Best Prog Rock Bands Currently? (Your opinions welcome)

Grumpyone1

Junior Member
Hello guys,

I am really into progressive rock, but I notice the good bands are often hard to find in this genre as of late. Karnivool is one of my favourites and just wondering whether anyone else had any recommendations/suggestions? (The Ipod is in need of some good music).
 
If you like Karnivool then I would think you would like:

Riverside (from Poland).

Katatonia, although they are not as prog, they have some prog elements.

The newest Fates Warning album is fantastic.

And you might want to check out Orphaned Land. They mix a lot of middle eastern rhythms with western rock, which gives them a very prog feel.
 
If you like Karnivool then I would think you would like:

Riverside (from Poland).

Katatonia, although they are not as prog, they have some prog elements.

The newest Fates Warning album is fantastic.

And you might want to check out Orphaned Land. They mix a lot of middle eastern rhythms with western rock, which gives them a very prog feel.

Thanks dude! Riverside are brilliant, I have heard quite a bit of their stuff already. I'll give the others a check.
 
Tool is my favorite band,so I am inclined to include them on any list of best bands. However, they have not released anything in quite some time, so I hesitate to say they are the best prog band CURRENTLY.

This is actually tough as all of my favorite prog bands are on hiatus (porcupine tree), broken up (mars volta) or have decided that one album per decade is enough (tool). So I guess my answer is Coheed and Cambria. They are only a few years removed from their last album and by all reports are making new music to be released soon. It is a shame that Chris Penne is gone, hopefully his successor can fill his shoes.
 
Goodness me. Three replies and no mention of the best of them all, King Crimson?!

The first album ('In The Court of the Crimson King') is the birth of some of the more aggressive prog, then moving onto 'Larks' Tongues in Aspic' and 'Red' with parts of 'Starless and Bible Black' being absolute must-owns. 'Red' in particular because of its energy and raw aggression (although it's not my favourite of the three). If you're up for weird, haphazard and not-entirely-successful 'Lizard' is there too. Odd rhythms, you go to 'Discipline'.

What marks King Crimson out for me is the grit, aggression and darkness you get in a lot of the material. I like that an awful lot.

EDIT: If you were asking for current bands, I could still put King Crimson in there. The modern prog scene bores me, frankly and I get my kicks out of noise and glitch.
 
Tool (or any band for that matter) can take all the time they want imo. I'd rather have quality than quantity.

And as I get older, the period of time I consider "current" gets longer. When I was a kid "current" meant 1, maybe 2 years. Now it's more like 10.
 
I know of another band in Australia called 'Dead Letter Circus', they have roots from Progressive Rock and it's really aggressive. (Check out their first album 'This Is The Warning'). It has elements of electric as well but it's mainly prog rock in my eyes.
 
Opeth
Tool
Porcupine Tree
Intronuat
Cynic
The Mars Volta
Enslaved

Goodness me. Three replies and no mention of the best of them all, King Crimson?!

Leprous (listen to Bilateral. They're basically the Norwegian Mars Volta.)
Symphony X
Threshold
Russian Circles (Kinda.)
Truckfighters (also kinda. Some prog elements in a haze of stoner metal goodness,)
Stoned Jesus
Obsidian Kingdom
Haken
Isis (technically post-metal, but Isis is so heavy yet light that it's prog to me.Also broken up, but worth a look if you don't know them.)
Om (also kinda. Unclassifiable music.)
 
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Currently?

Animals as Leaders
Periphery
Intervals
Mastodon (modern day metal version of Yes)
Structures

Some might consider those to be more prog-metal, but I really like all of them.
 
Haken
Leprous
Tesseract
Porcupine Tree
Steven Wilson
Coheed And Cambria
Animals As Leaders
The Devin Townsend Project
Illusive Man (shamless self promotion.... checkout some of our stuff here)

-Jonathan
 
Being an old fart and not to familiar with some of the current bands other than Porkupine Tree.
King Crimson
Yes
ELP
Genesis
Pink Floyd
Rush
Dream Theater
Mothers of Invention..to name a few
 
Another old fart here. With the reformation of King Crimson, I'd have to say they are my currently working prog group.

Stick Men with Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto, and Markus Reuter make some pretty incredible music too.

Croc
 
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Probably the most under-rated prog rock band in the history of the genre....still as good now as they were way back...

Marillion
 
Have a listen to "Frost", an offshoot of the UK prog band "It Bites".
I think you will like...
 
Check out Spock's Beard, I really love the album V.

I tend to lean towards the older bands since, well I am older,

In no particular order

ELP
Kansas
Dixie Dregs
Rush
Marillion
Jethro Tull
YES


And of course Dream Theater
 
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