros and memorable riffs – it does expertly well.
Links – YouTube // Spotify // Bandcamp // Apple Music
#2 Howling Sycamore – Howling Sycamore
Genre – Progressive Rock, Art Rock (Clean Vocals)
Thoughts – Howling Sycamore’s progressive metal with avant-garde flourishes including crying solos, ambitious ‘free-style’ vocals and Grossmann‘s busy drumming make it an essential release of the year.
Links – YouTube // Spotify // Bandcamp // Apple Music
WINNER! Lux Terminus – The Courage to Be
Genre – Progressive Rock, Jazz Fusion (Instrumental, Guest Clean Vocals)
Thoughts – Lux Terminus is one of several keys-driven albums on this list, but is more varied and original, featuring a thunderous style of playing and production termed as ‘plonk’, the djent equivalent on keys. Add in a cameo from Anneke van Giersbergen and perfect production, and you have a debut album that is also a strong contender for the overall album of the year.
Links – YouTube // Spotify // Bandcamp // Apple Music
Here’s the Spotify playlist of all the above tracks:
It is highly likely I missed a few contenders for the above lists, so would love to know your nominees for the above lists! 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! )
PD's Prog Blog 