CD Weedout - Avant Prog / Zeuhl

If you've read enough my blog entries, you'd almost think I'm anti avant-prog. And that would not be a true statement. There are some gems in that space that I truly treasure. But like the genres already listed, I continued on long past my interest in it. And over the years, I've found the music to be too cold and calculated. I'm looking for more warm and melodic music these days. So it just hasn't aged well for me. Zeuhl is here out of convenience, though I don't think they're really related. But they do have some crossover. A few bands with a Zeuhl pedigree went on to perform avant prog music (Univers Zero perhaps being the most famous). There are parallels in the overall sound. Zeuhl is a genre, however, I continue to seek out. Only a handful haven't made the grade.

Miriodor - Jongleries Elastiques. 1996 Cuneiform. I don't think I ever liked this band from Quebec, as hard as I tried to. The circus element that exists in avant prog is probably the most irritating element of the genre to me, and Miriodor thrived on it. I owned every album by this band through Mekano (2001). And every one of them has been sold off now. This was the last.

Sotos - Platypus. 2002 Cuneiform. I remember when Sotos first hit the marketplace, I was very excited about them. How my tastes have changed. Both didn't make the cut. There's a *ton* of music on these discs. To me it was like going into a library and I'd have endless time to look through the books I was interested in. But then I realized I wasn't that interested in what I was reading. 

Sotos. 1999 Gazul. Ta-dah!

Bondage Fruit - IV. 1999 Gazul. 10 years ago if you'd asked me if I liked Bondage Fruit, I would have enthusiastically stated YES. And I owned five of the six CDs they made (including the rare Japanese ones). Today I own zero, this being the last one. What happened? Too cold and calculated for me. I don't get any highs here. Just a lot of music notes.

various - Lost Years in Labyrinth. 1991 Belle Antique. A nice selection of four avant prog bands from Japan. This goes back to a time (early 90s) where music like this was more foundational for me than superfluous. I think I held onto it as an obligation though. Besides I do like Zypressen and their one album. I'm still OK letting this one go.

Panzerpappa - Koralrevens Klagesang. 2006 Hangar B. Panzerpappa were another band that came in with a lot of enthusiasm surrounding them. Ever notice how I avoid the word "hype"? Hype is purposely deceiving. Enthusiasm is genuinely excited. It was all lost on me unfortunately. I remember hearing about a Canterbury influence, but it's muted for the most part. I sold Farlig Vandring a few years ago. That leaves Astromalist whose judgement day awaits (ED: It didn't make the cut either).

October Equus - Saturnal

Astrakan - Comets & Monsters.

Scherzoo - Scherzoo 02. 

CD Weedout - Heavy Metal (minus Prog Metal)

I had it in my head that I really liked power metal. In recent years I've learned there's a big difference between USPM and European power metal. The US variation led by the likes of Iced Earth I quite like. The European variety of Helloween and Blind Guardian, not so much. And when I bought a rather large selection of metal titles in 2015 / 16, most of them were in these categories. So I'll probably be getting rid of many more. But there's been plenty of surprises in that batch as well. In addition I'm throwing other metal styles in this post out of convenience.

Nevermore - The Obsidian Conspiracy. 2010 Century Media. There's some quality thrash in here (a genre I seem to never tire of) but overall it fell into that familiar Gnosis 10 range.

Savatage - Streets A Rock Opera. 1997 Concrete. I was an early fan of Savatage going back to their Sirens album (on Par no less - still treasure that LP!). They lost their way in the middle 80s and returned very strong on Hall of the Mountain King (which I also still own on LP from back then). These later albums sit on the fence between power and prog metal. Even hard rock. I had no interest in this kind of music in 1997. By 2015 I could objectively understand why people liked it. No emotional pull for me though.

Blind Guardian - Imaginations from the Other Side. 1999 Century Media (1995). The prototype for the kind of European power metal that I enjoy, but only so much. I'll be keeping the early Helloween albums, and probably a couple of others, and that's enough for me.

Sinister Realm. 1999 Shadow Kingdom. On paper I'm a big fan of doom metal. In reality, what I really enjoy are the bands that mix in some tempo and progressive ideas, such as Candlemass and early Trouble. Or Black Sabbath of course. A lot of doom metal albums stay true to the slow pace and go more for the oppressive atmosphere than trying their hand at more compositional thought. I never really loaded up on doom for that reason. Sinister Realm defines this thought pattern. It's the type of album I enjoy, but not enough to keep.

Revelation - Release. 2009 Shadow Kingdom. As above.

Brocas Helm - Defender of the Crown. 2004 private. I thought I liked this one more than I did lol. I still think I do for their first 2 albums. It's old school metal, perhaps of the epic variety ala Manilla Road. Which if you've read this blog enough, is one of my favorite styles. But this album came across to me as perfunctory traditional heavy metal rather than innovative. This one sold fast.

Overkill - The Grinding Wheel

CD Weedout - Prog Metal

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.

Psychotic Waltz - The God-Shaped Void. 

Kopecky - Serpentine Kaleidoscope.