Spiral Architect-
https://www.myspace.com/unofficialspiralarchitect (definitely start with
Insect) While I may not be their only fan here, I get the feeling I am sometimes since I virtually never see them mentioned and when they come up they're kinda brushed off as a novelty. They're one of the best technical metal bands from the days before a lot of deathcore, etc. badly marginalized one of metal's more intelligent and forward-thinking genres. I do like some deathcore here and there but it's as if there was a decent amount of folks that didn't know much about these subgenres and thought to themselves "Golly gee, all these bands play more than ten riffs a song and it's heavier than prog. Shucks! they must all be the same." Fates Warning fans may wanna checkout their cover of
Prelude to Ruin which was recorded for the FW tribute album
Through Different Eyes.Byzantine-
https://www.myspace.com/byzantine (start with
Ancestry of the Antichrist) Imagine a Pantera that catered to fans of prog. This band has far more balls and attitude than most other bands I've seen exhibit such a thoughtful approach to detail and composition. Their level of talent makes them kinda like a blue-collar DT sans keyboard.
The singer, Chris "OJ" Ojeda, is one of those awesome chameleons that seems to let each part of the song dictate his singing style instead of just having a stock of two or three generic "go to's." He can also shred and possesses a great rhythm guitar/vocal combo reminiscent-not in style but in impressiveness-to greats like James Hetfield.
Lead guitarist Tony Rohrbrough is an ace shredder with immaculately clean technique and very nicely unique note selections employing jazz modes occasionally and really helps set this band apart from the pack. Bassist Michael "Skip" Cromer is not quite as hidden in the mix as is the case with most metal bands and he contributes clean and death vox quite capably. I've never heard it in their songs but on their
Salvation DVD he does a little sweeping here and there in the special features part so he's got a lil pizazz and is kinda reminiscent in his humorous approach to Kevin Moore on
Images and Words Live in Tokyo.
Drummer Matt Wolfe has a machine-like precision to his thrash/groove/prog-metal hybrid style that really complements the songs nicely without getting in the way. Cool thing about him is that he was a convert from being a guitarist of 16 years and had only been playing drums for like 2 or 3 years when Byzantine recorded their first album
The Fundamental Component.
Topic: Bands you feel you are the only fan of on this forum (Read 139774 times)
