prog

Rhythmic intensity and beautiful, crunchy dissonance fuel the prog-metal stylings of one of Sweden’s heaviest exports.



Chops: Intermediate
Theory: Intermediate
Lesson Overview:
• Learn to toss out the rules in pursuit of a great riff.
• Develop a keener rhythmic awareness.
• Understand how to create biting, heavy riffs—without tuning down.
Click here to download a printable PDF of this lesson's notation.

Formed in 1989 in Sweden, Opeth has been the creative outlet for progressive maestro Mikael Åkerfeldt for almost 30 years now. As a band, Opeth has worn many hats. Although its music fits comfortably under the label of progressive death metal, the group has flirted with Celtic folk, black metal, jazz, and most recently '70s prog. It's incredible how many times the band has reinvented itself. Listen to the sprawling, progressive sound of 2016's Sorceress compared to “The Twilight Is My Robe" from their 1995 debut album, Orchid. Quite a difference!

Mikael's trademark sound can be traced to his openly admitted lack of theoretical understanding or formal musical education. He has simply played guitar for over 30 years and found all the things that sound good to him. He still claims he can't name any of the chords he uses, and even if this is an exaggeration it still teaches you an important lesson: There are no rules in music. Limiting yourself to the things you understand and can explain is to put yourself in the smallest box of all.

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Tosin Abasi and Javier Reyes—Animals as Leaders’ jaw-dropping dualguitar team—live up to their name and create a new progressive-rock beast by cross-breeding jazz, classical, and metal techniques in a way that simultaneously blows your mind and defies the genre’s stereotypes.

“It’s a few genres combined into one. It’s like progressive metal, progressive jazz … space metal,” says Tosin Abasi, founder of Animals as Leaders, when pressed to pigeonhole his band into a category. And he’s right—in the course of a single AAL song, your ears might be assaulted by math-metal djent-isms with bittersweet Lydian sonorities, tapped open-voice triads, contrapuntal textures, 8-string slapping and popping that sounds like a cross between Victor Wooten and Eddie Van Halen’s “Mean Street,” and lo-fi electronica-influenced tones.

On the surface, this description of AAL’s musical mélange might reek of the sort of music-school pretension you expect from guys who wear Jaco Pastorious T-shirts and throw in every new device they learn in theory class to create a hodgepodge of faux eclecticism. But Animals as Leaders weaves every twist and turn so organically that it never sounds forced and, after a couple of listens, almost doesn’t make sense any other way.

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Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland captures the energy of last year’s Time Machine tour, with Rush performing both classic hits and new tunes from their forthcoming (and 20th to date) studio release titled Clockwork Angels.

Rush
Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland
2011 Anthem Entertainment

One would be hard-pressed to name a band as polarizing as Rush. But love them or not, their longevity and continued relevancy in the world of rock music is nothing less than impressive. Formed in 1968, the band has continued to create and expand on its very unique blend of rock ’n’ roll, all the while delivering it to a worldwide, devoted fan base. And Rush’s uncanny ability to recreate their complex studio sound on the stage—with just Lifeson, Lee, and Peart at the helm—is legendary.

Premiering first at select theaters before being made available November 8 on DVD/ Blu-ray, Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland captures the energy of last year’s Time Machine tour, with Rush performing both classic hits and new tunes from their forthcoming (and 20th to date) studio release titled Clockwork Angels. Interestingly, it’s the band’s first live performance filmed in the United States, and the tour marked the first time Moving Pictures was played live in its entirety. Cleveland was given the nod for the movie’s concert site, since it was the first city to support Rush with radio airplay.

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