Prog Around the World: From Russia With Prog

[Ninjabait]

Hello, everyone! Recently I’ve decided to explore Prog/Progressive/Art Rock and Metal from Russia, and I’ve decided to share all the cool bands I’ve discovered from my search with all of you. All listening links provided are for Spotify, since that’s mostly where I found and listened to all this cool music.

A little background on why I decided to do this is probably needed. I’m currently in the process of learning both French and Russian, and figured that since I’m constantly listening to music I could probably get some decent exposure from listening to music in my target languages. I saw the “Classical World” playlists on Spotify (which highlight classical music from different countries), and decided to go down a similar route…except with prog. I searched around on Prog Archives and Metal Storm for bands, and went through the long process of listening to dozens of bands. Fortunately, most of what I listened to was actually pretty lit. Unfortunately, most of what I listened to was in English. I found a grand total of two bands that sang in Russian, which didn’t really help much with my intended language exposure. Oops. Still, I’ve elected to make the most of it and share some wonderful music with all of you. I might do this again in the future with other countries if I have the time, as I really enjoyed discovering all this music.

iamthemorning
Genre: Chamber Rock, Classical Art Song, Progressive Rock
Albums on Spotify: iamthemorning, Belighted, Lighthouse

This group has been making some waves in the progressive music scene as of late, and the attention is definitely deserved. They’re the only band on this list that I was familiar with before starting this, but I can’t help but want to give this great group some more exposure. I’ve never heard a band that sounds like iamthemorning. Instead of taking inspiration primarily from the classic prog giants of the 70s and 80s, they’ve elected to base their music mostly in the classical music tradition. Most of the time, their music hits closer to Schubert, Debussy, or Rachmaninov than Yes, Genesis, or Rush. Piano and vocals take the focus here, quite a few songs have no rhythm section whatsoever, and there’s a heavy string quartet presence (especially on the first two albums). There’s a depth of emotional variety and intensity here that is sometimes missing from a lot of prog. They’ve become one of my all-time favorite bands and I eagerly await their next release. I ABSOLUTELY recommend you listen to them.

Mechanical Poet
Genre: Symphonic Metal, Progressive Metal, Avant-Garde Metal, Film Score
Albums on Spotify: Woodland Prattlers

I’m going to be up front with you: this is a little weird. Not bad weird, just…Diablo Swing Orchestra enjoyable weird. The album basically sounds like a mix of Danny Elfman, Nightwish, Avenged Sevenfold, and Diablo Swing Orchestra. The lead singer at times reminded me of Serj Tankain, Jared Leto, Marco Hetalia, and M. Shadows at different points. There’s a lot of purely orchestral moments, and it’s probably not for you if you’re looking for some heavy, technical rocking. This band fits the theatrical and kookier sides of Prog to a T, and can easily hold your attention throughout the album. In fact, “entertaining” is probably the first word I would use to describe this. I highly recommend this. Side note: they have other albums, but they are not on Spotify as far as I could see. Creepy Tales for Freaky Children is good as well, but Woodland Prattlers is much better if you ask me.

Little Tragedies
Genre: Progressive Rock, Symphonic Rock, Neoprog
Albums on Spotify: At Nights, Obsessed, etc.
Note: Lyrics are in Russian.

This band borrows more heavily from the traditional progressive rock of the 70s and 80s. There were a few times that they reminded me of Unitopia or Spock’s Beard or Neal Morse, and I could definitely hear influences from Genesis, Rush, Yes, Dream Theater, and Spock’s Beard. Lots of excellent piano work, and some very nice, folksy vocal melodies. Very melodic, and a good sense of emotional dynamics. They know when to jam out with their clams out and when to pull things back for a quieter song, doing both very well. The band has this nice sort of “storybook” vibe to them at times. On the downside, their vocal melodies across albums can sound a bit similar at times. Also, all the lyrics are in Russian (English translations are available on their website) so if for some weird reason you listen to prog for the lyrics, this may not be the group for you. Still, I would highly recommend this group.

Sunless Rise
Genre: Melodic Death Metal, Power Metal
Albums on Spotify: Unrevealed
Note: Harsh vocals present

Imagine if Children of Bodom and Dragonforce got down and freaky and made a sweet music baby. Now stop imagining that, you weirdo. What’s wrong with you? Sicko.

Anyways, that sweet music baby would sound probably something like this. The mix of epic Power Metal and Melodic Death Metal is not something I really would expect to work well, but this band certainly pulls it off very well. There’s a lot of insanely technical guitar work going on, even by Progressive or Power Metal standards. Some nice use of synths peppered throughout the album too. I give this a solid two-and-a-half thumbs up. Don’t ask where the half a thumb came from.

Shokran
Genre: Oriental Metal, Symphonic Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Progressive Metal, Metalcore
Albums on Spotify: Exodus, Exodus (Instrumental Version), Supreme Truth, Supreme Truth (Instrumental Version)
Note: Harsh vocals

Here’s a Russian metal band that sings in English and sounds Egyptian. This band is probably more for fans of Whispered, Orphaned Land, and/or Myrath, and that’s certainly the vibe I got from them half the time. A heavy sitar and string presence throughout both albums, and some really cool parts for both too. There were also some moments that reminded me of Between the Buried and Me a little bit. There’s some trade-off between metalcore-styled screamed vocals and more “traditional” grrcals, but if that’s not your thing they also have instrumental versions of their two albums. Defo reco thiso groupo.

Lost World Band
Genre: Neoprog, Progressive Rock, Jazz Rock, Fusion, Progressive Folk
Albums on Spotify: Sound Source
Note: Instrumental

This group is part of a “sound” that I don’t think gets a lot of “prog mainstream” attention. The closest comparisons I can really make are to slightly more obscure groups like Electric Outlet from Germany, or TEE from Japan (and maybe a little Liquid Tension Experiment). Usually, there’s a heavy presence of flutes and strictly instrumental composition. I can hear quite a bit of Camel, Jethro Tull, Kansas, and Rush. The music is quite complex, but they never get lost in complexity and retain a key sense of melody throughout the album. They cover a wide array of styles, ranging from world music to folk rock to jazz rock to chamber rock. Side note: Like Mechanical Poet, they have other albums that aren’t on Spotify (which I haven’t listen to yet oops). Definitely worth checking out.

Eternal Wanderers
Genre: Progressive Rock, Symphonic Rock, Neoprog
Albums on Spotify: So Far and So Near, The Mystery of the Cosmic Sorrow

For fans of the typical modern progressive rock sound. Quite a bit like modern Yes (especially Fly From Here or Endless Dream), Neal Morse, and Spock’s Beard. Also sounds like the Majora’s Mask Deku Palace music sometimes. If you want to check out this group, I’d recommend So Far and So Near. The Mystery of the Cosmic Sorrow is good, but not *quite* as good as it. Good group, give them a spin!

Extrovert
Genre: Progressive Metal
Albums on Spotify: Making the Oceans Awake

These guys fall into that “late oughts/early tens Dream Theater-sound alike” subgenre of progressive metal that was all the range a few years ago. As far as that style goes, these guys do a pretty good job of it.  Not much to say otherwise. For fans of Haken (circa their first albums), Bad Salad, Vanden Plas, etc. I give this group a solid recommendation.

7000$
Genre: Symphonic Metal, Rap Metal
Albums on Spotify: Тень Независимости [Eng: Shadow of Independence], Вперёд! [Eng: Forward!], etc.
Note: Lyrics in Russian

Okay, probably the odd-man out on this list, but they’re definitely one of my favorite groups that I’ve discovered in this little experiment. They’ve got a totally unique combination of orchestral elements, metal, and rapping that I haven’t heard before. They’re not rap-only, and there’s a lot of super catchy melodies throughout their albums. Rap Metal is a bit of a divisive subject, so this group may be hit or miss for some of you, but this group is absolutely killer and I want to show them some love. Highly recommend!

Это всё! Веселитесь!

[Ben_Jamin]

Some of those seem right up my alley. I'll definitely check them out. I like what I heard of iamthemorning so far.

Oh My God....iamthemorning is what I've been longing to hear. Such a beautiful voice to some beautiful piano. The first album is fantastic.