Technical Metal Poll - Revisited !!

Dark Lord · September 19th, 2008, 06:28 PM

After an almost 2 year hiatus from this forum, and in desperate search of the best tech metal albums out there, I come back to you with another way more comprehensive poll after the one i posted almost 3 years ago in November 2005 which excluded alot of the major players in this genre. I hope this time around, my list is more representing and accurate for all you crazy tech metal fans out there.... choose wisely, you only get 1 pick (and yes, Spiral Architect's ASU is still excluded from this list for the obvious reasons) !!
My pick this time around has changed from Cynic's Focus to the Beyond God-like album "A Social Grace" by the demigods: Psychotic Waltz !!

Dark Lord · September 19th, 2008, 06:46 PM

* When it comes to Canvas Solaris, i'd rather choose Spatial/Design as their best, but the majority of C.S. fans prefer Penumbra Diffuse... as such, it is the one in the poll !

NeverMarty · September 20th, 2008, 03:31 AM

Nothing can touch WatchTower. I'd say Necrophagist belong in that list too, by the way (more so than some in there).

Tolis · September 20th, 2008, 04:46 AM

Watchtower for me..simply the best!

Muad'Dib · September 20th, 2008, 10:40 AM

I choose Gordian Knot (self-titled), but Twisted into form debut album was also awesome. And refreshing... as being less technical and more song oriented than most tech metal bands out there.

(I have to say that I prefer Emergent to GK.)

Does somebody know something about a possible GKIII?... I heard about it some years ago... and never again

.

Tolis · September 20th, 2008, 01:03 PM

Muad'Dib i agree with you ,Emergent is more melodic than the self-titled.And Twisted into form debut btw is great!I think that Sean Malone is busy right now with the new Cynic,he will play also to the tours (or not?) so until then ..but who knows..

sava · September 20th, 2008, 07:17 PM

it is a tie between Watchtower, Zero Hour and Psychotic Waltz for me

lars k norberg · September 21st, 2008, 08:39 AM

For me the tie is between Watchtower, Cynic and Psychotic Waltz (many of these others I haven't heard though). But - having to choose one - I go for Psychotic Waltz and A Social Grace; a sensational album, and Into The Everflow is almost as good!

Dark Lord · September 21st, 2008, 02:54 PM

I'm sure you all can browse the info from the internet, but to the lazy ones, here's a small glimpse about these great bands and artists (especially intended to highlight the more obscure ones):

- Aghora's self titled is basically Cynic's Seans (Malone & Reinert), the great Santiago Dobles (on guitars), and some unknown female vocalist. So basically, the music reeks of technical bliss and proficiency and the compositions are very well crafted around a solid rhythm performance by the Seans that never seize to amaze !

- Alarum are an Australian Quartet that play some really mind-boggling tech-death music... but with a human touch (i.e: not constant hammering like Necrophagist or Theory in Practice).

- At War With Self is Glenn Snelwar's brainchild (the "musician with a soul" who played on Gordian Knot's self-titled album... especially Reflections). He is accompanied by legendary bassist Michael Manring and Mark Zonder on percussions... so you can imagine the beauty on this one... if you fell in love with Gordian Knot's Reflections, this one can't fail you !!

- Atheist need no introduction. They are pioneers to this genre... but compared to what's out there right now in this field, i simply fail to see what this "Atheist" hype is all about !!

- "Behold... The Arctopus... From Hell" should be their name... their music is infernal. non-stop technical instrumental shred-mania... it's like having
Spastic Ink on steroids... and that's saying much because the Jarzombek's music tends to burn alot of raised eyebrows !! so imagine what these spawns of Satan are capable of doing !!

- Canvas Solaris are another instrumental tech-extreme band. But the difference from other entrees here is that this band has raised the bar for all technical instrumental music... 5 albums in 5 years... and each one stands out as a milestone in intrumental tech-metal history... so to speak !!

- Cynic... need i say more ?!

- Gordian Knot is Sean Malone's baby... another solid performance by the Cynic rhythm section here (Malone & Reinert) + they bring alot of talent to the table on this one, be it Ron Jarzombek and Glenn Snelwar on guitars, or Trey Gunn on Stick/Warr guitars, or even John Myung on stick !

- Linear Sphere is an all English tech-death metal band. Not absolutely staggering music... but well worth the listening experience.

- Psychotic Waltz: they may not be the pioneers of this genre, but they sure perfected it. If Spiral Architect's music on ASU can ever be compared to anybody else's music, Psychotic Waltz's "A Social Grace" would be the obvious choice in my opinion. I especially noticed this when i listened to the album for the first time (years after listening to "A Sceptic's Universe") and noticed the uncanny simalarities between PW's and SA's vocal orchestrations... and it just hit me... Oyvind must be a huge Buddy Lackey fan !! (well that's just my opinion)

- Spastic Ink... do i really need to describe these legends ?
JARZOMBEKS... enough said !!

- Theory In Practice: another gruesome brutal tech-metal band. I was lost between choosing Necrophagist's "Epitaph" or this album as part of the poll... but i ended up choosing TIP because "Colonizing The Sun" is way more technical musically than "Epitaph" eventhough the latter is infinately better.

- Thought Chamber is basically Prog-Rock legend Michael Harris. Add to this the rhythm section of Haji's Kitchen, Outworld's keyboardist, and some vocalist that i haven't heard of (ex-Enchant vocalist) and you have Thought Chamber. The musicianship is tight through and through, and the arrangements are mindblowing. Now this entry may not really fit into the tech-metal genre, but i've been listening to this album alot lately, and I couldn't resist adding it to the list !

- Twisted Into Form is very well known by all Spiral Architect fans since it has ex-SA members performing on this album, which makes it all the more desirable. But i honestly can't really put this band in Spiral Architect's league. Definately no comparison to ASU. But on it's own, "Then Comes Affliction..." can be considered a solid debut performance !

- Control & Resistance... No need for introductions here really. It's enough to say that it's Ron Jarzombek's debut work with Watchtower... a legendary album by all standards. Not my favorite band/album on this list though !

- Zero Hour: another tech metal band which elevated to star-status among fans of this genre due to their well-crafted intricately-layered compositions. "Towers of Avarice" is basically their most accomplished work to date... the last two albums are pretty fascinating as well.

noble savage · September 22nd, 2008, 12:16 PM

I only have about half of those albums, but out of them Cynic takes the cake. What an absolutely brilliant album! The 'synth' vocals took a long time to get used to, though.

blackorchidx · September 24th, 2008, 03:45 PM

necrophagist for me but some of the solos i cant stand, awesome band though

zacmenta · September 24th, 2008, 10:31 PM

I went with Atheist's 'Elements'.

Alarum, Cynic and Aghora's options are all amazing albums though, and I've been meaning to check out most of the other bands on the list.

Given the option, I would've gone with Ron Jarzombek's 'Solitarily Thinking of Theoretical Confinement' though.

progmetaldan · September 25th, 2008, 06:55 AM

^ I'm with ya there..

I had to go with Spastic Ink- Ink Complete for a couple of reasons... Some of those real classic albums are awesome, but I don't own some of them (shame on me) and I didn't want to choose something that I hadn't heard the whole thing... Also Ron Jarzombek is one of my favourite guitarists, and Ink Complete was probably the first 'tech-metal' album I ever heard, 'Eighths Is Enough' being the first song... So many awesome albums on that list though... I just picked up Aghora- Formless today, awesome stuff, I'll definately have to try and get hold of their self-titled as well with that line-up!

ThoughtLeech · September 25th, 2008, 05:34 PM

my god... how do you choose? i've heard a majority of them, including cynic, watchtower, aghora, atheist, spastic ink, twisted into form, zero hour, behold the arctopus, gordian knot....

but i gave my vote to canvas solaris. i prefer cynic's new album much more. i prefer zero hour's specs of pictures burnt beyond, but beyond that, i've really been digging canvas solaris recently.

Dark Lord · September 25th, 2008, 05:48 PM

yes, atomized dream is a gem... a blast from their past + a fresh twist on every single piece !!!

...but i still prefer Spatial/Design the most... don't know why really... listening to it always gives me a hightened sense of musical perfection... even with all the sloppy recording in mind (believe it or not)... i guess i fell in love with it the most because it was the first Canvas Solaris album I listened to !!

STINNETT · September 25th, 2008, 06:00 PM

I am intimately familiar with all of these albums, which I almost hate to say because I'm always hoping to discover some new and mind blowing band with stuff like this...

It may be partly a nostalgia thing for me, but I've gotta say that "Focus" has never been bumped from my top spot. It is musical brilliance from top to bottom and still technical enough to dazzle you.

A Social Grace is way up there too!

MAVIII · March 11th, 2009, 05:07 AM

I know this is an older post but . . .
First, GREAT list, I am fans of all

I haven't voted yet, but I'm leaning to Watchtower because I believe
this was a seminal "influence" on the direction of "Tech"/Thrash (1989)
to the term "Math Metal". . . . But, it wasn't the 1st for me.
Cacophony was almost 3 years prior (1987), I felt like the only one on
the Planet that heard of Marty Friedman and Jason Becker, even my
Metal friends at that time didn't get it!

I could include others, but I digress, I look at the list and say as the
beginning of this sub-genre of Prog goes, that was the one that
influenced this growing musics (Watchtower).
But, if I were to put up an Athiest title, I would have chosen
"An Unquestionable Presence", it was what Athiest wanted to achieve I
think, as "Elements" was a response of not doing the same thing
over again.
Its fast, it has CRAZY Time Signatures, Stops and Goes on a dime and
then goes LEFT, then Right, like on "Mother Man" for example ...NUTS!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utqWrkVEQvI

And it came out in 1991, so it is after the 2 stated above, but it took
what they did and made it "Heavier", so now it starts getting into
a Death Metal territory (remember, Screaming vocals back in the day
were considered Death Metal vocals along with the "Cookie Monster"
vox, think earlier "Death" or "Sepultura").

I have heard all the others as well and are in my collections. I am a
HUGE Psychotic Waltz fan, but I don't think they are as Technical
as most on the list, yet they are VERY technical, in-turn, most Metal
and Prog fans will get turned off by the rest because they are so
extreme!

I too would have put Necrophagist in there as well, they have taken it
to even another level. But I'm surprised no one has mentioned . . .
Meshuggah, this is the "otherside" of the Spiral Architect-type of Math
Metal, its not so much they're flying across the fret board with odd meter
passages and arpeggios, its got these gargantuan "Riffs" that chug in
the most insane timing/picking, like taking the main Riff in Metallica's
"Disposable Heroes" . . .
now play that, put your legs over your shoulders, spin around, and now
run in place! Then! . . . add a Lead that sounds like Allan Holdsworth
stepped in!
Its like SA's "opposite" but threads to the same Family.
If some have been turned off by them, I emplore all of you to listen to
samples from "Destroy Erase Improve", I think thats the album that
represents a "new sound" for the genre at the time and what was to
come(1995). As well as Guitarist Fredrik Thordendals Special
Defects (1997).

Aghora I have been requesting alot on PrOgulus.com, I'm dieing to find
it (I'm not a "mail order" kind of guy), its a great band and I LOVE that
it has a Female vocalist, gives Beauty to the brutality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_zCqifAoo
And the NEW Cynic album is fantastic, but to SEE Sean Rienert play
drums (With Meshuggah and The Faceless), what power and finesse!
(And Thomas Haak from 'Shuggah is no slouch!)

so Watchtower . . . yeah . . .

okay I'm done

.

(By the way, through some MIRACLE I "lost" everything I wrote

and then somehow re-traced back, with much trouble and
there it was!

. . . I think I need a vacation).

batmura · March 19th, 2009, 06:17 AM

Great list of bands. I voted for Zero Hour. Psychotic Waltz would probably be my second choice off of that list.

ginias_sahalin · April 15th, 2009, 02:35 PM

well, watchtower are great. psychotic waltz too..

thinkingplague · August 10th, 2009, 01:01 PM

Psychotic Waltz for me. Not a big fan of most of the other bands. However, Meshuggah or Blotted Science would've got my vote if they were included. Oh, and Behold.. the Arctopus are nice too, they play something I like to call "technical nonsense". Listening to them is very enjoyable, nevertheless. By the way, if you want to get deeper into this nonsense (and it's not an offensive term! it just means they play awkwardly weird things that never seem to chronologically and/or musically fit together. Still, lots of fun!), check out some of Mick Barr's project: Octis, Ocrilim, Orthrelm (have a split EP with Behold..) and Zach Hill & Mick Barr (which is, if I recall, exactly the same as Orthrelm. they just play different things here).

I suppose I got a little off-topic. Sorry. I'm a Mick Barr's addict.

xache2112 · August 12th, 2009, 12:05 AM

of those i'd probably pick The Towers of Avarice. it's got some really great industrial sounding riffs and an epic/futuristic sound to it that i've never heard from another band (maybe Meshuggah). you forgot one amazing band though... Martyr. their album's Hopeless Hopes and Warp Zone are classics in technical metal, in my opinion. and what about Dream Theater? i know they are more mainstream nowadays but you can't deny albums like Images and Words or Scenes From A Memory.

Headquake · August 12th, 2009, 02:11 PM

Psychotic Waltz-A Social Grace is a masterpiece and gets my vote.
Sieges Even-life Cycles should be included on this list as well

noble savage · August 12th, 2009, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Headquake

Psychotic Waltz-A Social Grace is a masterpiece and gets my vote.

I have been listening to this album all day today. Absolutely brilliant.

To rid you disease · August 26th, 2009, 01:50 PM

should have been unquestionable presence instead of elements.

point_of_uncertianty · August 29th, 2009, 03:37 AM

That was a tough decision to make. I absolutely love Twisted Into Form's first album. I ended up going with Cynic's Focus though because that is the album that opened so many doors to the genre and really got me into more bands of this kind. Although I don't think their is really another band quite like Cynic in all honesty.

View Poll Results: Which of the following strucks you as the best ?!
Aghora (self-titled)	0	0%
Alarum - Eventuality	0	0%
At War With Self - Torn Between Dimensions	0	0%
Atheist - Elements	2	3.77%
Behold... The Arctopus - Nano-Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning	1	1.89%
Canvas Solaris - Penumbra Diffuse	2	3.77%
Cynic - Focus	20	37.74%
Gordian Knot (self-titled)	1	1.89%
Linear Sphere - Reality Dysfunction	0	0%
Psychotic Waltz - A Social Grace	5	9.43%
Spastic Ink - Ink Complete	3	5.66%
Theory In Practice - Colonizing The Sun	1	1.89%
Thought Chamber - Angular Perceptions	0	0%
Twisted Into Form - Then Comes Affliction To Awaken The Dreamer	3	5.66%
Watchtower - Control And Resistance	9	16.98%
Zero Hour - The Towers Od Avarice	6	11.32%
Voters: 53. You may not vote on this poll

September 19th, 2008, 06:28 PM	#1 (permalink)
Dark Lord Reincarnation of Yourself Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Beirut, Lebanon Posts: 153	Technical Metal Poll - Revisited !! After an almost 2 year hiatus from this forum, and in desperate search of the best tech metal albums out there, I come back to you with another way more comprehensive poll after the one i posted almost 3 years ago in November 2005 which excluded alot of the major players in this genre. I hope this time around, my list is more representing and accurate for all you crazy tech metal fans out there.... choose wisely, you only get 1 pick (and yes, Spiral Architect's ASU is still excluded from this list for the obvious reasons) !! My pick this time around has changed from Cynic's Focus to the Beyond God-like album "A Social Grace" by the demigods: Psychotic Waltz !!

September 20th, 2008, 10:40 AM	#5 (permalink)
Muad'Dib Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 9	Gordian Knot (but it could have been Twisted into form's...) I choose Gordian Knot (self-titled), but Twisted into form debut album was also awesome. And refreshing... as being less technical and more song oriented than most tech metal bands out there. (I have to say that I prefer Emergent to GK.) Does somebody know something about a possible GKIII?... I heard about it some years ago... and never again.

September 21st, 2008, 02:54 PM	#9 (permalink)
Dark Lord Reincarnation of Yourself Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Beirut, Lebanon Posts: 153	A brief description about the bands listed above !! (If anyone's interested) I'm sure you all can browse the info from the internet, but to the lazy ones, here's a small glimpse about these great bands and artists (especially intended to highlight the more obscure ones): - Aghora's self titled is basically Cynic's Seans (Malone & Reinert), the great Santiago Dobles (on guitars), and some unknown female vocalist. So basically, the music reeks of technical bliss and proficiency and the compositions are very well crafted around a solid rhythm performance by the Seans that never seize to amaze ! - Alarum are an Australian Quartet that play some really mind-boggling tech-death music... but with a human touch (i.e: not constant hammering like Necrophagist or Theory in Practice). - At War With Self is Glenn Snelwar's brainchild (the "musician with a soul" who played on Gordian Knot's self-titled album... especially Reflections). He is accompanied by legendary bassist Michael Manring and Mark Zonder on percussions... so you can imagine the beauty on this one... if you fell in love with Gordian Knot's Reflections, this one can't fail you !! - Atheist need no introduction. They are pioneers to this genre... but compared to what's out there right now in this field, i simply fail to see what this "Atheist" hype is all about !! - "Behold... The Arctopus... From Hell" should be their name... their music is infernal. non-stop technical instrumental shred-mania... it's like having Spastic Ink on steroids... and that's saying much because the Jarzombek's music tends to burn alot of raised eyebrows !! so imagine what these spawns of Satan are capable of doing !! - Canvas Solaris are another instrumental tech-extreme band. But the difference from other entrees here is that this band has raised the bar for all technical instrumental music... 5 albums in 5 years... and each one stands out as a milestone in intrumental tech-metal history... so to speak !! - Cynic... need i say more ?! - Gordian Knot is Sean Malone's baby... another solid performance by the Cynic rhythm section here (Malone & Reinert) + they bring alot of talent to the table on this one, be it Ron Jarzombek and Glenn Snelwar on guitars, or Trey Gunn on Stick/Warr guitars, or even John Myung on stick ! - Linear Sphere is an all English tech-death metal band. Not absolutely staggering music... but well worth the listening experience. - Psychotic Waltz: they may not be the pioneers of this genre, but they sure perfected it. If Spiral Architect's music on ASU can ever be compared to anybody else's music, Psychotic Waltz's "A Social Grace" would be the obvious choice in my opinion. I especially noticed this when i listened to the album for the first time (years after listening to "A Sceptic's Universe") and noticed the uncanny simalarities between PW's and SA's vocal orchestrations... and it just hit me... Oyvind must be a huge Buddy Lackey fan !! (well that's just my opinion) - Spastic Ink... do i really need to describe these legends ? JARZOMBEKS... enough said !! - Theory In Practice: another gruesome brutal tech-metal band. I was lost between choosing Necrophagist's "Epitaph" or this album as part of the poll... but i ended up choosing TIP because "Colonizing The Sun" is way more technical musically than "Epitaph" eventhough the latter is infinately better. - Thought Chamber is basically Prog-Rock legend Michael Harris. Add to this the rhythm section of Haji's Kitchen, Outworld's keyboardist, and some vocalist that i haven't heard of (ex-Enchant vocalist) and you have Thought Chamber. The musicianship is tight through and through, and the arrangements are mindblowing. Now this entry may not really fit into the tech-metal genre, but i've been listening to this album alot lately, and I couldn't resist adding it to the list ! - Twisted Into Form is very well known by all Spiral Architect fans since it has ex-SA members performing on this album, which makes it all the more desirable. But i honestly can't really put this band in Spiral Architect's league. Definately no comparison to ASU. But on it's own, "Then Comes Affliction..." can be considered a solid debut performance ! - Control & Resistance... No need for introductions here really. It's enough to say that it's Ron Jarzombek's debut work with Watchtower... a legendary album by all standards. Not my favorite band/album on this list though ! - Zero Hour: another tech metal band which elevated to star-status among fans of this genre due to their well-crafted intricately-layered compositions. "Towers of Avarice" is basically their most accomplished work to date... the last two albums are pretty fascinating as well.

September 25th, 2008, 05:34 PM	#14 (permalink)
ThoughtLeech That Guy Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Buffalo, NY, USA Posts: 81	my god... how do you choose? i've heard a majority of them, including cynic, watchtower, aghora, atheist, spastic ink, twisted into form, zero hour, behold the arctopus, gordian knot.... but i gave my vote to canvas solaris. i prefer cynic's new album much more. i prefer zero hour's specs of pictures burnt beyond, but beyond that, i've really been digging canvas solaris recently. Last edited by ThoughtLeech : September 25th, 2008 at 05:36 PM.

September 19th, 2008, 06:46 PM	#2 (permalink)
Dark Lord Reincarnation of Yourself Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Beirut, Lebanon Posts: 153	* When it comes to Canvas Solaris, i'd rather choose Spatial/Design as their best, but the majority of C.S. fans prefer Penumbra Diffuse... as such, it is the one in the poll !

September 20th, 2008, 03:31 AM	#3 (permalink)
NeverMarty Awaiting Mathematics Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Holland, 5m below sea level and sinking... Posts: 190	Nothing can touch WatchTower. I'd say Necrophagist belong in that list too, by the way (more so than some in there).

September 20th, 2008, 04:46 AM	#4 (permalink)
Tolis Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Greece Posts: 9	Watchtower for me..simply the best!

September 20th, 2008, 01:03 PM	#6 (permalink)
Tolis Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Greece Posts: 9	Muad'Dib i agree with you ,Emergent is more melodic than the self-titled.And Twisted into form debut btw is great!I think that Sean Malone is busy right now with the new Cynic,he will play also to the tours (or not?) so until then ..but who knows..

September 20th, 2008, 07:17 PM	#7 (permalink)
sava zoplek Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Ankara-Turkey Posts: 75	it is a tie between Watchtower, Zero Hour and Psychotic Waltz for me

September 21st, 2008, 08:39 AM	#8 (permalink)
lars k norberg musician Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 64	For me the tie is between Watchtower, Cynic and Psychotic Waltz (many of these others I haven't heard though). But - having to choose one - I go for Psychotic Waltz and A Social Grace; a sensational album, and Into The Everflow is almost as good!

September 22nd, 2008, 12:16 PM	#10 (permalink)
noble savage King of Teegeeack Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Indiana Posts: 1,915	I only have about half of those albums, but out of them Cynic takes the cake. What an absolutely brilliant album! The 'synth' vocals took a long time to get used to, though.

September 24th, 2008, 03:45 PM	#11 (permalink)
blackorchidx Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 16	necrophagist for me but some of the solos i cant stand, awesome band though

September 24th, 2008, 10:31 PM	#12 (permalink)
zacmenta Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 192	I went with Atheist's 'Elements'. Alarum, Cynic and Aghora's options are all amazing albums though, and I've been meaning to check out most of the other bands on the list. Given the option, I would've gone with Ron Jarzombek's 'Solitarily Thinking of Theoretical Confinement' though.

September 25th, 2008, 06:55 AM	#13 (permalink)
progmetaldan Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: South Australia Posts: 5,824	^ I'm with ya there.. I had to go with Spastic Ink- Ink Complete for a couple of reasons... Some of those real classic albums are awesome, but I don't own some of them (shame on me) and I didn't want to choose something that I hadn't heard the whole thing... Also Ron Jarzombek is one of my favourite guitarists, and Ink Complete was probably the first 'tech-metal' album I ever heard, 'Eighths Is Enough' being the first song... So many awesome albums on that list though... I just picked up Aghora- Formless today, awesome stuff, I'll definately have to try and get hold of their self-titled as well with that line-up!

September 25th, 2008, 05:48 PM	#15 (permalink)
Dark Lord Reincarnation of Yourself Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Beirut, Lebanon Posts: 153	yes, atomized dream is a gem... a blast from their past + a fresh twist on every single piece !!! ...but i still prefer Spatial/Design the most... don't know why really... listening to it always gives me a hightened sense of musical perfection... even with all the sloppy recording in mind (believe it or not)... i guess i fell in love with it the most because it was the first Canvas Solaris album I listened to !!

September 25th, 2008, 06:00 PM	#16 (permalink)
STINNETT Hates Raymond Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: USA Posts: 1,785	I am intimately familiar with all of these albums, which I almost hate to say because I'm always hoping to discover some new and mind blowing band with stuff like this... It may be partly a nostalgia thing for me, but I've gotta say that "Focus" has never been bumped from my top spot. It is musical brilliance from top to bottom and still technical enough to dazzle you. A Social Grace is way up there too!

March 11th, 2009, 05:07 AM	#17 (permalink)
MAVIII Death/Math Metal/Prog Fan Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: lost angeless california Posts: 19	to damn hard . . . I know this is an older post but . . . First, GREAT list, I am fans of all I haven't voted yet, but I'm leaning to Watchtower because I believe this was a seminal "influence" on the direction of "Tech"/Thrash (1989) to the term "Math Metal". . . . But, it wasn't the 1st for me. Cacophony was almost 3 years prior (1987), I felt like the only one on the Planet that heard of Marty Friedman and Jason Becker, even my Metal friends at that time didn't get it! I could include others, but I digress, I look at the list and say as the beginning of this sub-genre of Prog goes, that was the one that influenced this growing musics (Watchtower). But, if I were to put up an Athiest title, I would have chosen "An Unquestionable Presence", it was what Athiest wanted to achieve I think, as "Elements" was a response of not doing the same thing over again. Its fast, it has CRAZY Time Signatures, Stops and Goes on a dime and then goes LEFT, then Right, like on "Mother Man" for example ...NUTS! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utqWrkVEQvI And it came out in 1991, so it is after the 2 stated above, but it took what they did and made it "Heavier", so now it starts getting into a Death Metal territory (remember, Screaming vocals back in the day were considered Death Metal vocals along with the "Cookie Monster" vox, think earlier "Death" or "Sepultura"). I have heard all the others as well and are in my collections. I am a HUGE Psychotic Waltz fan, but I don't think they are as Technical as most on the list, yet they are VERY technical, in-turn, most Metal and Prog fans will get turned off by the rest because they are so extreme! I too would have put Necrophagist in there as well, they have taken it to even another level. But I'm surprised no one has mentioned . . . Meshuggah, this is the "otherside" of the Spiral Architect-type of Math Metal, its not so much they're flying across the fret board with odd meter passages and arpeggios, its got these gargantuan "Riffs" that chug in the most insane timing/picking, like taking the main Riff in Metallica's "Disposable Heroes" . . . now play that, put your legs over your shoulders, spin around, and now run in place! Then! . . . add a Lead that sounds like Allan Holdsworth stepped in! Its like SA's "opposite" but threads to the same Family. If some have been turned off by them, I emplore all of you to listen to samples from "Destroy Erase Improve", I think thats the album that represents a "new sound" for the genre at the time and what was to come(1995). As well as Guitarist Fredrik Thordendals Special Defects (1997). Aghora I have been requesting alot on PrOgulus.com, I'm dieing to find it (I'm not a "mail order" kind of guy), its a great band and I LOVE that it has a Female vocalist, gives Beauty to the brutality: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_zCqifAoo And the NEW Cynic album is fantastic, but to SEE Sean Rienert play drums (With Meshuggah and The Faceless), what power and finesse! (And Thomas Haak from 'Shuggah is no slouch!) so Watchtower . . . yeah . . . okay I'm done . (By the way, through some MIRACLE I "lost" everything I wrote and then somehow re-traced back, with much trouble and there it was! . . . I think I need a vacation). Last edited by MAVIII : March 18th, 2009 at 04:04 AM. Reason: typos really suck when yo'ure stupiD

March 19th, 2009, 06:17 AM	#18 (permalink)
batmura Sea of Tranquility Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 2,581	Great list of bands. I voted for Zero Hour. Psychotic Waltz would probably be my second choice off of that list.

April 15th, 2009, 02:35 PM	#19 (permalink)
ginias_sahalin Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 1	well, watchtower are great. psychotic waltz too..

August 10th, 2009, 01:01 PM	#20 (permalink)
thinkingplague Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 8	Psychotic Waltz for me. Not a big fan of most of the other bands. However, Meshuggah or Blotted Science would've got my vote if they were included. Oh, and Behold.. the Arctopus are nice too, they play something I like to call "technical nonsense". Listening to them is very enjoyable, nevertheless. By the way, if you want to get deeper into this nonsense (and it's not an offensive term! it just means they play awkwardly weird things that never seem to chronologically and/or musically fit together. Still, lots of fun!), check out some of Mick Barr's project: Octis, Ocrilim, Orthrelm (have a split EP with Behold..) and Zach Hill & Mick Barr (which is, if I recall, exactly the same as Orthrelm. they just play different things here). I suppose I got a little off-topic. Sorry. I'm a Mick Barr's addict.

August 12th, 2009, 12:05 AM	#21 (permalink)
xache2112 Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 2	of those i'd probably pick The Towers of Avarice. it's got some really great industrial sounding riffs and an epic/futuristic sound to it that i've never heard from another band (maybe Meshuggah). you forgot one amazing band though... Martyr. their album's Hopeless Hopes and Warp Zone are classics in technical metal, in my opinion. and what about Dream Theater? i know they are more mainstream nowadays but you can't deny albums like Images and Words or Scenes From A Memory.

August 12th, 2009, 02:11 PM	#22 (permalink)
Headquake Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: London, Canada Posts: 150	Psychotic Waltz-A Social Grace is a masterpiece and gets my vote. Sieges Even-life Cycles should be included on this list as well

August 26th, 2009, 01:50 PM	#24 (permalink)
To rid you disease Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 587	should have been unquestionable presence instead of elements.

August 29th, 2009, 03:37 AM	#25 (permalink)
point_of_uncertianty Buried in Oblivion Join Date: May 2009 Location: Newark, Ohio Posts: 35	That was a tough decision to make. I absolutely love Twisted Into Form's first album. I ended up going with Cynic's Focus though because that is the album that opened so many doors to the genre and really got me into more bands of this kind. Although I don't think their is really another band quite like Cynic in all honesty.