Progressive Insurance, “bundle and save”. Wait… wrong progressive. In this case, progressive refers to the genre and its tendency to push boundaries of what comfortably fits within that genre. As a sub-genre, progressive music exists in any genre where people are finding how the concept of that genre can be mutated and changed to create interesting and new musical stylings. In this post though, I will be focussing on specifically progressive metal as a genre.
A very brief history of Progressive Metal
Progressive metal doesn’t have a clear origin because of its inherent vagueness in its definition. The main problem is that music that is progressive today can become normal tomorrow if it becomes popular. Something that used to be unique and different eventually has copy-cats (or at least people inspired by it) that create numerous new versions of the no longer unique style. Despite this, there are some albums that are still unique enough and far enough out there that they maintain a comfortable position as progressive metal.
Album 1: LATERALUS by Tool
This album, I would argue, is the album that people always think of. The weird time signatures, lesser known instruments, and complex song structure all contribute heavily to this. The song that demonstrates this most though is the title track. Throughout “Lateralus” there is repeated and intricate reference to divine geometry and other spiritual ideas. The delivery of the lyrics follows the Fibonacci sequence while simultaneously describing a creation story of how the world came to be. Even the album art (shown on the right) contributes to this atmosphere.
Album 2: REMEMBER THAT YOU WILL DIE by Polyphia
Compared to Tool, Polyphia is a much newer band in the progressive metal scene, but this is to their benefit as it allows them to push the envelope even further. The most famous song off this album is “Playing God” which has an amazingly complex guitar part that all aspiring progressive metal musicians wish they could play. Polyphia demonstrated that the key to progressive metal is not only the musical know-how to construct complex songs outside the normal but that one also needs the technical skills to bring those ideas into reality.
Album 3: OBZEN by Meshuggah
This album is another oldie, and arguably the most impactful in progressive metal history as it basically invented an entirely new sound. That sound in question is djent. There is still an argument if it’s a genre, a sub-genre, or just a trend, but ultimately it is an incredibly complex and popular form of progressive metal.
Album 4: I DISAGREE by Poppy
This album, and Poppy as an artist, push boundaries in a different way than these other entries. Rather than having experimental musical techniques in her songs, Poppy is just straight-up weird. For example, one of the things that first got her popular was a video of her just repeatedly saying “I’m Poppy” for 10 minutes straight, and it garnered an immense amount of views. This single video is emblematic of Poppy as a whole: odd but in an undeniably interesting way.
I don’t understand – what made Poppy famous, their music or the single video of some nonsensical endeavor? (was that part of a music video or completely unrelated?)
I like how you always find a refreshing original way to describe each album, that the descriptions aren’t drying out. What is “djent”? And how much lyricism is entrenched in this style?