Creative, classy and highly refined "symphonic metal" outfit from Holland. First album (Always, 1993) was a fairly straightforward death metal album, although heavy use of keyboards made it stand out a bit from other such albums at the time. Followed by Almost A Dance (1994), an album which saw the departure of "growling" vocalist Bart Smits.... [+] Read More

Creative, classy and highly refined "symphonic metal" outfit from Holland. First album (Always, 1993) was a fairly straightforward death metal album, although heavy use of keyboards made it stand out a bit from other such albums at the time. Followed by Almost A Dance (1994), an album which saw the departure of "growling" vocalist Bart Smits. Smits was replaced primarily by Niels Duffhues, a strange choice for the band; Duffhues' punk-ish tone was decidedly out of step with the music, and the album was largely written off as a result. A shame, because many of the songs on Almost A Dance are quite well written. The album also featured occasional vocals by Martine van Loon, a low-key singer with a pretty tone but one that seldom took to the forefront of a composition. It would appear that the seed had been planted in the band's head to try their uniquely compelling songwriting style with a passionate female vocalist; the result was the addition of the incomparable Anneke van Giersbergen, an incredible singer capable of stretching miles of emotion out of each and every syllable. The next album, 1995's Mandylion, remains one of the very best heavy metal albums ever recorded. van Giersbergen's poetic and haunting lyrics, paired with the band's orchestral ruminations, resulted in darkly important songs that seamlessly blend from one to the next. The follow-up, 1997's Nighttime Birds, acts as a companion piece to Mandylion: similar in tone and delivery, Birds is filled with the melodic and adventurous play that has become the trademark of this very important band. Superheat and If-Then-Else followed in early 2000. After a break with Century Media following the release of If_Then_Else, the band took time off before going into the studio to work on the 2003-released followup Souvenirs. The Gathering will be of interest to more than just heavy metal fans: they have the potential to appeal to countless different audiences, from metal to progressive rock to anyone who values excellent songwriting and powerful female vocalists. ~ James Bickers, All Music Guide [-] Hide

The progressive metal band Crimson Glory formed in Florida in 1982. Vocalist Midnight, guitarists Jeff Drenning and Ben Jackson, bassist Jeff Lords and drummer Dana Burnell had played together for over three years before Roadrunner signed the band and released the Crimson Glory album in 1986. The album received good reviews, prompting MCA to... [+] Read More

The progressive metal band Crimson Glory formed in Florida in 1982. Vocalist Midnight, guitarists Jeff Drenning and Ben Jackson, bassist Jeff Lords and drummer Dana Burnell had played together for over three years before Roadrunner signed the band and released the Crimson Glory album in 1986. The album received good reviews, prompting MCA to pick up the group for 1988's Transcendence. Burnell and Jackson were dumped soon after the album's release, and the duo later resurfaced as the heavy metal band Parish, releasing Envision on Alfa Records. Crimson Glory then recruited drummer Ravi Jakhorta for 1991's Strange & Beautiful; after the sessions were complete, Midnight left the group, which briefly forged on with new vocalist David Van Landing before breaking up. Van Landing, Drenning, Lords and Jakhorta eventually reformed as Erotic Liquid Culture; when Van Landing exited, the remaining trio recruited singer Wade Black and guitarist Billy Martinez to reunite under the Crimson Glory aegis, issuing Astronomica in 1999. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Savatage formed in Florida in 1978 as Avatar, led by brothers Jon (vocals) and Criss (guitar) Oliva. They changed their name to Savatage in 1983, pursuing a strongly Judas Priest- and Iron Maiden-influenced style of metal. Their other members included Steve "Doc" Wacholz (drums) and Keith Collins (bass), who was later replaced by Johnny Lee... [+] Read More

Savatage formed in Florida in 1978 as Avatar, led by brothers Jon (vocals) and Criss (guitar) Oliva. They changed their name to Savatage in 1983, pursuing a strongly Judas Priest- and Iron Maiden-influenced style of metal. Their other members included Steve "Doc" Wacholz (drums) and Keith Collins (bass), who was later replaced by Johnny Lee Middleton. They meandered between basic metal and more commercial fare before adding second guitarist Chris Caffery and hitting their stride in 1990 with Gutter Ballet. The band showed a flair for intense, melodic hard rock, dramatic balladry, and elaborate, operatic concepts, which they pursued over their next few albums. Criss Oliva was killed in an auto accident in 1993; he was replaced by former Testament guitarist Alex Skolnick, but the new lineup was ill-received. Dead Winter Dead followed in 1995, and after a three-year absence Savatage returned with The Wake of Magellan. The Final Bell appeared in 2000, and Poets and Madmen followed it in 2001. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide [-] Hide

The technically proficient guitar playing of John Petrucci elevated Dream Theater to the upper echelons of contemporary heavy metal. While its lineup has continuously evolved, the Long Island-based quintet has consistently delivered sharp-edged music. Dream Theater is known for its high-energy concert performances. While they've released several... [+] Read More

The technically proficient guitar playing of John Petrucci elevated Dream Theater to the upper echelons of contemporary heavy metal. While its lineup has continuously evolved, the Long Island-based quintet has consistently delivered sharp-edged music. Dream Theater is known for its high-energy concert performances. While they've released several live albums -- Live at the Marquee, recorded at the London club; Live in Tokyo, recorded during the Music in Progress Tour in 1993; and a triple-CD and DVD, Metropolis 2000 -- they remain one of heavy metal's most bootlegged bands.


Originally named Majesty by Berklee College of Music students Petrucci, bassist John Myung, and drummer Mike Portnoy, the band soon expanded with the addition of keyboard player Kevin Moore and vocalist Chris Collins. Releasing an eight-tune demo, Majesty Demo, as Majesty, the group sold 1,000 copies within six months. The departure of Collins in late 1986 left Majesty without a vocalist, and after a long period of auditioning possible replacements, the group settled on Charlie Dominici in November 1987. Changing its name, the group agreed on "Dream Theater," inspired by a now-demolished California movie theater. Signing with Mechanic Records, the group began working on its first full-length album. Delays caused by label mismanagement limited the group to performing at small clubs and bars. Frustrated by its experiences with the label, Dream Theater finally severed its ties with Mechanic.


This was only one drastic change in the band's course of action. Firing Dominici, the group spent the next couple years searching for a vocalist. The search ended in late 1991 when a demo tape from Canadian vocalist James LaBrie, formerly of Winter Rose, arrived. After flying to New York to audition, LaBrie was invited to join the band. Signing with Atco Atlantic (which came to be known as East West), Dream Theater released its second album, Images & Words, in 1992. One of three videos based on songs from the album, "Pull Me Under," became an MTV hit. Although Theater showed considerable growth with their third studio album, Awake, recorded between May and July 1994, the group continued to be hampered by personnel changes. Before the album was mixed, keyboardist Moore left the group to focus on his solo career. Hired as a temporary replacement for the band's Waking Up the World tour, Derek Sherinian later became a permanent member. His first recording with Dream Theater was a 23-minute epic, "A Change of Seasons," written in 1989 and released in September 1995 on the album of the same name.


Following a mini tour, Fix for '96, the members of Dream Theater separated for several months and became involved with a variety of outside projects. Petrucci was the busiest. In addition to joining Portnoy and keyboard player Jordan Rudess in the Liquid Tension Experiment -- a group that included influential bassist/stick player Tony Levin -- Petrucci played guitar with Trent Gardner's Explorers Club and made a guest appearance on Shadow Gallery's Tyranny album. Myung and Sherinian collaborated with King's X vocalist Ty Tabor in the band Platypus. LaBrie worked with Mull Muzzler, a group formed with Matt Guillory and Mike Mangini.


Dream Theater experienced yet another change when Rudess was tapped to replace Sherinian, who had been fired in 1999. The band released the progressive rock-heavy Scenes From a Memory that year, a conceptual piece that followed the story of a 1928 murder of a young woman and how a modern man is haunted by the crime. It was followed by Live Scenes From New York in 2001, which suffered from an unintentional bout with controversy when its original cover featuring the city of New York in flames was pulled due to the events of September 11. The group continued in the progressive metal vein in 2002 with Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, followed by the leaner Train of Thought in 2003 and Octavarium in 2005.


Sherinian went on to record as a soloist and to play with a prog and jazz fusion band, Planet X. Petrucci released an eponymously titled solo album in 2003, featuring accompaniment by Dave LaRue of the Dixie Dregs and Boston-based drummer Dave DeCenso. ~ Craig Harris, All Music Guide [-] Hide

From their modest beginnings as roadies for avant-garde Swiss metal legends Celtic Frost, the members of Coroner carved out one of the most unique careers in the European thrash metal scene. The trio was originally pegged as a conventional thrash band, but their jaw-dropping musicianship and increasingly complex, almost prog rock compositions... [+] Read More

From their modest beginnings as roadies for avant-garde Swiss metal legends Celtic Frost, the members of Coroner carved out one of the most unique careers in the European thrash metal scene. The trio was originally pegged as a conventional thrash band, but their jaw-dropping musicianship and increasingly complex, almost prog rock compositions soon won over most critics, some of which labeled them the Rush of thrash metal. Over the course of eight years and six albums, the band fought constantly to expand the limiting boundaries of thrash, yet achieved only limited commercial success for their efforts. Still, their fearless experiments have allowed their albums to endure and stand the test of time better than many of their more celebrated peers.


Guitarist Tommy T. Baron (real name Thomas Vetterli) and drummer Marquis Marky (aka Marky Edelmann) put in various tours of duty as roadies for the seminal Celtic Frost before founding Coroner with bassist/vocalist Ron Royce in 1985. In fact, Frost main man Tom Warrior sang on their Death Cult demo. Subsequently signing to the German Noise label, the band debuted with 1987's R.I.P., then quickly followed it with 1988's Punishment for Decadence, which featured a surprising cover of Hendrix's "Purple Haze." With 1989's transitional No More Colour, Coroner truly inaugurated their golden era and raised their standards on every front: from the stylized album artwork to the slower, tighter rhythms and riffs which revealed their incredible technical proficiency to the experiments which began breaking away from the limitations of thrash metal, both musically and lyrically.


This ambitious vision came to full fruition with 1991's amazing Mental Vortex, which included a daring reconstructed cover version of the Beatle's "I Want You (She's So Heavy)." Recorded by top thrash producer Tom Morris, many expected the album to push Coroner's career to the next level and introduce them to a wider audience. But whether due to changing musical climates (alternative rock had just arrived) or simply being too ahead of its time, things just didn't play out that way. Disappointed though they were, the band regrouped and came up with an even more daring, unconventional album in 1993's Grin, which abandoned much of the thrash-based aggression of their early days and focused on challenging dynamics and eerie atmospherics. This move proved too radical even for longtime fans, ironically, and they remain split over the album's merits, some seeing it as a total sellout, while others consider it the band's greatest triumph. Coroner were apparently unsure themselves and succumbed to mounting inner tensions a short while later to go their separate ways.


Noise Records wasn't quite ready to let the band die, however, forcing guitarist Baron to compile 1995's Coroner (a collection of outtakes, new tracks, and classic cuts) nearly a year after the group's demise, which required the help of drummer Peter Haas stepping in for the uncooperative Edelmann. After this release, Vetterli temporarily fronted his own band, Clockwork, before joining German thrashers Kreator for one album. Edelmann assumed drum duties with his former mentor Tom Warrior's new band Apollyon Sun. ~ Ed Rivadavia, All Music Guide [-] Hide

After the disappointing showing of their 1991 album Angel Rat, Voivod took two years to produce a follow-up, 1993's The Outer Limits. And although the band offers several strong compositions, it soon becomes apparent that Voivod had already peaked artistically on their three preceding albums. Perhaps the band's chemistry was knocked off balance... [+] Read More

After the disappointing showing of their 1991 album Angel Rat, Voivod took two years to produce a follow-up, 1993's The Outer Limits. And although the band offers several strong compositions, it soon becomes apparent that Voivod had already peaked artistically on their three preceding albums. Perhaps the band's chemistry was knocked off balance by the defection of original bassist Jean-Yves Theriault after Angel Rat's completion. Present is the group's second Pink Floyd cover, the Roger Waters composition "The Nile Song" (they had covered "Astronomy Domine" earlier). The opening track, "Fix My Heart," is one of the album's best, since the band sounds inspired and focused, which isn't the case on some of the album's other material. You'll also find the ambitious track "Jack Luminous" here, which twists and turns for nearly 18 minutes, recalling the days long gone when prog rock ruled the earth (especially Yes, Jethro Tull, etc.). The Outer Limits would also prove to be original vocalist Denis Belanger's last album with the group; he left after the following tour's completion. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Screams and Whispers builds on the foundation laid by Manic Impressions by accentuating Anacrusis' melodic side and stepping up the production with keyboards and effects, helping make the record a touch more accessible than the despairing Impressions. But at the same time, the band reaches even greater musical heights, pushing their technical... [+] Read More

Screams and Whispers builds on the foundation laid by Manic Impressions by accentuating Anacrusis' melodic side and stepping up the production with keyboards and effects, helping make the record a touch more accessible than the despairing Impressions. But at the same time, the band reaches even greater musical heights, pushing their technical abilities to the limit with a heavier concentration on odd, shifting time signatures; plus, the emphasis on melodicism hasn't produced traditionally catchy songs, but rather tunes that sound focused, logical, and yet somehow unpredictably alien. Kenn Nardi's vocals are as schizophrenic as ever, and even without the new embellishments, the arrangements are even more sophisticated, making effective use of space, interplay, and dynamic and textural shifts. Some may prefer the raw exposed nerves of Manic Impressions, but Screams and Whispers is a definite step forward, and arguably Anacrusis' best album; the only disappointment is the fact that it's also the group's final statement. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Manic Impressions is a significant step forward from Anacrusis' first two albums, tightening and focusing the songwriting and honing their instrumental work to a razor-sharp edge. That alone would be enough to make them stand out in the progressive metal subgenre -- often criticized for the same excesses as '70s progressive rock, substituting... [+] Read More

Manic Impressions is a significant step forward from Anacrusis' first two albums, tightening and focusing the songwriting and honing their instrumental work to a razor-sharp edge. That alone would be enough to make them stand out in the progressive metal subgenre -- often criticized for the same excesses as '70s progressive rock, substituting technical flash and aimless "extended" structures for substance and songcraft -- but what's even more impressive is the emotional depth of the album. Manic Impressions is a study in depression and mental instability, its bleak lyrical worldview grounded in everyday reality and enhanced by the icily clear production and the mechanical precision of the complex compositions. Vocalist Kenn Nardi's ability to leap between growling rage and ethereal melodicism -- sometimes in the same lyric line -- is complemented by the band's new-found grasp of dynamic shifts, which heighten the songs' dramatic impact. And, on top of all that, nearly every song has at least one memorable vocal melody to go along with the killer riffs -- Anacrusis has a unique melodic sensibility, taking unpredictable directions but always seeming elegantly constructed and evocatively melancholy. The closest comparison is Voivod (without the sci-fi obsession), but the closer one listens, the more it becomes apparent that Anacrusis' sound is really all its own. Vastly underappreciated upon its initial release, Manic Impressions (like its follow-up, Screams and Whispers) is essential listening for fans of both thrash and progressive metal. [In 1999, Manic Impressions was remastered and reissued.] ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Chuck Schuldiner's Death got pretty clinical with the odd time signature, and Atheist got pretty busy with their complex arrangements, but Florida's Cynic simply threw the progressive metal playbook out the window. Their only official recording, 1993's ground breaking Focus, meshed metal and jazz on an unprecedented scale, and explored the... [+] Read More

Chuck Schuldiner's Death got pretty clinical with the odd time signature, and Atheist got pretty busy with their complex arrangements, but Florida's Cynic simply threw the progressive metal playbook out the window. Their only official recording, 1993's ground breaking Focus, meshed metal and jazz on an unprecedented scale, and explored the creative possibilities of this strange musical hybrid to a degree which has yet to be equaled. For Cynic, the traditional framework of death metal songwriting served as a mere foundation over which the band would take flight, yielding moments of mind-blowing diversity and inspiration (and, occasionally, dumbfounded confusion) on multi-faceted tracks like "Veil of the Maya," "I'm But a Wave To...," and "Textures." Never mind the contrast of time traveling proportions created by their dual vocalists, clashing stone age-style death grunts with robotic computer-processed melodies (the later, a clear influence on digi-metallers Fear Factory). And yet, as suggested by its title, their stunning sonic collages were uncommonly focused and concise, avoiding the time transgressions of most progressive metal to achieve even greater impact. Simply put, Focus remains a wholly original and widely respected release amongst the small progressive metal community, many of whom still regard it as the ultimate statement in the genre. ~ Ed Rivadavia, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Not exactly a collection of outstanding material, The Best of Voivod does prove that the French-Canadian group's quick transformation from incredibly primitive thrashers into a convincing progressive metal outfit was nothing short of astounding. Early calamities like "Ripping Headaches" are guaranteed only to give you one, but by their fourth... [+] Read More

Not exactly a collection of outstanding material, The Best of Voivod does prove that the French-Canadian group's quick transformation from incredibly primitive thrashers into a convincing progressive metal outfit was nothing short of astounding. Early calamities like "Ripping Headaches" are guaranteed only to give you one, but by their fourth release, Dimension Hatröss, the band was garnering compliments as being the Pink Floyd of heavy metal. Coincidentally, their cover of the Floyd's "Astronomy Domine" from 1989's Nothingface solidified their standing, as well as achieving their commercial peak. Their next release, the groundbreaking and highly conceptual Angel Rat, proved to be too great a departure, and its two contributions to this set, "Panorama" and "The Prow," truly sound out of place. ~ Ed Rivadavia, All Music Guide [-] Hide