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Morphing Boundaries: 11 Progressive Bands You Need To Hear
11/03/1999 5:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Bryan Reesman
Utter the term "progressive rock" to your average music fan or critic and you will undoubtedly provoke a bemused smirk or grimace. Despite the fact that the term has always meant fusing genres together to create something new, its mainstream connotations are mired in '70s stereotypes associated with bands like Yes, Genesis, and ELP: really long songs often divided into suites, mandatory Mellotron solos, frequent poaching of themes from the work of classical composers, and odd time signatures. Now, none of these things are necessarily bad, yet thanks to its perceived past excesses, prog has somehow found itself in the ironic position of being typecast as an antiquated rock subgenre. It probably doesn't help that some of the music's fans can't seem to escape the '70s.
Shirking stereotypes, established veterans of the progressive scene, as well as members of its latest wave, seek to expand aural frontiers in spite of genre requirements. Indeed, if one's music is truly progressive, then there are no rules to begin with. With progress in mind, here are some new and old artists who have successfully broken down musical boundaries in the name of art. The difference between these artists and supposedly "adventurous" mainstream ones is that while the latter seek to change the world in minute steps--like sampling a sitar or didgeridoo and misguidedly thinking they've made their own form of world music--the former are gobbling up as many ideas as they can and assimilating them into impressive new constructs.
ART ZOYD - Cousins of a sort to Univers Zero (more on them below), the exotic French quartet Art Zoyd co-produced the new UZ album, and UZ drummer Daniel Denis has been recording with AZ on their last couple of efforts, modern soundtracks to the silent films Faust and Haxan (both on Atonal). However, AZ's music has less of an acoustic base than UZ's. Loosely categorizable as Gothic electronic chamber jazz-rock (say that 10 times fast), these imaginative musicians have amassed an impressive catalog over their 30-year history, meshing synths with strings and rock sounds. Their best works make perfect soundtracks for your nightmares, contrasting delicate musings with frightening bombast, particularly on their ultra-creepy score to the silent film Nosferatu (Mantra). Art Zoyd want to keep their listeners from getting complacent. Yet their frequent shifts in dynamics are often jarring and unexpected, unlike the quiet-loud tradeoffs which have become super-cliché in the indie rock world. AZ members Thierry Zaboitzeff and Patricia Dallio have also released their own solo albums over the years. For further info, access www.cicv.fr/reseau/epidemic/geo/index.html and click on the Art Zoyd icon.
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| Braindance |
BRAINDANCE - This New York ensemble have proclaimed themselves "progressive darkwave," an apt description of their gloom-laden sound. Currently putting the finishing touches on their third full-length album, Redemption, Braindance have shed the more blatant prog stylings of their last opus, Fear Itself (Double Edge Music), opting for a slightly more metallic edge and shorter tunes that will still appeal to their loyal audience. Sebastian Elliott's distinctively deep vocals (reminiscent of Type O Negative's Peter Steele) and Vora Vor's catchy, futurist guitar riffology (she reports influences as varied as X-Files composer Mark Snow, science fiction, Expressionist painting, and musique concrete) highlight dramatic, keyboard-laced atmospheres that would have made a perfect alternate soundtrack for The Crow. For further info, access www.progressivedarkwave.com.
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| Fates Warning |
FATES WARNING - They began life in the early '80s as a highly technical, Iron Maiden-influenced group with original singer John Arch. Over the years, they've changed some members, acquired a more palatable frontman (Ray Alder), and integrated keyboards into an enhanced, atmospheric metal sound. Their last release, the concept-driven A Pleasant Shade Of Gray (Metal Blade), saw life as both an album and video and was also reproduced on their 1998 double-live album Still Life (Metal Blade). Both frontman Alder and guitarist Jim Matheos have released solo projects this year, the former with a modern metal outfit dubbed Engine--also featuring ex-Agent Steel guitarist Bernie Versailles, Fate To Face drummer Pete Parada, and Fates bassist Joey Vera--and the latter an acoustic-guitar driven, new-agey project with bassist Michael Manring, violinist Charlie Bisharat, and Fates drummer Mark Zonder. For further info, access www.fateswarning.com.
GLASS HAMMER - Founded in 1991 by multi-instrumentalists Stephen Babb and Fred Schendel, Glass Hammer began their career, according to Babb, "recording two electronic music albums for D&D role-playing games that led us toward a full-blown progressive rock project based on Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings trilogy." Their classically influenced sound, as displayed on their second album Perelandra (Arion Records), is epic without being alienating, played with conviction and musicality. The band members say that they draw from such diverse influences as prog legends Yes, ELP, Jethro Tull, and Genesis, literature like Tolkien, William Blake, and Ayn Rand, and cinema such as 2001 and David Lynch's Fire Walk With Me. Babb once commented that Glass Hammer have been accused "by hardcore prog critics as being 'accessible. I think by that they mean we have melody and decent vocals." Glass Hammer are currently in the studio working on their fourth full-length album, following last year's On To Evermore. For further info, access www.glasshammer.com.
GORDIAN KNOT - Bassist/ keyboardist Sean Malone's instrumental project features an interesting guest ensemble on its self-titled debut (on Sensory/ Laser's Edge), including King Crimson guitarist Trey Gunn, Dream Theater bassist John Myung, and members of Cynic and Watchtower. Capably marrying metal virtuosity with jazz inflections and mildly brain-scrambling riffs, Gordian Knot are not the easiest band to digest the first or second time around, but as that music-critic cliché goes, each subsequent listen brings new elements to the forefront. Sometimes certain repeated riffs are played against one another to produce different patterns, other times the songs focus on ever-shifting compositional structures. Definitely a band for brainiac chops-lovers, Gordian Knot craft subtle, trance-inducing works that easily stand up to the music of their more rockin' counterparts. For further info, access http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~spm29386.
ILUVATAR - On their 1995 sophomore effort, Children (Kinesis), one can hear strong echoes of Marillion's ethereality in the guitar work of Dennis Mullin and traces of Jon Anderson in singer Glenn McLaughlin, and that's not a bad thing. Oh yeah, keyboardist Jim Rezek (who sounds like he's inspired by Genesis and Marillion) plays Mellotron, too. Unlike many of their prog brethren, though, the atmospheric Illuvatar are more a straightforward rock quintet with an affinity for lengthier-than-average rock songs occasionally played in uncommon time signatures. This promising Baltimore-area band will appeal to fans of prog and can act as a good transitional group for mainstream music listeners who want to explore the genre without being hammered by ultra-complex tunes early on. Their long-awaited third album, A Story Two Days Wide, is due out in early November. For further info, access www.kinesiscd.com/iluvatar.htm.
LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT - Okay, I didn't write about Dream Theater, the current mainstays of mainstream prog (check out the upcoming LAUNCH feature on them), but I just have to mention this side-project featuring DT skinbeater Mike Portnoy, DT six-string slinger John Petrucci, bassist Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson), and new DT inductee (and ex-Dixie Dreg) keyboardist Jordan Rudess. As described in my LAUNCH concert review of them earlier this year, LTE have an uncanny knack for stirring sundry musical forms--such as metal, jazz, and ambient--into a mouth-watering potpourri. Add expert musicianship and passionate delivery to the equation and you get their fantastic sophomore album, Liquid Tension Experiment 2 (Magna Carta). They are the best of the recent plethora of Dream Theater side-projects and ex-member projects, although the others--including Mullmuzzler, Chroma Key, Planet X, and Platypus--have all produced, at the very least, good efforts. For further info on LTE and all of these projects, access www.dreamtheater.net/index.htm.
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| Ozric Tentacles |
OZRIC TENTACLES - These merry potheads have patented a sound that's instantly recognizable after a few notes, making them a safe bet on Rock & Roll Jeopardy. In the Ozrics' world, rip-roaring metal guitars, alien synth effects, dub undercurrents, prog aesthetics, and ethnic influences all coalesce into a surreal sonic stew. Titles like "Vita Voom" and "Sploosh!" say it all. From album to album, specific types of Ozric songs frequently recur, which has led critics to accuse them of formulaic songwriting, but this English quintet have managed to reinvent their own ideas often enough. Over the course of 14 original albums (and numerous live discs), they've explored ambient nebulae, psychedelic jams, and spaced-out heavy rockers in their own inimitable manner. Their newest album is WaterFall Cities (Phoenix Rising), though the uninitiated may be better served by the recent Curious Corn and early-'90s nuggets Strangeitude and Jurassic Shift. For further info, access www.execpc.com/~mwerning/index.html.
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| Porcupine Tree |
PORCUPINE TREE - Since they began recording in 1989 (their American debut was 1995's The Sky Moves Sideways on C&S Records), England's Porcupine Tree have steadily moved away from blatant prog-rock maneuvers into more accessible territory. But that doesn't mean that the brainchild of singer/ guitarist Steven Wilson has lost its edge. The quartet have kept their spacey Pink Floyd influences intact, but they are more organic than electronic and have opted for more straightforward songwriting on their latest epic, Stupid Dream (Snapper). The new disc is quite diverse in its own right, supported by an undercurrent of subtle guitar and synth effects. "Even Less" opens the album with serene strings and languid electric slide guitar before launching into a composition contrasting chunky metal riffs with gentle, string-laden verses. "Pure Narcotic" is introspective folk-rock with a Floydian atmosphere, while the group-penned instrumental "Tinto Brass," with its lively flute work, driving bass, and metronomic busy signal, recalls the psychedelic loopiness of Ozric Tentacles. For further info, access www.nomansland.demon.co.uk.
SOMNAMBULIST - Produced by Stephen and Fred from Glass Hammer, Somnambulist's eponymous 1996 debut (on Laser's Edge) offers a wild amalgam of psychedelic, progressive, and classic rock with a touch of classical influences. It's a bizarre mixture that works. At the time of the album's release, bassist/ co-songwriter Terry Clouse said, "It could be called contemporary progressive. We didn't intend to do this, but it's almost like a marriage between the retro-progressive sound and indie rock." Along with keyboardist Jody Park, the duo have toiled away on their sophomore effort with a reworked band lineup. Given that their influences range from Rachmaninoff to the Butthole Surfers, this Chattanooga, Tenn. band's next offering promises to be just as exciting as their idiosyncratic debut. For further info on the band and their label, access www.lasercd.com.
SPOCK'S BEARD - Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy is reportedly a fan of this quintet, which will no doubt be pegged by some as a heavy rock band by association with Metal Blade Records. The eclectic Spock's Beard have some of the aforementioned '70s prog elements in place, but they delve into different styles to keep things fresh on their engaging fourth studio album, Day For Night--take note of the AOR-style ballad "Can't Get It Wrong" and the snarling wah-wah aggression of "Mommy Comes Back," then contrast them with longer tracks like classic rocker "The Gypsy." Elements of hard rock, funk, jazz, and symphonic music all manifest themselves on Day For Night, and frontman Neal Morse has a vocal style which fits in well with mainstream rock tastes at the moment, giving his band added commercial appeal. In that regard, they've already won praise from Modern Drummer, Metal Edge, and Keyboard magazines. For further info, access www.spocksbeard.com.
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| Univers Zero |
UNIVERS ZERO - After 13 years of silence, this Belgian experimental ensemble recently reformed to release their six full-length album, The Hard Quest (Cuneiform). Describing Univers Zero is challenging--in his 1996 article on drummer Daniel Denis for Drummer Dude magazine, writer Scott Brazieal termed the group "a hybrid of edgy, dark progressive rock and Gothic modern classical...Captain Beefheart/ King Crimson meets Bartok/ Stravinsky." That's certainly a mouthful to swallow, but it's quite a savory one, potently combining the sounds of a rock band with woodwinds, brass, and string instruments. UZ co-founder/ guitarist/ vocalist Roger Trigaux, who does not appear on their new album, left in 1979 to record two albums with Present (both reissued on one CD by Cuneiform in 1989). He reformed that band in the early '90s, and they've recorded three studio albums and one live album since. The Gothic Present is a dark (and sometimes violently aggressive) jazz-rock group, and their last domestic release was 1998's well-crafted Certitudes (Cuneiform). Their new No6 is currently out in Belgium. For UZ info, access www.totalzoo.com/universzero, and for Present info, access www.totalzoo.com/present.
For those who want to delve deeper into the genre, check out the online Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock at www.progrock.net/GEPR/gepr.html.
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