Dark Prog

[Scrotum Scissor]

My own band, White Willow, has often been refered to as "dark prog". I don't think it applies equally to all our albums, but you might want to give "Storm Season" a try.

I would agree, Jake - but "The Reach" off of Sacrament is arguably still your most successful stab at this kind of sombre aura, all the more effective because it's NOT a typically 'heavy' track as such.

[Baribrotzer]

Time of Orchids - who were just as dark and Wild and eclectic but in a different manner altogether.

Excellent band, and profoundly disorienting - their last album combined dissonant instrumental parts in extended tonalities with Brian Wilson vocal harmonies, which sounded both deeply "wrong" and altogether wonderful.

[Scrotum Scissor]

Excellent band, and profoundly disorienting - their last album combined dissonant instrumental parts in extended tonalities with Brian Wilson vocal harmonies, which sounded both deeply "wrong" and altogether wonderful.

John, if you're speaking of Namesake Caution (on Cuneiform), that's in *my* opinion one of the greatest rock albums of the last couple of decades. Rarely do I hear a work which so obviously pays due to allsorts of names and traces and traditions yet only creates anew from them. So intensely melodic yet oh so unspeakably dense in dissonance and contrast - like Lick My Decals, Surf's Up and Relayer rolled into one. And to think that most of it was recorded live in the studio. This thing still shatters when I spin it, although I make sure not to do so all too often.

[IncogNeato]

Thanks so much for all the recommendations, guys! They have given me a LOT to get into. I'll deffo check out Time Of Orchids as well.

[battema]

If you aren't opposed to the harsher vocal stylings, then I have to give a big nod to Cult of Luna, a post-metal band who made my (currently) favorite prog/metal concept album with 'Vertikal.' It's loosely based on Fritz Lang's Metropolis and is lovely. They have a newer album too called 'Mariner' which also features vocals from Julie Christmas.

Slightly less common but rather good too is The Observatory from Singapore. Somewhere between post rock, prog, Radiohead and Anekdoten.

[Steve F.]

They used to have a 'cousin band' in that Brooklyn scene of theirs, called Time of Orchids - who were just as dark and Wild and eclectic but in a different manner altogether. They made some of my fave "rock music" of this Century.

https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.co...ade-of-seasons

[Steve F.]

Slightly less common but rather good too is The Observatory from Singapore. Somewhere between post rock, prog, Radiohead and Anekdoten.

Ah! you know them? No one does. Good for you!

Great band. Wanted to sign them, but financial considerations prevented it.

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

Let us not forget Peter Gabriel's third long player. Nice and dark.

[NogbadTheBad]

Will be checking out this thread for more purchases

[battema]

Ah! you know them? No one does. Good for you!

Great band. Wanted to sign them, but financial considerations prevented it.

Yeah, I understand that...IMHO they do align very nicely with the Cuneiform aesthetic

I forget how I first heard about them; it was either you or Ken but I ended up with both 'Far Cry' and 'Dark Folke' in their spiffy deluxe packages. And their last one 'August is the Cruellest' is quite nice too.

[NogbadTheBad]

If you aren't opposed to the harsher vocal stylings, then I have to give a big nod to Cult of Luna, a post-metal band who made my (currently) favorite prog/metal concept album with 'Vertikal.' It's loosely based on Fritz Lang's Metropolis and is lovely. They have a newer album too called 'Mariner' which also features vocals from Julie Christmas.

Slightly less common but rather good too is The Observatory from Singapore. Somewhere between post rock, prog, Radiohead and Anekdoten.

So here I am looking for a band called "The Observatory from Singapore", only to finally realize that they are literally from Singapore. Doh!

[Steve F.]

So here I am looking for a band called "The Observatory from Singapore", only to finally realize that they are literally from Singapore. Doh!

http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Pr...TORY49561.aspx

http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Pr...TORY04709.aspx

[Steve F.]

And their last one 'August is the Cruellest' is quite nice too.

Didn't even know about that one! :'-(

[battema]

So here I am looking for a band called "The Observatory from Singapore", only to finally realize that they are literally from Singapore. Doh!

Fun fact: there's a pretty kickass post rock band in the DC area called Black Clouds. Well, there was...they've recently renamed themselves: We Were Black Clouds. GENUIS

[Yves]

Gargamel:



Morte Macabre:

[battema]

http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Pr...TORY49561.aspx

http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Pr...TORY04709.aspx

Both of the ones Steve mentions are well worth hearing/having/fondling in lovely fancy packages

[battema]

Didn't even know about that one! :'-(

As far as I know it's just available via Bandcamp (at least, that's where I scored a copy).

I personally would start with Dark Folke and Far Cry (in that order) but anyone who digs those is likely to enjoy that one too.

[IncogNeato]

Best thread ever.

[battema]

Then I am guessing you won't mind one more

Anna Von Hausswolff isn't strictly prog, or metal, or folks...but she is a wonderful blend of those elements and more. Both her latest two albums 'Ceremony' and 'The Miraculous' (which is where the video below originates) are well worth exploring.

[Scrotum Scissor]

http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Pr...TORY04709.aspx

Holy darn shitsuck! Singaporeans recording in my ol' hometown of Bergen donning ol' Jørgen Træen as producer - that mixwizard dude who engineered my own ol' progband's first demo back in February '94! And it's GOOD SOUNDING! The Singaporeans, I mean.

THIS is why I come here. This and the new Styx/Wakemanderson very dark stuff.

[interbellum]

Ah! you know them? No one does. Good for you!

Great band. Wanted to sign them, but financial considerations prevented it.

I've got seven album from The Observatory, so my name must be Nobody
I discovered them years ago through CDBaby, while I ordered later albums directly from the band (which showed me how lovely the stamps from Singapore were).
August Is The Cruellest is already from early 2016; time flies.
To be honest I prefer their earlier albums; on the later CD's their music was often quite noisy, although still impressive.

[Baribrotzer]

Here may be found much information on them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Observatory_(band)

It surprises me that they're able to make music like this, so dark and angry, under a borderline-authoritarian system. I would have thought that at some point in the 15-or-so years they've been around, Somebody Important would have heard their stuff, been offended or annoyed or simply uncomprehending - and that would be IT for them. The late Lee Kuan Yew, from what I understand, used to have people sentenced to canings for spitting on the street or not getting haircuts. But instead, the Observatory are apparently prominent and quite respected in the Singaporean music scene.

[spacefreak]

So here I am looking for a band called "The Observatory from Singapore", only to finally realize that they are literally from Singapore. Doh!

I have a concept album of theirs called "Continuum". Great, great stuff!

[spacefreak]

Not exactly prog but more on the dark folk/ethnic side of things. Daemonia Nymphe from Greece on the Prikosnovénie label (once home of the La STPO).

[spacefreak]

And departing from prog by going deeper in the avant psych realms, this is the first side of the Hermae album from 1990. An uplifting cosmic experience where darkness is always implied.