Most of the prog metal I'm dumping are variations on the Dream Theater theme. I've spoken on my history and fondness of (early) Dream Theater here in these pages. But I don't need a lot of albums in that style. I'll keep the best ones, but most of the below are redundant.
Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2. 1999 Elektra. Speaking of the devil. I was fairly surprised to be letting this one go. Many of my friends considered this their comeback album real time. I dawdled though, showing no interest in prog metal in 1999. For me, that album was their next one Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002). But that's more of a personal discovery thing. That title I bought when it was released. Metropolis Pt. 2 came much later, and by that time, I had plenty of Dream Theater titles just like it.
Symphony X - V: The New Mythology Suite. 2000 Metal Blade. I think this album defines the kind of albums I picked up 7-8 years ago for cheap. The musicianship is stellar. But I don't relate well to music like this. And there's a lot of it out there. They all end up in the Gnosis 10 bucket. 3.5 RYM. Had I heard this real time and I was in a transitional period, I'm sure it would be monumental.
Suspyre - When Time Fades. 2008 Sensory. One aspect I really like about The Laser's Edge mail order store is Ken's willingness to let some titles go (especially on his own label) for pennies on the dollar. It's a great incentive to try new sounds. Many of their titles were prog metal naturally enough given the preference of their founder. Another fine effort that fell into the "too much of the same thing" category for my collection.
Mastermind - Excelsior! 1998 Avalon (Japan). Mastermind started as a very interesting instrumental progressive rock band. In particular I'm very fond of Brainstorm. But they had metal tendencies from the beginning, and with a pointed focus on it, had become more generic sounding. This CD has an extra bonus track, though it doesn't seem to help sell it lol.
Pathosray. 2007 Sensory. See Suspyre.
Psychotic Waltz - Bleeding. 1996 private. Borderline entry for this genre, as Bleeding is more alt metal than prog. Their foundational albums are prog thrash, and some of the best ever made. But I never embraced their change in style.
Opeth - Blackwater Park. 2001 Koch. Borderline between prog and death metal. I definitely want to spend more time with later Opeth, but I never could get into these earlier ones where they originally built their cult audience. I held onto this one for 20 years though. At least I tried.
Kingfisher Sky - Hallway of Dreams. 2008 The Laser's Edge. See Suspyre.
Dynamic Lights - Shape. 2005 DVS. Well done Dream Theater styled prog metal from Italy. Not revelatory though.
Gordian Knot. 1998 Sensory. This title and band came with a lot of enthusiasm in its day. Sean Malone had turned a lot of heads with Cynic, and the thought of an instrumental prog metal had us fans very excited for his next venture. I liked it a lot at first, but eventually tired of this kind of acrobatic technical fusion. The bar keeps getting higher.
Somnambulist - The Paranormal Humidor. 2001 The Laser's Edge. I have a review of Somnambulist's debut in here, and my revisit of that title continued to impress me. Their second effort was a pointed shift to the metal category and left me out in the cold. Not a bad title of course, and I kept it for 20+ years, but it's not the cream of the crop. The debut, however, remains a fantastic prog rock album to my ears.
Ocquityn - Alibi in June. 1999 private. This is a CD-R release (Discogs has it wrong). For some reason I originally had this in the bizarre Payne's Gray and Cant category of inexplicable metal. A revisit reminded me it's more of the same Dream Theater styled worship.
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