Your way in
Instrumental prog metal 1995
No vocals: the melody is carried by guitar or keyboard, and the structure can be as complex as it likes.
- Heaviness
- 7
- Speed
- 7
- Melody
- 7
- Where from
- Global
- Tempo
- 100-180 bpm
- Song length
- 5-9 min
- Written about
- None - the music is the argument, Structure, Motion, Landscape, by title
- Vocals
- Instrumental
Why this one
| You said | Instrumental prog metal | Match | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| No words at all When someone is singing, what should come out? | instrumental | 100% | ×3 |
| As heavy as it gets How much weight do you want behind it? | 7 out of 10 | 70% | ×2 |
| As fast as anyone can play What pace? | 7 out of 10 | 70% | ×2 |
| Somewhere else entirely What should the words be about? | None - the music is the argument, Structure, Motion, Landscape, by title | 50% | ×1 |
| No. Texture and force are enough. Do you want a tune you could hum afterwards? | 7 out of 10 | 40% | ×1 |
| Weighted mean | 74% | ||
Ranked over all 150 genres in the encyclopedia, on the 5 answers you gave, weighted vocals 3, heaviness 2, pace 2, about 1, melody 1 out of 9. Instrumental prog metal leads the next by 4 points. Where two genres score the same the broader one wins, because a genre with subgenres under it is somewhere to carry on from and a leaf is a full stop.
Five records, in this order
- 1Start one step outside
Opeth, Blackwater Park 2001
Opeth - Blackwater Park. Growls and acoustic guitar in one song, and nothing forced about it.
- 2The one to put on first
Animals as Leaders, Animals as Leaders 2009
Animals as Leaders - the debut. Tosin Abasi plays eight strings as if it were normal.
- 3Then
- 4Then
- 5Then
The first is the entry point for Progressive metal, one step outside, so the second record has something to be heard against. After it come Instrumental prog metal's essential records in the order the encyclopedia lists them. Every one of these has a page here with links out to somewhere it can be played.
If that is not it
-
Technical thrash 70%
Thrash with dissonant chords, odd meters and bass up front. The bridge between thrash and progressive metal.
4 steps from Instrumental prog metal, meeting it only at Heavy metal.
The way into Technical thrash -
Drone metal 69%
Sustained notes at extreme volume, with almost no rhythm. You listen with your body more than your ears.
4 steps from Instrumental prog metal, meeting it only at Heavy metal.
The way into Drone metal
Not simply the second and third of the ranking: those are almost always near neighbours of the first, which is three names for one suggestion. An alternate has to sit at least 4 steps through the tree from the headline and from the other alternate, which is the same floor the "sounds like this, but isn't" panel uses.
What your answers ruled out
- No words at all put 33 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Black metal, Death metal, Grindcore. Worth 3 of 9.
- As heavy as it gets put 13 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Rock and roll, Folk rock, Country rock. Worth 2 of 9.
- As fast as anyone can play put 4 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Doom metal, Drone metal, Funeral doom. Worth 2 of 9.
- Somewhere else entirely put 106 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Punk rock, Hardcore punk, Alternative rock. Worth 1 of 9.
- No. Texture and force are enough. put 40 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Folk metal, Folk rock, Emo. Worth 1 of 9.
Counted as genres scoring 20% or less on that answer alone. A recommendation that only shows what it chose is hiding half of what it did.