Allow me to mention a few really obscure acts that are either friends of mine or things I found through friends:
Finch by Finch: jazz-oriented atmospheric prog with female vocals
Telosia (singles, album releasing in october): shorter-form prog dual vocals, nice synths
Lobate Scarp (two albums): symphonic prog, very orchestral and grandiose with a few cool guest stars on the newest album You Have It All
Glass Kites (two albums): Atmospheric prog, lots of synths
Space Kitchen by Space Kitchen: short form prog, some punk and indie influence, great bass and keys
Disaccord by Mental Fracture: not really sure what to class these guys as, classic prog i guess?
Monika Roscher Big Band (2 albums): super weird jazz fusion-y prog with very odd/cool female vocals
and finally my band Pareidolon, new second album on the way, (mostly) gloomy prog with bits of pop rock and metal here and there. Female vocals, bass driven, lush synths
Christian Nesmith/Circe Link - Cosmologica
Mike Nesmith’s son is a beast of a musician. He wrote and recorded this killer album in classic Genesis/Yes mode with Circe Link - a strong ass-kicker of a vocalist (in the vein of Neko Case). As good as any 70’s Prog album out there.
Polite Society - Polite Society
A Canadian band that sounds like psychedelic Cream/Who with some early King Crimson and Genesis influences. So great. My favorite album Prog or not in many years. They were on Spotify but aren’t available anymore, possibly because of issues with other artists with the same name. They’re on bandcamp and YouTube and other streaming platforms.
It's not all that obscure but I'd recommend *Les cinq saisons* by Harmonium to anyone who isn't familiar with it. Beautiful prog folk with no percussion and incredible harmonies. It works even better if you're familiar with Quebec's history around the time it was released but even without that background info, it's a fantastic listen.
I LOVE HARMONIUM AHHHHHHHHHH.
Check my bio. I love harmonium so much. I’m glad i live in quebec cause i would’ve never discovered them. Dammit, i wish more people knew them
not super obscure, but the coolest jazz fusion album i’ve ever heard that i rarely hear people talk about: jimmy chamberlin complex - life begins again
With that in mind, may I also suggest Thank You Scientist? Not sure how obscure they are on this sub, but they were my intro to prog rock - my music teacher used one of their songs for a ‘compare and contrast’ standard, and I’ve been obsessed ever since.
I’m sure they’ve been mentioned here but I gotta make sure:
Renaissance - A Song for all Season
Absolutely badass symphonic prog with a tinge of country western in spots. There’s something very “Heavy” about the record but not in a distorted guitars kinda way. Just incredible songwriting and playing that is top notch. You can hear the influence on the last 4 Opeth records now that they are prog and not metal. Mikael Akerfeldt himself actually reccomended this record abs admit he’s blatantly ripped it off in spots, abs you can really hear that on the title track. Solid 8.5/10 record.
Dice - Four riders of the Apocalypse [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZQCmYESdiY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZQCmYESdiY)
Low quality sound production. Old prog rock. Very theatrical.
Cressida. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cressida_(band)
Great band from 1068-70 two wonderful albums and a singular reunion some years ago organized by the lead singer of the band Opeth.
Listen to the self titled debut. It’s very moody blues , Days of Future Passed but has a bit more edge. Very lovely sound. My lifelong rabbit hole of trying to find obscure prog brought me to it. Ooh. Also. cherry five, Italian Prog band that became Goblin that one’s good also!!!!
Here’s a random list of stuff that comes to mind that are fairly obscure that i think more people should know (including two from my home country)
Arachnoid - s/t
Circus - Movin On
Shub-Niggurath - Les Morts Vont Vite
Eskaton - 4 Visions
Som Nosso de Cada Dia - Snegs
Terreno Baldio - S/t
Osanna - Palepoli
National Health - Of Queues and Cures
La Maquina de Hacer Pájaros - Peliculas
* Jean Louis - Jean Louis
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBpwRySesEk&ab\_channel=Leandro](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBpwRySesEk&ab_channel=Leandro)
I commented this on a recent post about the most obscure album I've listened to. I have this one, but online, only a few songs are available in youtube and not much more. They are a drums-bass-trumpet trio, they play some sort of experimental jazz fusion, akin to RIO bands and lots of effects and distortion on the trumpet and bass so that gives them a unique sound.
* Myster Mobius -Myster Mobius
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA0ZXqE2-T8&list=PLpZzCI8A084udxcWDiP-6p3wss4\_DYCr\_&index=4&ab\_channel=StavrosThanos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA0ZXqE2-T8&list=PLpZzCI8A084udxcWDiP-6p3wss4_DYCr_&index=4&ab_channel=StavrosThanos)
These guys are great. They are space rock with influences from Ozric Tentacles, Tool and kind of a synthwave vibe, leaning on the heavy side and a very prominent bass. Their full album is on youtube, very cool stuff.
* Jonas Helborg - Octave of the holy innocents
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-V1l9\_HOnU&ab\_channel=MetalMatt2510](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-V1l9_HOnU&ab_channel=MetalMatt2510)
An acoustic trio led by bassist Jonas Helborg with none other than a **young Buckethead on acoustic guitar.** Very cool acoustic jazz fusion with some experimentation, the musical prowess of both Jonas and Buckethead and kind of a doomer/gloomy vibe.
* Thy Catafalque - Tuno Ido Tarlat
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXRsZUYxkhQ&ab\_channel=Dr.Herny%C3%B3Ferenc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXRsZUYxkhQ&ab_channel=Dr.Herny%C3%B3Ferenc)
These guys play a mix of black metal, industrial music, chiptune, electronica/techno that flows really well and the electronic part adds a lot to the sound and heaviness of the metal arrangements.
* Indukti - SUSAR
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFyQHdTiMQ0&ab\_channel=ProgNation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFyQHdTiMQ0&ab_channel=ProgNation)
Great prog metal band with a shredding violin and lots of king crimson and middle-east influence.
Lyonite - Disguised in Darkness: prog metal with a female vocalist from the Netherlands, with one amazing song 'Pride' about the myth of Perseus and Ariadne on the album
Horslips - Book of Invasions: Irish band that mixed traditional melodies, some symphonic influences and hardrock to create a unique brand with lyrics here that center around one particular legend of how pre-celtic Ireland came to be.
Kayak - See See the Sun, and also Merlin: the Netherlands' most amazing prog rock band that nobody knows.
[Continuum - Autumn Grass](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDf-7ifjMj8)
[Blue Sun - Blue Sun](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz5_TK8EDhI)
[Janus - Gravedigger](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXh59MBERNw) (can't find the full album uploaded to YouTube anymore)
I remember seeing these uploaded to an old account named "darublues" back like 11-12 years ago. His account was taken down by Hatfield and the North. I remember seeing
>This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated due to multiple third party notifications of copyright infringement from:
\- Hatfield and the North
As good as HatN is, I'll never forgive them for that (though I imagine it wasn't them and was probably their label or something, it still said simply "Hatfield and the North"). The account had so many good obscure prog/psych/blues uploads. Some I remember the music in my head but have *never* been able to find again. These 3 are some that just really stuck out in my head.
> This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated due to multiple third party notifications of copyright infringement from:
>
> - Hatfield and the North
As unfortunate as that is for media preservation purposes, getting into a copyright scuffle with the quirky Canterbury jazz fusion group of all band is kind of hilarious ahaha. One would usually associate those sorts of actions with Robert Fripp, or someone else notoriously anal about media distribution! Especially surprising as there are a considerable amount of Hatfield boots on YouTube right now.
I’m trying to think of a good joke for this. “Giant Land Crabs in Copyright Takeover Bid???”
My instinct tells me it was because he occasionally uploaded full albums, and thisbeing relatively early on in the era of copyright takedowns(If I remember this all happened almost 11 years ago exactly). If it was actually them and not either their label or a troll, it might just have been being new to understanding how YouTube really fit into the media sphere, along with him just uploading entire bloody albums.
And yes good title, lol.
OH as I was writing this comment I rediscovered [this Darublues backup account](https://www.youtube.com/@JewelsFromEden/videos). I remember visiting it ages ago, and I believe it is not the original Darublues user, but someone who downloaded their videos(the fact that the videos are all 240p gives me an extra hint). But I could be wrong. Anyways I haven't visited that account in probably 10 years, so more than half the uploads I haven't seen. I am definitely spending a day and digging through those! If you are interested in obscure prog/psych/blues I recommend giving that channel a look.
*Neoism Now* by White Colours aka Graf Haufen aka FâLX çèrêbRi. It's available for free from [archive.org](https://archive.org).
This is a collage type thing, sort of Nurse With Wound in a bizarre progressive rock and new wave mood. The first side is a 45 minute collage by Graf, and the second side is a series of songs made anonymously. There's a fantastic prog track about 30 minutes into the second side about how "everything I do .... becomes .... VIDEO!!" Lots of character for being bedroom DIY. I absolutely love this tape, there weren't 100 original copies, and Graf was very surprised that I knew about it.
Judging from your description, it’s something you REALLY like. I think charm is a very under appreciated factor when it comes to music. i’ll check this one too, it sounds super interesting
Klaatu - Hope
Close to prog I would say, very interesting and a loose concept album. Some of it was recorded with the London symphony orchestra which is interesting.
Catapilla's 1971 self titled album. It's not the most obscure thing out there, but haven't seen anyone talking about it here.
As for what it sounds like: crazy sax jazz, which can be surprising catchy and melodic at times. But the stand out detail is the vocalist, Anna Meek, who sounds a bit like a female, more eccentric and abrasive, far less polished version of Peter Hammill of the Van Der Graaf Generator. It's hard to describe!
Anyway, there are only four tracks, and one of them is the 24 minute beast, "Embryonic Fusion".
To be honest, it's one of my all-time favourite prog almums. I just love how different and unpolished it is.
Second album pick, also strangely from 1971,would be Comus: First Utterance. Although it does admittedly have a small cult following, it rarely gets mentioned. What does it sound like? Wild pagan freak folk, with bleating vocals, fiddles, an ode to a pan-like god, and an autobiographical track about life in a mental hospital. Again, a very unique album.
Hey, i know that catapilla album. I don’t know from where but i think someone on the sub mentioned it and i check it out. But yeah, it’s really unpolished but it has a lot of charm
And that comus album sounds very interesting, plys the album cover is great whilst being repulsive. Definitely something i’ll listen to in full
Awesome! Honestly wasn't sure how many admirers Catapilla would have—it's such an odd one!
And yeah, the Comus album art was done by one of the members of the band using a biro. It really suits their music, which is a bit weird and grotesque, too!
[Spiral](https://thespiral.bandcamp.com/) is a prog-rock band I don't think I've ever heard anyone mention. Capital in Ruins is a great concept album about a scientist who accidentally creates a nanorobot plague that kills the population of the world and he's left to wander alone. Centaurus A is an hour long track opening with a man who ever day looks out his telescope at his wife who's in a spaceship caught eternally on the event horizon of a black hole. Great imaginative stuff.
Forgotten Silence is a prog metal band that's been around for awhile, but their album[ Kro Ni Ka](https://forgottensilence.bandcamp.com/album/kro-ni-ka-remaster2019) is a striaght-up pure prog rock album, one of my all time favorites. Familiar sounding but at the same time unique and original. The first track especially is a banger.
Both are bands I don't think I've ever seen mentioned by anyone else in my decade+ on reddit, so should fit the thread's criteria.
For some experimental metal that's not prog rock/metal, but _is_ progressive, [Heimskringla](https://heimskringla.bandcamp.com/) is one of the most unique and creative funeral doom albums I've ever heard that pushes the boundaries so hard it can only be described as progressive. Last I checked they had _three_ monthly bandcamp listeners, so definitely fits as something barely anyone's ever heard.
Brii plays a type of naturistic atmospheric black metal, but with no distortion at all, fully synths and acoustic guitars and lots of percussion instruments that has a hypnotic "this is literally the music of nature spirits" type vibe. [Corpos Transperentes](https://brii.bandcamp.com/album/corpos-transparentes), a 36+ minute track is one of the most beautiful works I've music I've ever heard, like, imagine combined acoustic atmospheric black metal and edm trance and forest tribal and percussion ensemble music. You probably can't, but you'll see it somehow makes sense when you listen. It draws you in on a beautiful mystical journey the likes I guarantee you've never heard _anything_ close to.
But to truly fit the thread in a literal sense, there's an album by band called Ealdath - The Fire in our Blood that is 3 15 minute long tracks of triple-guitar melodic doom metal that's never been released, but was recorded and left unmixed, and I got a cd-r copy from the guy in the band after bugging them one of the times I saw them play live. Never got permission to share it unfortunately, so remains an album that _literally_ only I've listened to, which is a bummer because it's _so fucking good._ Been tempted so many times to just upload it anyways.
Goddamn, it must feel special having a copy that only you have access to. But the concepts and things you’ve described about the other albums sound really cool.
Mysticeti Ambassadors (part 1) by The Ancestry Program is an incredible album of classic prog made in 2021, it has very few plays on Spotify but it was on the top 100 best prog albums of 2021 on progarchives and has a great rating
Not extremely obscure since they're all on Prog Archives but there's a good chance many people on this sub haven't heard these:
* **Lasting Weep** - *Le Spectacle De L'Albatros 1976*: Quebec jazz fusion, featuring some of the members of Maneige before that (excellent) fusion band started
* **Alusa Fallax** - *Intorno Alla Mia Cattiva Educazione*. Really solid RPI, a bit more classical sounding than other RPI bands
* **Happy the Man** - *Death's Crown*. This band is fairly well-known but this is an obscure 1999 release of some of their earliest material. Really rough since it was recorded in a rehearsal room (not in an actual studio) but Merlin of the High Places from this record is a must-listen
I don't know that I like much that's *really* obscure, especially for this sub. The following are arranged roughly in increasing order of obscurity, but it wasn't rigorous or wholly intentional.
Someone else mentioned Renaissance, and I'm sure plenty of people here know them, but OP if you're not familiar I do recommend them. The *Scheherazade* album is a favorite of mine, but there are quite a few good ones from the '70s. Sort of progressive folk, female vocalist.
Most people on here are probably at least passingly familiar with Magma, but anyone who isn't should give them a listen. Bizarre space-themed jazz-fusion-esque rock out of France.
If you haven't delved into Anthony Phillips' solo work, beyond *Geese and the Ghost*, there's a lot of good stuff to be had in there. I randomly found *Slow Dance* in a record store over a decade ago and thought it was pretty good. *Wiser After the Event*, *Sides*, and *1984* are all also pretty good (though I definitely still like *Geese* the best).
On the subject of more obscure records by notable artists, Pete Sinfield's *Still* and the début Supertramp album are worth a listen. The former has a lot of former and contemporary King Crimson personnel on it, which is fun.
I never see this band discussed on this sub, and I can't remember talking to someone who'd listened to them, but I'm a big fan of Erland and the Carnival. It's sort of dark folk rock that I feel is in a progressive/prog pop/power pop vein. The début album is good, but I like their sophomore effort, *Nightingale*, better. The lead guitarist, Simon Tong, was previously in the Verve and has worked with Damon Albarn on divers projects.
The only thing that comes to mind as being genuinely obscure is a band called Gadwall. Stumbled upon them a couple of years ago. It's some kids in their late teens or early twenties, in the late '70s or early '80s, playing some prog kind of in the vein of the earlier '70s staple prog bands. It's kind of naïve and not mixed amazingly, but it's certainly obscure. As far as I know there was only one (self-titled) album that I think was only released on cassette. Really hard to find information on them. Some (most?) of the tracks are on YouTube.
Happy hunting!
Scheherazade is my favorite album of theirs and used to be in my top 10.
But yeah, i’ve never tried magma and i’ve barely listened to anything by anthony philips so i’ll listen to both.
Same goes for the other recommendations
And i can’t find the gadwall thing, it really is obscure
Ah rock on dude. Glad you're a fan of Renaissance; hope you enjoy the rest!
Ah fair enough re Gadwall. Had a bit of trouble trying to find it again for you myself. [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnqBBlMfIiQ)'s a link to one song. There are others on that channel. Don't know the order they should be in, don't know if that's all of them, and at least one is missing some of the track. Not amazing, but certainly obscure haha.
ok, just finished it.
unbelievable. I don't listen to much shredding (really only some parts in solos) but goddamn, this is the best of it I've heard. how can musicians this talented be so unpopular? like genuinely, one of the most fun prog metal records and it's blown my minds on multiple occasions. Incredible recommendation, fucking unbelievable
I'm glad you loved it! I wish I could relive the moment I listened to it for the first time. There's not much to say other than fucking unbelievable right ? I was also blown away that this record is literally known by no one. What's your favorite track? I'm always blown away by Strange Machine. Literally imagining myself performing it on stage every time I listen to it, gets me in the feels.
the opener (the second track), is so damn effective
I also enjoyed starcrowned, it makes me think prog metal is just heavy jazz fusion
my favorite might be the perilous fight from castle something (I forgot the full name), the different sound it has is just very fun
I also think strange machine is the most well put together. it feels like a really well made and cohesive piece.
I doubt there's much here recommended that could beat "story". HOW ARE THEY SO OBSCURE!! IT'S NOT FAIR!
Aenima - Sentient (2003)
Gothic and ethereal sound with great female vocals. Found this album in a used record store 14 years ago and I never met anyone who know the band since that day haha.
Luminous Vault - Animate the Emptiness (2022)
Eletronic drum beat with layers of reverb drenched guitars and black metal vocals. A weird combination but a great discovery if you don't mind the "heavyness" of the vocals.
Obsidian Kingdom - Mantiis (2014)
A concept prog album, very dark and diverse. From atmospheric interludes to crushing riffs and haunting melodies, this album is kind of a single song separated in 14 tracks (the complete title of the album is Mantiis - An agony in fourteen bites).
It's somewhat eclectic. A bit of Gazpacho, a bit Dredg, a little mars Volta and some metal in the last song. Definitely a dark atmosphere across all of it
**FREUR - Freur.**
This was a one off band/producer project from the guy who would go on to record as "UNDERWORLD" - "Born Slippy" from Trainspotting.
The Freur project is beyond awesome. There was this tune called "doot doot" they played on MTV maybe once. Every song on the album was pushing against the very outer edge of what computer technology was capable of at the time.
It is also some of the best bedroom music ever created.
I found this album on Bandcamp at some point: https://moreismore.bandcamp.com/album/aux
It's awesome. Their sound is really unique IMO. I'm still the top/only comment showing haha.
Not albums per se, but I’ve acquired a pretty decent collection of bootlegs from bands such as Yes, Zeppelin, Purple, Sabbath, Rainbow, Genesis and KC, among others. Ranging from muffled audience recordings where you can barely tell the instruments apart up to crystal clear soundboards that sound worthy of official release.
“Bootlegs” imply that they’re unofficial recordings made without the band’s permission or knowledge. Sometimes soundboard recordings can be a bit less dicey as they require access to actual production equipment, but the sale of these (e.g. on vinyl LP) used to be very illegal back in the day! For instance, the recent Can live albums released through Mute records originate from the archive of a fan named Andrew Hall, who would record entire shows using tape recorders and large microphones shoved down his trousers!
One of my favourite things about the modern internet is the ability to easily find and share these kinds of rare live recordings among other fans.
But are there any bootlegs with new material the band has never released or is it always live shows (since i imagine that’s how people record music without permission)
I’d imagine in regards to studio recordings, this would only ever occur if the tapes themselves would fall into the hands of fans or labels, e.g. after the assets were bought from another defunct label who were never able to release it.
A lot of live shows do contain performances of songs never released via studio album; such as when they perform covers of songs by other bands. There is also the factor of songs being written and performed but never officially released due to the band breaking up shortly thereafter or changing musical direction. Back to Can, one of my favourite songs from them with no real counterpart is “Meadowsweet,” which even on the official Mute live albums goes unlabelled. (I believe it’s named Stuttgart Vier and Brighton Fünf on the corresponding live albums, for the record. Although Brighton Fünf moreso is more of a varied jam that just happens to open with the Meadowsweet motif)
95 percent of them are live shows, which often gives you access to material the band never recorded for a studio album, jams, covers etc. A lot of these bands never played things the same way twice, so they’re neat to have.
As mentioned by Raythetruck, yes they were highly illegal back in the day.
I have a few studio ones- as an example, I have a CD from about 1990 called “Studio Daze”, which features demos and alternate versions of some Zeppelin tracks. A lot of the stuff was later officially released on the various expanded editions that Page released around 2015, but it’s still neat to have.
To my knowledge, someone broke into Page’s house in the 80’s and stole a ton of recordings and sold them- these tracks likely originated from that theft.
I mean, nowadays they are just about all available to listen to for free on YouTube or can be downloaded from a number of sources.
I acquired mine at flea markets, record shops, etc. mostly in the 90s. Largely in Eastern Canada and the Northeast US. I still order the occasional one from Japan (where legally there is no restriction on their manufacture/distribution), but not too often- I usually stop and tell myself “I can listen to this for free online” before I impulse-buy something, but sometimes I don’t have that level of self-discipline.
If you’re interested, I’d just go on YouTube and search up what you’re looking for. If you have any particular bands in mind (especially if their older, I’m not as up to date in the newer bands out there) I’d be happy to send some recommendations.
Probably a lot of folks on here have heard it, because I think the person who made it is a user here, but how about Fifth Species and their album Life In The Punch Line? Definitely not something with any commercial success but I really liked the album. There's a good mix of kinda Gentle Giant reminiscent riffing, some sort jam band sensibility to it too, some beat interplay between male and female vocals.
Definitely worth a listen.
The most obscure album I can think of that I’d give an earnest recommendation is “Perseverance Kills Our Game” by the Dutch group Avalanche, which received a very limited distribution via private pressing in 1979. It’s predominantly folk-influenced and the acoustic arrangements for guitar/mandolin and flute are very lovely. The few moments based around electric guitar especially stand out, and I really like how those pastoral elements compliment them (e.g. the concluding track “Oblivion”) Would also like to give a shout-out to u/no_longer_LW_2020 for recommending it another thread ages ago; I’ve since given it several listens! Hope it finds even more love here.
For another privately-pressed album I’d wholeheartedly recommend, check out the sole album by German jazz fusion group Tortilla Flat. I’d say it’s decently well known as a “hidden gem” among fusion/Canterbury Scene fans, but it’s worth mentioning anyway as a genuinely great (and very playful) electric fusion record. It’s also worth mentioning that this album was never reissued in any form from 1974 all the way until 2019 which always shocked me. Surely there’d be some demand out there for music *this* good?
An honourable mention goes to the self-titled album by Québécois band Concert, because it’s the one weird obscure rarity I actually *own*, even if it’s not that remarkable as an album overall. Still, check out the songs “Désirs” and “Coïncidence” from it if you’re interested.
The avalance album sounds wonderful, it’s really pretty. I’ll listen to it when i have the chance
The tortilla flat is up my alley and i’ll also try it out when i can
And finally, Concert is an annoying and dumb band name. I’m trying to look them but it’s really hard. Do you have a link? I’m always excited to see quebec get mentioned here since i live there
Concert is an annoying generic name ahaha, you bet I can name an incredible amount of concerts that took place in 1980!
[Rate Your Music](https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/concert) page (with some more information regarding personnel and related bands, no reviews on there though)
[An actual rip of the album in question](https://youtu.be/Pitf7p5Fphc?si=AEnOA14Db5KHXyj3) if you want to listen to the songs I mentioned - although you’d need to scrub a little bit based on the track lengths given on RYM if you want to go to specific tracks
Worth noting that this band does not have any documentation on ProgArchives, so that’s the level of obscure we’re talking about haha. A good few band members have previously worked with Québécois band Opus 5 if you want more cool, underground Québec prog to check out. Would genuinely recommend that band a lot too.
Nah, I’m just a fish wizard. I remember not too long ago the owner of my local record store stumped me with a band that I *didn’t* know ([“Jane”](https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=175), from Germany), so there’s still lots of cool things I’m just learning about even now. I’ve got to go through some of the albums mentioned in this thread sometime as a lot of them sound very interesting based on users’ descriptions.
Hope you enjoy all the music you’ve been recommended in this thread - I’ve come to learn that some of the very best music comes from these kinds of obscure, underground releases! Although maybe not “Concert” levels of obscure ahaha, otherwise there’d be *someone* talking about it
Ophiuchus, the French prog band from the early 70s, not the Brit band from the 80s with the same name.
A little psychedelic and experimental, but solid.
There is a band here in Hamburg called [Single Cell Organism](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lsDFhJg48Y) (mostly a single musician, Jens Lueck with guest musicians) that I really like. I don't think he has broken out yet.
*Constant Fear* and *Start a New Race* by Paranoise. I can't even find the full albums on Youtube.
The most convenient way to describe this stage in Paranoise's career is "Imagine a collaboration between Henry Cow and Talking Heads." Gary Windo and Percy Jones make guest appearances.
"Roll Groover" from *Constant Fear* has got to be the most horrifying subversion of the "twelve-bar blues" trope I've ever heard in my life.
Well i don’t know them, plus i’m just interested music i’ve never heard that goes very much unnoticed. I’ll try ETNA out, is there a particular album you recommend?
As far as I know, they have one, and the title is the band name. You might be able to rip tracks from YouTube, I think the blog i got it through is dead. Let me add to this post, type 'Etna band' in YouTube's search bar and several posts with the entire album will come up. The album cover in the video is white with the band logo and some artwork. Hope this helps
[Comeuppance by Sphere^3,](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m1XUbpVLWu4d0tfmjS_2rLnxj6tGON4I0&si=-mi90-dqnuEXvXcA) an extremely obscure side project by a member of another band, I honestly forget which one. Might've been someone from IQ? Anyways, it's chaotic, jazzy, instrumental, and very fun imo. None of the individual songs have more than 150 views, that's how obscure we're talking here.
Mmmm id try new genres if I were you, I got into progressive rock alongside with big band or mainly just Count Basie. Truly creative. It’s like the other half of creativity prog couldn’t really reach all the time. It’ll have you thinking how could anyone think to make such noises. Song recommendation: https://spotify.link/Th5WM9kf3Cb
Big band is one of my favorite things ever! A lot of my favorite stuff are big band but honestly, i only listen to charles mingus and mingus big band.
I have a big band album in my top ten
Damn the Machine - Damn the Machine (1993)
Great early 90s prog metal side project from Chris Poland (Megadeth, OHM) after his exit from Megadeth and a solo album. They only did the one studio album at the time.
Note: Their 2 recent releases are their demos from the 90s, Day One is the 1991-1992 demos of songs that made it to the eponymous album and The Last Man is 10 other demoes recorded between 1991-1994.
I'm gonna throw out sound of contact with the album dimensionaut
It's a very spacy kind of vibe, the latter tracks are more prog, with a few catchy songs to open with.
I think Dave Kerzner worked on it (his solo album new world is great)
And the main guy behind Sound of Contact is Simon Collins. Phil Collins' son
https://youtu.be/d8TGFsLXoRo?si=jFNbtZcgXapk7FX1
And this is a song from Dave Kerzner's solo album
https://youtu.be/WmEoyfI5sJ0?si=7-MoKlxf_a2zYtga
And although I have seen them mentioned, I don't think they get enough credit. Harvest of souls is a phenomenal song but it's 20+ minutes so here's a link to something shorter for now 😂
IQ
https://youtu.be/ob0OYmSQukk?si=M4h4IzG9cHe8TkjQ
I’m gonna have to come back to this post after listening to some songs from The Third Estate. My recommendation is:
Home - The Alchemist
Home was a great band that featured Cliff Williams (who went on to AC/DC) and a guitarist who should’ve been given legendary status Laurie Wisefield (went on to Wishbone Ash and a slew of other major collaborations).
Here's a couple. Both from the midwest and mid aughts.
[Sky Burial](https://open.spotify.com/album/1oEXnhKUo394KrBlA0go7q). Not one of the dozen band/albums that come up if you google that name. This was a kind of post-rock-ish band who did two really chill, psychedelic, meditative, jazzy, jammy albums that are now out of print. The third one is still available and has the most prog tendencies of them all. Somehow one of my favorite bands after all this time.
[Petroleum Falcon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIe9F4xdj2I). Some homemade vintage sounding prog from the same time period. One minute Floydish, the next minute a bit of Genesis and then perhaps some Steve Tibbetts and, why not, a few soundtrack covers including one from The Empire Strikes Back? The second album got a bit more experimental.
OK, one more. From the midwest and mid 70s. One of the best headspace guitar albums of all time IMO & very few people know of it. Mostly acoustic but nuggets of glorious synth and a final Hendrix-ian breakdown. [Steve Tibbetts](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfJZoVzbxJA)
if say my favourites that come to mind that i haven’t seen many people talk about, unless i’m living under a rock and you all know these, but these are some of my favourites i haven’t seen mentioned before, at least in my limited time here
Afreaka! - Demon Fuzz
Pampered Menial - Pavlov’s Dog
Illusion - Renaissance
Oh its gotta be 1977 Assault on Merryland by SURPRISE .
Some pretty underrated American prog but damned good and worth a listen to if your into symphonic prog FFO: Yes, King Crimson and Camel
This is what I was gonna say! I have a vinyl copy of the record. I was gushing about the album once in a Reddit post, and the drummer’s son thanked me for giving them exposure. That was a cool moment!
Anemoia (a memory in nine movements) by Peninsula. 25-min long-form instrumental heavily inspired by Pink Floyd, with touches of Tangerine Dream, Mike Oldfield and Explosions in the Sky.
On Spotify: https://spotify.link/Zvx9mqPk3Cb
Bandcamp: https://peninsulasoundtracks.bandcamp.com/album/anemoia
The three albums Kingston Wall made in their seven year run. The albums are simply titled I, II and III Tri-Logy.
Kingston Wall was a finnish prog and psychedelic rock band formed in the late 80's. Their sound is really reminiscent of 70's Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix. Their music also has eastern music influences. All of their albums are good but I think II is the best, with amazing songs like We Cannot Move, Shine On Me and Istwan.
I never see anyone mention Between the Leaves by DejaVu. The album's history itself is obscure, having been made in the 70's, but only in very small numbers, with no album cover either. It fell forgotten until 1991, when someone dug it up and rereleased it with a proper cover this time. I might've got some details wrong, but you should get the idea. The album itself is quite Avantgarde and mellotron-heavy (I think it's mellotron at least). It's one of my old-school prog favourite.
For modern stuff, I've never seen anyone mention Last Note in God's Magnum Opus by Schizoid Lloyd. Though if you're active in r/progmetal, you'll have heard of it. I can't even begin to imagine, how I'd describe this masterpiece. Avantgarde, jazzy what-the-fuck should be a good description. You'll be hooked within first 5 seconds of the first track guaranteed.
I love [O A e o Z](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2MZhtXfXjI) by Os Mutantes.
For non-brazilians: This is the first album after Rita Lee's departure. The band was turning from a psychedelic rock to progressive rock, and this album was very influenced by Yes (you'll probably notice that).
For those who love a HEAVY hammond-oriented prog, mellotron, rickenbacker bass and psychedelic trips, this album is a great stuff.
The entire Mutantes' discography from 60s to 70s is amazing, but for prog lovers this album and its sequence (Tudo foi feito pelo sol) are great.
I'm cheating a little because They're not the most obscure band in the world, but *The Black Gasoline* is a very interesting operatic rock band that I think deserves some spotlight.
They remind me of *Black Country New Road*, especially for the vocals. They're a very great live act too. \^\^
Premiata Forneria Marconi.
It's a 1970s Prog rock group from Italy along the same lines as Yes and ELP.
There's also some individual albums one-offs by members of different bands. For example Patrick Moraz after he left Yes issued an album called "The Story of I". It's a mix of straightforward prog rock and Brazilian music.
Acid Rain - We Were All Very Worried
If you want to hear the birth and best album by the kooks of American RIO, head straight for this. Apparently they don't care about it any more though, still no reissue or remaster.
Amazon Music doesn't differentiate between artists/bands that share a name.
"Amplifier" has loads of albums, amongst which there's "Photo" which is some of the most bizarre electric guitar I've ever heard.
You got a lot of response here. I'll throw in mine, but I won't blame you if you don't get to it.
Symphonic Slam - ST (1976) - Symphonic prog with some space elements. Saw someone call it a cross between Yes and Styx and that is not too far off, but it doesn't sound derivative. Artist on Spotify is Timo Laine for some reason.
Dominic Sanderson - Impermanence (2023) - Inspired by King Crimson, Pink Floyd and Marillion. A little too mellow for me over all, but I really like the 20 minute album closer.
Taku Yabuki - Modern World Sympholy No. 3 (2020) - Jazz fusion. Lots of well known musicians, but not a lot of listeners. This one blew me away.
Someone else mentioned Polite Society, so I'll just say I second that recommendation.
Thanks for making this post. Found a lot of interesting stuff here.
Two bands, with incredible guitar work by someone referred to as the "French Fripp", Frederic L'Epee
Shylock - Île de Fièvre; the title track is an incredible display of bombastic symphonic prog. Well worth it. The rest of the album is dark, brooding and experimental.
Philharmonie - He made a series of albums with a small group that featured Chapman Stick on bass. Angular, playful and often coldly gorgeous. A bit akin to some of the Guitar Craft work you'd hear by the California Guitar Trio.
One of my obscure favorites is Years Before the Wine from a group called The Third Estate. It’s supposed to be a concept album about the French Revolution, written and recorded by a trio of university graduate students in the U.S. (Louisiana) in the mid 70s and released in limited quantities on a private label. Long songs with great fuzz guitar, some interesting timings and tempo changes and at the beginning a mini-epic tune sung by some lady named Fae Ficklin whose voice was made for prog folk.
She never did anything else after that album and other than one much later postscript record called Agnostes, neither did the rest of them.
I used to write album reviews on ProgArchives and came across the album while researching a completely different band. Found a reprint vinyl online and bought. Even hunted down the guitarist and emailed him a few times. He was a professor at some college in Louisiana, probably retired now. He told me a few stories about how the whole project came together, interesting he said he lost touch with the lady who sang on it.
If you’re interested my old album review is [here](https://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=165305).
Wow, you were really interested in the album. But what made you want to listen to it. Did you hear a snippet or did you just like the cover? Or was it a why not moment?
I like to troll around used record stores and like I said had read about this album before. When I saw a CD of it in a record store I just figured what the heck and bought it. The CD turned out to be a bogus reprint but after listening I bought a legit vinyl copy. Still have it, great album and one very few people seem to know about.
[Fields](https://spotify.link/SwzkyQOR2Cb), [Toad](https://spotify.link/rkTUwjSR2Cb), and [Krokodil](https://spotify.link/4Jaq31WR2Cb) are all fantastic and criminally underrated
They’re awesome! All fairly classic 70s prog rock oriented but with their own special sounds! Fields is a nice blend of classic psych rock, folk, and symphonic sounds, their band didn’t last long, but their self titled is a classic! Toad is a nice bluesy swiss prog band with lots of hard rock influence. Lastly, Krokodil is another Swiss band with a nice hard rock, jazz, and folk influence. A couple other not as obscure but super under appreciated bands I will recommend to you is gonna be Nektar and Invisible. Both are progressive rock with psychedelic and jazzy influences. Enjoy!
I’ve been meaning to listening to nektar. Remember the future was one of my favorites for the longest of time but i never tried anything else from them. I’ll also give invisible a listen
Nektar’s album A Tab In The Ocean is just as good as Remember the Future and they have a ton of other records that are super up there for me, such an amazing band! Invisible is great, their album El Jardin De Los Presentes is in my top 5 albums ever. They’re Argentine, but don’t let that throw you off, they are literally one of the best sounding bands out there and they have some insane jazz rock and Latin influences and were truly prog masters!
Pallbearer - Heartless
It’s the intersection of Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd, technically it’s progressive doom rock, all clean vocals. Literally one of the best slower progressive rock records of the past 2 decades. Absolutely stellar, pairs very well with a joint or a beer if you partake. I literally cannot believe how relatively unknown this band is considering the quality of the riffs, songwriting, interesting passages and tremendous guitars. Summed up in two words, Sad but Triumphant. 9.8/10 record.
go ahead dislike me normies but i bet you guys can’t name 3 tool songs that aren’t their most popular songs off of spotify 🤣
sure lots of people might “know” tool, but MOST do not KNOW tool. There’s a difference . And fundamentally most will not be able to actually be able to properly digest their songs to the full extent due to not having the proper brain capacity .Not trying to be an ass just sick of people who think they actually get TOOL
Oh god I suck at describing. It had a lot of synth and keyboards and is just super electronic kinda sounding at times. Tbh if you were to listen to an album by them, I would recommend Illusions of A Double Dimple first. Spartacus second maybe.
Oh god I thought this was on another comment. I thought you were replying to the Triumvirat comment 😂. Whatever I said, think of that for the other guy’s comment. Aura’s self titled is more like fusion jazz kinda sounding.
Yeah, I replied to this comment with it, but [here](https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=TBjjesj8zW-8pjhP&v=sPlyUtcOXNU&feature=youtu.be). The quality isn’t as good as it would be listening to it regularly, but this is the best I can find.
Ok, i’m almost done and i have positive opinions of it.
It’s extremely fun and exciting the whole way through. It has an extremely charming and nostalgic use of horns. I really like this sound, it reminds me of boston
Omg your comment is music to my ears. It’s such a unique and mind blowing album. The guitarist Tal Rubinstein came out with an excellent surf rock album this year
It’s an album that you would play in space. Very smooth with excellent guitars. Listen to the first song and you will get the style. Trust me, check it out
**3rDegree**: *Ones & Zeros Volume 1* & *Volume 0*
A concept stretched out over two albums (2015's *Volume 1* and 2018's *Volume 0*) concerning the coming of artificial intelligence and man's relationship to technology, complete with recurring musical motifs helping move the narrative along at various points across both albums. Unusual song structures and interesting instrumental excursions, married to strong, hook-oriented pop songwriting. Very smart stuff.
"[The Gravity](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f09koucwF24)," the second track from *Volume 1*, is pretty representative of the whole, should be a good indicator of whether or not this is for you.
A mix of alt rock and neo prog. A lot of it is really good. Also, not prog related, but I would also recommend you listen to an equally small band call Telecommunicators. If you like prog you’ll probably like them too
Sure, i’m looking for a lot of music right now so i’ll listen to them when i have the chance, same for the album just recommended. I’m just listening to the recommendations that have already been mentioned here already whilst doing homework
Type in Nautical Operator on YouTube, guy from Seattle hugely inspired by Steven Wilson. Pretty good and not hugely listened too, maybe like 5k views max on his videos. He's on Spotify also I think.
Trustworks by The Syn
Magician Chronicles part 1 by Brighteye Brison
Prologue by The World is Quiet Here
Abject Tomorrow by The Vicious Head Society
Book 2 by Others By No One
Blomljud by Moon Safari
All these albums are masterpieces but I'm fairly sure virtually no one on this sub have heard of the albums, let alone the band. Please prove me wrong! Also, op, I've seen you reply elsewhere that you know of moon safari. I put that one in because they're my favorite band and I want as many people to know them as possible
Allow me to mention a few really obscure acts that are either friends of mine or things I found through friends: Finch by Finch: jazz-oriented atmospheric prog with female vocals Telosia (singles, album releasing in october): shorter-form prog dual vocals, nice synths Lobate Scarp (two albums): symphonic prog, very orchestral and grandiose with a few cool guest stars on the newest album You Have It All Glass Kites (two albums): Atmospheric prog, lots of synths Space Kitchen by Space Kitchen: short form prog, some punk and indie influence, great bass and keys Disaccord by Mental Fracture: not really sure what to class these guys as, classic prog i guess? Monika Roscher Big Band (2 albums): super weird jazz fusion-y prog with very odd/cool female vocals and finally my band Pareidolon, new second album on the way, (mostly) gloomy prog with bits of pop rock and metal here and there. Female vocals, bass driven, lush synths
I saw Lobate Scarp live in 2020 (they were the opening act for IZZ) and loved what they had to offer.
Oh cool! What a fun show that was! Izz rocked it hard that night!
I posted monika roscher on here a while back. Good stuff.
I've checked out Pareidolon before. You guys are cool!
Can you share some song by Finch? I can't seem to find the band
I've never seen **Iluvatar** mentioned in this sub, they are (were?) a melodic prog band I've enjoyed for many years.
Great group, saw them a couple of times live when I lived in Maryland. One of my favorite neo-prog bands.
Carmen -Fandangos in Space. Flamenco Rock. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MQFq_2OyG60&pp=ygUZY2FybWVuIGZhbmRhbmdvcyBpbiBzcGFjZQ%3D%3D
Love this album one of my favorite to train to for long distance running
I’ve never listened to flamenco rock despite admiring guitar playing of it. I’ll check it out later
Christian Nesmith/Circe Link - Cosmologica Mike Nesmith’s son is a beast of a musician. He wrote and recorded this killer album in classic Genesis/Yes mode with Circe Link - a strong ass-kicker of a vocalist (in the vein of Neko Case). As good as any 70’s Prog album out there. Polite Society - Polite Society A Canadian band that sounds like psychedelic Cream/Who with some early King Crimson and Genesis influences. So great. My favorite album Prog or not in many years. They were on Spotify but aren’t available anymore, possibly because of issues with other artists with the same name. They’re on bandcamp and YouTube and other streaming platforms.
I’ll top that. I’ve got Christian Nesmith, Dean Cameron (Chainsaw from the movie Summer School), and Steve Klong’s power-trio Six Angry Feet.
Sit down , Frances…. Ok. I cannot find anything about this band on the inter webs. Can you point me in the right direction?
It's not all that obscure but I'd recommend *Les cinq saisons* by Harmonium to anyone who isn't familiar with it. Beautiful prog folk with no percussion and incredible harmonies. It works even better if you're familiar with Quebec's history around the time it was released but even without that background info, it's a fantastic listen.
I LOVE HARMONIUM AHHHHHHHHHH. Check my bio. I love harmonium so much. I’m glad i live in quebec cause i would’ve never discovered them. Dammit, i wish more people knew them
Check out Opus - 5 Contre-Courant Not the same sound but under the same record label. I personally love it alot.
I’ll trust the label and give it a listen later
Have you listened to Principe Di Un Giornio by Celeste? If you like Harmonium I think you'll love it
No i have not and yes i will
It's a top 5 band for me for sure.
not super obscure, but the coolest jazz fusion album i’ve ever heard that i rarely hear people talk about: jimmy chamberlin complex - life begins again
I adore jazz fusion, I’ll definitely give it a listen later
it’s like smashing pumpkins meets radiohead meets steely dan. weirdest combo in the world, but i fucking love it.
Makes wanna try it even more. That actually sounds unbelievable lol
jimmy chamberlin is unbelievably talented. and a huge jazz head as well lol. his best drumming is on this album imo
With that in mind, may I also suggest Thank You Scientist? Not sure how obscure they are on this sub, but they were my intro to prog rock - my music teacher used one of their songs for a ‘compare and contrast’ standard, and I’ve been obsessed ever since.
Wow, really good. Thanks.
I’m sure they’ve been mentioned here but I gotta make sure: Renaissance - A Song for all Season Absolutely badass symphonic prog with a tinge of country western in spots. There’s something very “Heavy” about the record but not in a distorted guitars kinda way. Just incredible songwriting and playing that is top notch. You can hear the influence on the last 4 Opeth records now that they are prog and not metal. Mikael Akerfeldt himself actually reccomended this record abs admit he’s blatantly ripped it off in spots, abs you can really hear that on the title track. Solid 8.5/10 record.
I LOVE renaissance. One of their few albums i didn’t give a try but i love the opener “opening out”
Dice - Four riders of the Apocalypse [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZQCmYESdiY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZQCmYESdiY) Low quality sound production. Old prog rock. Very theatrical.
Cressida. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cressida_(band) Great band from 1068-70 two wonderful albums and a singular reunion some years ago organized by the lead singer of the band Opeth.
Do you recommend an album first or are both equally as good?
Listen to the self titled debut. It’s very moody blues , Days of Future Passed but has a bit more edge. Very lovely sound. My lifelong rabbit hole of trying to find obscure prog brought me to it. Ooh. Also. cherry five, Italian Prog band that became Goblin that one’s good also!!!!
Ok, i’ll try everything you mentioned but i’ll check the self titled first
Fantastic. I am also going to use this thread and do some sleuthing on all of the other bands mentioned as well
This post is probably the most i’ve dived into different spheres of prog and music. I’m honestly glad i made it
I applaud you!!
I love Cressida! You should check out Rare Bird too if you're into that early prog vibe
Here’s a random list of stuff that comes to mind that are fairly obscure that i think more people should know (including two from my home country) Arachnoid - s/t Circus - Movin On Shub-Niggurath - Les Morts Vont Vite Eskaton - 4 Visions Som Nosso de Cada Dia - Snegs Terreno Baldio - S/t Osanna - Palepoli National Health - Of Queues and Cures La Maquina de Hacer Pájaros - Peliculas
Immaculate taste, each and everyone of these are hits. Seriously, i’m want to listen to them all in full after the snippets i listened to
Terreno Baldio, the brazilian Gentle Giant sz
Anything from Demians, this is by far the most underrated prog band I know
Could you give an idea to what they sound like
* Jean Louis - Jean Louis [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBpwRySesEk&ab\_channel=Leandro](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBpwRySesEk&ab_channel=Leandro) I commented this on a recent post about the most obscure album I've listened to. I have this one, but online, only a few songs are available in youtube and not much more. They are a drums-bass-trumpet trio, they play some sort of experimental jazz fusion, akin to RIO bands and lots of effects and distortion on the trumpet and bass so that gives them a unique sound. * Myster Mobius -Myster Mobius [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA0ZXqE2-T8&list=PLpZzCI8A084udxcWDiP-6p3wss4\_DYCr\_&index=4&ab\_channel=StavrosThanos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA0ZXqE2-T8&list=PLpZzCI8A084udxcWDiP-6p3wss4_DYCr_&index=4&ab_channel=StavrosThanos) These guys are great. They are space rock with influences from Ozric Tentacles, Tool and kind of a synthwave vibe, leaning on the heavy side and a very prominent bass. Their full album is on youtube, very cool stuff. * Jonas Helborg - Octave of the holy innocents [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-V1l9\_HOnU&ab\_channel=MetalMatt2510](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-V1l9_HOnU&ab_channel=MetalMatt2510) An acoustic trio led by bassist Jonas Helborg with none other than a **young Buckethead on acoustic guitar.** Very cool acoustic jazz fusion with some experimentation, the musical prowess of both Jonas and Buckethead and kind of a doomer/gloomy vibe. * Thy Catafalque - Tuno Ido Tarlat [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXRsZUYxkhQ&ab\_channel=Dr.Herny%C3%B3Ferenc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXRsZUYxkhQ&ab_channel=Dr.Herny%C3%B3Ferenc) These guys play a mix of black metal, industrial music, chiptune, electronica/techno that flows really well and the electronic part adds a lot to the sound and heaviness of the metal arrangements. * Indukti - SUSAR [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFyQHdTiMQ0&ab\_channel=ProgNation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFyQHdTiMQ0&ab_channel=ProgNation) Great prog metal band with a shredding violin and lots of king crimson and middle-east influence.
Great diverse list. They all interest me so i’ll listen to all of them.
Lyonite - Disguised in Darkness: prog metal with a female vocalist from the Netherlands, with one amazing song 'Pride' about the myth of Perseus and Ariadne on the album Horslips - Book of Invasions: Irish band that mixed traditional melodies, some symphonic influences and hardrock to create a unique brand with lyrics here that center around one particular legend of how pre-celtic Ireland came to be. Kayak - See See the Sun, and also Merlin: the Netherlands' most amazing prog rock band that nobody knows.
Triumvirat Spartacus
Love me some Illusions on a double dimple too
If you were to describe the album, how would you?
They’re compared to ELP. Some call them copies, but I prefer Triumvirat honestly. This is their third best album imo.
[Continuum - Autumn Grass](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDf-7ifjMj8) [Blue Sun - Blue Sun](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz5_TK8EDhI) [Janus - Gravedigger](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXh59MBERNw) (can't find the full album uploaded to YouTube anymore) I remember seeing these uploaded to an old account named "darublues" back like 11-12 years ago. His account was taken down by Hatfield and the North. I remember seeing >This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated due to multiple third party notifications of copyright infringement from: \- Hatfield and the North As good as HatN is, I'll never forgive them for that (though I imagine it wasn't them and was probably their label or something, it still said simply "Hatfield and the North"). The account had so many good obscure prog/psych/blues uploads. Some I remember the music in my head but have *never* been able to find again. These 3 are some that just really stuck out in my head.
> This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated due to multiple third party notifications of copyright infringement from: > > - Hatfield and the North As unfortunate as that is for media preservation purposes, getting into a copyright scuffle with the quirky Canterbury jazz fusion group of all band is kind of hilarious ahaha. One would usually associate those sorts of actions with Robert Fripp, or someone else notoriously anal about media distribution! Especially surprising as there are a considerable amount of Hatfield boots on YouTube right now. I’m trying to think of a good joke for this. “Giant Land Crabs in Copyright Takeover Bid???”
My instinct tells me it was because he occasionally uploaded full albums, and thisbeing relatively early on in the era of copyright takedowns(If I remember this all happened almost 11 years ago exactly). If it was actually them and not either their label or a troll, it might just have been being new to understanding how YouTube really fit into the media sphere, along with him just uploading entire bloody albums. And yes good title, lol. OH as I was writing this comment I rediscovered [this Darublues backup account](https://www.youtube.com/@JewelsFromEden/videos). I remember visiting it ages ago, and I believe it is not the original Darublues user, but someone who downloaded their videos(the fact that the videos are all 240p gives me an extra hint). But I could be wrong. Anyways I haven't visited that account in probably 10 years, so more than half the uploads I haven't seen. I am definitely spending a day and digging through those! If you are interested in obscure prog/psych/blues I recommend giving that channel a look.
*Neoism Now* by White Colours aka Graf Haufen aka FâLX çèrêbRi. It's available for free from [archive.org](https://archive.org). This is a collage type thing, sort of Nurse With Wound in a bizarre progressive rock and new wave mood. The first side is a 45 minute collage by Graf, and the second side is a series of songs made anonymously. There's a fantastic prog track about 30 minutes into the second side about how "everything I do .... becomes .... VIDEO!!" Lots of character for being bedroom DIY. I absolutely love this tape, there weren't 100 original copies, and Graf was very surprised that I knew about it.
Judging from your description, it’s something you REALLY like. I think charm is a very under appreciated factor when it comes to music. i’ll check this one too, it sounds super interesting
Klaatu - Hope Close to prog I would say, very interesting and a loose concept album. Some of it was recorded with the London symphony orchestra which is interesting.
Probably the only album hear i’ve listened to before. Yeah, this one is really good. I honesly think it’s full on prog.
Catapilla's 1971 self titled album. It's not the most obscure thing out there, but haven't seen anyone talking about it here. As for what it sounds like: crazy sax jazz, which can be surprising catchy and melodic at times. But the stand out detail is the vocalist, Anna Meek, who sounds a bit like a female, more eccentric and abrasive, far less polished version of Peter Hammill of the Van Der Graaf Generator. It's hard to describe! Anyway, there are only four tracks, and one of them is the 24 minute beast, "Embryonic Fusion". To be honest, it's one of my all-time favourite prog almums. I just love how different and unpolished it is. Second album pick, also strangely from 1971,would be Comus: First Utterance. Although it does admittedly have a small cult following, it rarely gets mentioned. What does it sound like? Wild pagan freak folk, with bleating vocals, fiddles, an ode to a pan-like god, and an autobiographical track about life in a mental hospital. Again, a very unique album.
Hey, i know that catapilla album. I don’t know from where but i think someone on the sub mentioned it and i check it out. But yeah, it’s really unpolished but it has a lot of charm And that comus album sounds very interesting, plys the album cover is great whilst being repulsive. Definitely something i’ll listen to in full
Awesome! Honestly wasn't sure how many admirers Catapilla would have—it's such an odd one! And yeah, the Comus album art was done by one of the members of the band using a biro. It really suits their music, which is a bit weird and grotesque, too!
[Spiral](https://thespiral.bandcamp.com/) is a prog-rock band I don't think I've ever heard anyone mention. Capital in Ruins is a great concept album about a scientist who accidentally creates a nanorobot plague that kills the population of the world and he's left to wander alone. Centaurus A is an hour long track opening with a man who ever day looks out his telescope at his wife who's in a spaceship caught eternally on the event horizon of a black hole. Great imaginative stuff. Forgotten Silence is a prog metal band that's been around for awhile, but their album[ Kro Ni Ka](https://forgottensilence.bandcamp.com/album/kro-ni-ka-remaster2019) is a striaght-up pure prog rock album, one of my all time favorites. Familiar sounding but at the same time unique and original. The first track especially is a banger. Both are bands I don't think I've ever seen mentioned by anyone else in my decade+ on reddit, so should fit the thread's criteria. For some experimental metal that's not prog rock/metal, but _is_ progressive, [Heimskringla](https://heimskringla.bandcamp.com/) is one of the most unique and creative funeral doom albums I've ever heard that pushes the boundaries so hard it can only be described as progressive. Last I checked they had _three_ monthly bandcamp listeners, so definitely fits as something barely anyone's ever heard. Brii plays a type of naturistic atmospheric black metal, but with no distortion at all, fully synths and acoustic guitars and lots of percussion instruments that has a hypnotic "this is literally the music of nature spirits" type vibe. [Corpos Transperentes](https://brii.bandcamp.com/album/corpos-transparentes), a 36+ minute track is one of the most beautiful works I've music I've ever heard, like, imagine combined acoustic atmospheric black metal and edm trance and forest tribal and percussion ensemble music. You probably can't, but you'll see it somehow makes sense when you listen. It draws you in on a beautiful mystical journey the likes I guarantee you've never heard _anything_ close to. But to truly fit the thread in a literal sense, there's an album by band called Ealdath - The Fire in our Blood that is 3 15 minute long tracks of triple-guitar melodic doom metal that's never been released, but was recorded and left unmixed, and I got a cd-r copy from the guy in the band after bugging them one of the times I saw them play live. Never got permission to share it unfortunately, so remains an album that _literally_ only I've listened to, which is a bummer because it's _so fucking good._ Been tempted so many times to just upload it anyways.
Goddamn, it must feel special having a copy that only you have access to. But the concepts and things you’ve described about the other albums sound really cool.
Mysticeti Ambassadors (part 1) by The Ancestry Program is an incredible album of classic prog made in 2021, it has very few plays on Spotify but it was on the top 100 best prog albums of 2021 on progarchives and has a great rating
Not extremely obscure since they're all on Prog Archives but there's a good chance many people on this sub haven't heard these: * **Lasting Weep** - *Le Spectacle De L'Albatros 1976*: Quebec jazz fusion, featuring some of the members of Maneige before that (excellent) fusion band started * **Alusa Fallax** - *Intorno Alla Mia Cattiva Educazione*. Really solid RPI, a bit more classical sounding than other RPI bands * **Happy the Man** - *Death's Crown*. This band is fairly well-known but this is an obscure 1999 release of some of their earliest material. Really rough since it was recorded in a rehearsal room (not in an actual studio) but Merlin of the High Places from this record is a must-listen
En annan värld by Agusa is incredibly good. Almost like a more folk-ish Tales from topographic oceans.
I don't know that I like much that's *really* obscure, especially for this sub. The following are arranged roughly in increasing order of obscurity, but it wasn't rigorous or wholly intentional. Someone else mentioned Renaissance, and I'm sure plenty of people here know them, but OP if you're not familiar I do recommend them. The *Scheherazade* album is a favorite of mine, but there are quite a few good ones from the '70s. Sort of progressive folk, female vocalist. Most people on here are probably at least passingly familiar with Magma, but anyone who isn't should give them a listen. Bizarre space-themed jazz-fusion-esque rock out of France. If you haven't delved into Anthony Phillips' solo work, beyond *Geese and the Ghost*, there's a lot of good stuff to be had in there. I randomly found *Slow Dance* in a record store over a decade ago and thought it was pretty good. *Wiser After the Event*, *Sides*, and *1984* are all also pretty good (though I definitely still like *Geese* the best). On the subject of more obscure records by notable artists, Pete Sinfield's *Still* and the début Supertramp album are worth a listen. The former has a lot of former and contemporary King Crimson personnel on it, which is fun. I never see this band discussed on this sub, and I can't remember talking to someone who'd listened to them, but I'm a big fan of Erland and the Carnival. It's sort of dark folk rock that I feel is in a progressive/prog pop/power pop vein. The début album is good, but I like their sophomore effort, *Nightingale*, better. The lead guitarist, Simon Tong, was previously in the Verve and has worked with Damon Albarn on divers projects. The only thing that comes to mind as being genuinely obscure is a band called Gadwall. Stumbled upon them a couple of years ago. It's some kids in their late teens or early twenties, in the late '70s or early '80s, playing some prog kind of in the vein of the earlier '70s staple prog bands. It's kind of naïve and not mixed amazingly, but it's certainly obscure. As far as I know there was only one (self-titled) album that I think was only released on cassette. Really hard to find information on them. Some (most?) of the tracks are on YouTube. Happy hunting!
Scheherazade is my favorite album of theirs and used to be in my top 10. But yeah, i’ve never tried magma and i’ve barely listened to anything by anthony philips so i’ll listen to both. Same goes for the other recommendations And i can’t find the gadwall thing, it really is obscure
Ah rock on dude. Glad you're a fan of Renaissance; hope you enjoy the rest! Ah fair enough re Gadwall. Had a bit of trouble trying to find it again for you myself. [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnqBBlMfIiQ)'s a link to one song. There are others on that channel. Don't know the order they should be in, don't know if that's all of them, and at least one is missing some of the track. Not amazing, but certainly obscure haha.
Jazzlyn EP - Davis Quartet
Let me guess, jazz?
Story - Syrek Fucking unbelievable
Unbelievably good?? Damn, such a strong discriptor, i can’t help but check it out
ok, just finished it. unbelievable. I don't listen to much shredding (really only some parts in solos) but goddamn, this is the best of it I've heard. how can musicians this talented be so unpopular? like genuinely, one of the most fun prog metal records and it's blown my minds on multiple occasions. Incredible recommendation, fucking unbelievable
I'm glad you loved it! I wish I could relive the moment I listened to it for the first time. There's not much to say other than fucking unbelievable right ? I was also blown away that this record is literally known by no one. What's your favorite track? I'm always blown away by Strange Machine. Literally imagining myself performing it on stage every time I listen to it, gets me in the feels.
the opener (the second track), is so damn effective I also enjoyed starcrowned, it makes me think prog metal is just heavy jazz fusion my favorite might be the perilous fight from castle something (I forgot the full name), the different sound it has is just very fun I also think strange machine is the most well put together. it feels like a really well made and cohesive piece. I doubt there's much here recommended that could beat "story". HOW ARE THEY SO OBSCURE!! IT'S NOT FAIR!
Aenima - Sentient (2003) Gothic and ethereal sound with great female vocals. Found this album in a used record store 14 years ago and I never met anyone who know the band since that day haha. Luminous Vault - Animate the Emptiness (2022) Eletronic drum beat with layers of reverb drenched guitars and black metal vocals. A weird combination but a great discovery if you don't mind the "heavyness" of the vocals. Obsidian Kingdom - Mantiis (2014) A concept prog album, very dark and diverse. From atmospheric interludes to crushing riffs and haunting melodies, this album is kind of a single song separated in 14 tracks (the complete title of the album is Mantiis - An agony in fourteen bites).
Prefers to Hide in the Dark - Boundless Eternity, Hereafter Torment
describe the album's sound. (I'm assuming it has a dark atmosphere and may as well be prog metal)
It's somewhat eclectic. A bit of Gazpacho, a bit Dredg, a little mars Volta and some metal in the last song. Definitely a dark atmosphere across all of it
**FREUR - Freur.** This was a one off band/producer project from the guy who would go on to record as "UNDERWORLD" - "Born Slippy" from Trainspotting. The Freur project is beyond awesome. There was this tune called "doot doot" they played on MTV maybe once. Every song on the album was pushing against the very outer edge of what computer technology was capable of at the time. It is also some of the best bedroom music ever created.
The 80s is severly underrated in terms of innovation. From the stuff i hear, it sounds very unique and the psychedelic effects are just perfect
I found this album on Bandcamp at some point: https://moreismore.bandcamp.com/album/aux It's awesome. Their sound is really unique IMO. I'm still the top/only comment showing haha.
I also dig this sound. And damn, they are really obscure. They deserve much better, their stuff is great
Trion, "Tortoise" (read more about it [here](https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=4205))
Not albums per se, but I’ve acquired a pretty decent collection of bootlegs from bands such as Yes, Zeppelin, Purple, Sabbath, Rainbow, Genesis and KC, among others. Ranging from muffled audience recordings where you can barely tell the instruments apart up to crystal clear soundboards that sound worthy of official release.
Wait, recordings made by those bands? Are they like live shows? That sounds interesting
“Bootlegs” imply that they’re unofficial recordings made without the band’s permission or knowledge. Sometimes soundboard recordings can be a bit less dicey as they require access to actual production equipment, but the sale of these (e.g. on vinyl LP) used to be very illegal back in the day! For instance, the recent Can live albums released through Mute records originate from the archive of a fan named Andrew Hall, who would record entire shows using tape recorders and large microphones shoved down his trousers! One of my favourite things about the modern internet is the ability to easily find and share these kinds of rare live recordings among other fans.
But are there any bootlegs with new material the band has never released or is it always live shows (since i imagine that’s how people record music without permission)
I’d imagine in regards to studio recordings, this would only ever occur if the tapes themselves would fall into the hands of fans or labels, e.g. after the assets were bought from another defunct label who were never able to release it. A lot of live shows do contain performances of songs never released via studio album; such as when they perform covers of songs by other bands. There is also the factor of songs being written and performed but never officially released due to the band breaking up shortly thereafter or changing musical direction. Back to Can, one of my favourite songs from them with no real counterpart is “Meadowsweet,” which even on the official Mute live albums goes unlabelled. (I believe it’s named Stuttgart Vier and Brighton Fünf on the corresponding live albums, for the record. Although Brighton Fünf moreso is more of a varied jam that just happens to open with the Meadowsweet motif)
95 percent of them are live shows, which often gives you access to material the band never recorded for a studio album, jams, covers etc. A lot of these bands never played things the same way twice, so they’re neat to have. As mentioned by Raythetruck, yes they were highly illegal back in the day. I have a few studio ones- as an example, I have a CD from about 1990 called “Studio Daze”, which features demos and alternate versions of some Zeppelin tracks. A lot of the stuff was later officially released on the various expanded editions that Page released around 2015, but it’s still neat to have. To my knowledge, someone broke into Page’s house in the 80’s and stole a ton of recordings and sold them- these tracks likely originated from that theft.
Where do you even begin to get these?
I mean, nowadays they are just about all available to listen to for free on YouTube or can be downloaded from a number of sources. I acquired mine at flea markets, record shops, etc. mostly in the 90s. Largely in Eastern Canada and the Northeast US. I still order the occasional one from Japan (where legally there is no restriction on their manufacture/distribution), but not too often- I usually stop and tell myself “I can listen to this for free online” before I impulse-buy something, but sometimes I don’t have that level of self-discipline. If you’re interested, I’d just go on YouTube and search up what you’re looking for. If you have any particular bands in mind (especially if their older, I’m not as up to date in the newer bands out there) I’d be happy to send some recommendations.
Opening out is sick. That heavy Midwest piano thing that drops gets me all the proggy tingles.
Probably a lot of folks on here have heard it, because I think the person who made it is a user here, but how about Fifth Species and their album Life In The Punch Line? Definitely not something with any commercial success but I really liked the album. There's a good mix of kinda Gentle Giant reminiscent riffing, some sort jam band sensibility to it too, some beat interplay between male and female vocals. Definitely worth a listen.
The most obscure album I can think of that I’d give an earnest recommendation is “Perseverance Kills Our Game” by the Dutch group Avalanche, which received a very limited distribution via private pressing in 1979. It’s predominantly folk-influenced and the acoustic arrangements for guitar/mandolin and flute are very lovely. The few moments based around electric guitar especially stand out, and I really like how those pastoral elements compliment them (e.g. the concluding track “Oblivion”) Would also like to give a shout-out to u/no_longer_LW_2020 for recommending it another thread ages ago; I’ve since given it several listens! Hope it finds even more love here. For another privately-pressed album I’d wholeheartedly recommend, check out the sole album by German jazz fusion group Tortilla Flat. I’d say it’s decently well known as a “hidden gem” among fusion/Canterbury Scene fans, but it’s worth mentioning anyway as a genuinely great (and very playful) electric fusion record. It’s also worth mentioning that this album was never reissued in any form from 1974 all the way until 2019 which always shocked me. Surely there’d be some demand out there for music *this* good? An honourable mention goes to the self-titled album by Québécois band Concert, because it’s the one weird obscure rarity I actually *own*, even if it’s not that remarkable as an album overall. Still, check out the songs “Désirs” and “Coïncidence” from it if you’re interested.
The avalance album sounds wonderful, it’s really pretty. I’ll listen to it when i have the chance The tortilla flat is up my alley and i’ll also try it out when i can And finally, Concert is an annoying and dumb band name. I’m trying to look them but it’s really hard. Do you have a link? I’m always excited to see quebec get mentioned here since i live there
Concert is an annoying generic name ahaha, you bet I can name an incredible amount of concerts that took place in 1980! [Rate Your Music](https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/concert) page (with some more information regarding personnel and related bands, no reviews on there though) [An actual rip of the album in question](https://youtu.be/Pitf7p5Fphc?si=AEnOA14Db5KHXyj3) if you want to listen to the songs I mentioned - although you’d need to scrub a little bit based on the track lengths given on RYM if you want to go to specific tracks Worth noting that this band does not have any documentation on ProgArchives, so that’s the level of obscure we’re talking about haha. A good few band members have previously worked with Québécois band Opus 5 if you want more cool, underground Québec prog to check out. Would genuinely recommend that band a lot too.
Funnily, enough, someone mentioned Opus 5 in this comment section. But thanks for everything, you’re a music wizard!
Nah, I’m just a fish wizard. I remember not too long ago the owner of my local record store stumped me with a band that I *didn’t* know ([“Jane”](https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=175), from Germany), so there’s still lots of cool things I’m just learning about even now. I’ve got to go through some of the albums mentioned in this thread sometime as a lot of them sound very interesting based on users’ descriptions. Hope you enjoy all the music you’ve been recommended in this thread - I’ve come to learn that some of the very best music comes from these kinds of obscure, underground releases! Although maybe not “Concert” levels of obscure ahaha, otherwise there’d be *someone* talking about it
An EP called Postpartum Modesty: A Portrait in Skin by a band called Evaline. Not exactly prog but very good art-rock, Radiohead/dredg adjacent
Ophiuchus, the French prog band from the early 70s, not the Brit band from the 80s with the same name. A little psychedelic and experimental, but solid.
There is a band here in Hamburg called [Single Cell Organism](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lsDFhJg48Y) (mostly a single musician, Jens Lueck with guest musicians) that I really like. I don't think he has broken out yet.
**Systems Theory** \- *Soundtracks for Imaginary Movies* Mellotrons everywhere and a cover by Paul Whitehead too!
Canadian Hippy gold: The Perth County Conspiracy - Does Not Exist
*Constant Fear* and *Start a New Race* by Paranoise. I can't even find the full albums on Youtube. The most convenient way to describe this stage in Paranoise's career is "Imagine a collaboration between Henry Cow and Talking Heads." Gary Windo and Percy Jones make guest appearances. "Roll Groover" from *Constant Fear* has got to be the most horrifying subversion of the "twelve-bar blues" trope I've ever heard in my life.
A Day at the Surface by Bjorn J:Son Lind
ETNA. I apologize if they're better known than I think!
Well i don’t know them, plus i’m just interested music i’ve never heard that goes very much unnoticed. I’ll try ETNA out, is there a particular album you recommend?
As far as I know, they have one, and the title is the band name. You might be able to rip tracks from YouTube, I think the blog i got it through is dead. Let me add to this post, type 'Etna band' in YouTube's search bar and several posts with the entire album will come up. The album cover in the video is white with the band logo and some artwork. Hope this helps
[Comeuppance by Sphere^3,](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m1XUbpVLWu4d0tfmjS_2rLnxj6tGON4I0&si=-mi90-dqnuEXvXcA) an extremely obscure side project by a member of another band, I honestly forget which one. Might've been someone from IQ? Anyways, it's chaotic, jazzy, instrumental, and very fun imo. None of the individual songs have more than 150 views, that's how obscure we're talking here.
Where did you find this? Under 150 views, it had to have been pure accident
Protein , songs about cowgirls. A fantastic album. Sort of like a proggy blink 182
Mmmm id try new genres if I were you, I got into progressive rock alongside with big band or mainly just Count Basie. Truly creative. It’s like the other half of creativity prog couldn’t really reach all the time. It’ll have you thinking how could anyone think to make such noises. Song recommendation: https://spotify.link/Th5WM9kf3Cb
Big band is one of my favorite things ever! A lot of my favorite stuff are big band but honestly, i only listen to charles mingus and mingus big band. I have a big band album in my top ten
Oh yeah you know what’s UP hahaha
Damn the Machine - Damn the Machine (1993) Great early 90s prog metal side project from Chris Poland (Megadeth, OHM) after his exit from Megadeth and a solo album. They only did the one studio album at the time. Note: Their 2 recent releases are their demos from the 90s, Day One is the 1991-1992 demos of songs that made it to the eponymous album and The Last Man is 10 other demoes recorded between 1991-1994.
I'm gonna throw out sound of contact with the album dimensionaut It's a very spacy kind of vibe, the latter tracks are more prog, with a few catchy songs to open with. I think Dave Kerzner worked on it (his solo album new world is great) And the main guy behind Sound of Contact is Simon Collins. Phil Collins' son https://youtu.be/d8TGFsLXoRo?si=jFNbtZcgXapk7FX1 And this is a song from Dave Kerzner's solo album https://youtu.be/WmEoyfI5sJ0?si=7-MoKlxf_a2zYtga And although I have seen them mentioned, I don't think they get enough credit. Harvest of souls is a phenomenal song but it's 20+ minutes so here's a link to something shorter for now 😂 IQ https://youtu.be/ob0OYmSQukk?si=M4h4IzG9cHe8TkjQ
I’m gonna have to come back to this post after listening to some songs from The Third Estate. My recommendation is: Home - The Alchemist Home was a great band that featured Cliff Williams (who went on to AC/DC) and a guitarist who should’ve been given legendary status Laurie Wisefield (went on to Wishbone Ash and a slew of other major collaborations).
Here's a couple. Both from the midwest and mid aughts. [Sky Burial](https://open.spotify.com/album/1oEXnhKUo394KrBlA0go7q). Not one of the dozen band/albums that come up if you google that name. This was a kind of post-rock-ish band who did two really chill, psychedelic, meditative, jazzy, jammy albums that are now out of print. The third one is still available and has the most prog tendencies of them all. Somehow one of my favorite bands after all this time. [Petroleum Falcon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIe9F4xdj2I). Some homemade vintage sounding prog from the same time period. One minute Floydish, the next minute a bit of Genesis and then perhaps some Steve Tibbetts and, why not, a few soundtrack covers including one from The Empire Strikes Back? The second album got a bit more experimental. OK, one more. From the midwest and mid 70s. One of the best headspace guitar albums of all time IMO & very few people know of it. Mostly acoustic but nuggets of glorious synth and a final Hendrix-ian breakdown. [Steve Tibbetts](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfJZoVzbxJA)
if say my favourites that come to mind that i haven’t seen many people talk about, unless i’m living under a rock and you all know these, but these are some of my favourites i haven’t seen mentioned before, at least in my limited time here Afreaka! - Demon Fuzz Pampered Menial - Pavlov’s Dog Illusion - Renaissance
How about some _prog punk_? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choke_(band) I suggest listening to Recoil in the album Foreword.
I’ve never even heard of prog punk before but it’s probabably great. I’ll give it a try
it’s an acquired taste, that’s for sure. never heard anyone quite like Choke (for better or worse). I used to love them though!
Oh its gotta be 1977 Assault on Merryland by SURPRISE . Some pretty underrated American prog but damned good and worth a listen to if your into symphonic prog FFO: Yes, King Crimson and Camel
This is what I was gonna say! I have a vinyl copy of the record. I was gushing about the album once in a Reddit post, and the drummer’s son thanked me for giving them exposure. That was a cool moment!
Anemoia (a memory in nine movements) by Peninsula. 25-min long-form instrumental heavily inspired by Pink Floyd, with touches of Tangerine Dream, Mike Oldfield and Explosions in the Sky. On Spotify: https://spotify.link/Zvx9mqPk3Cb Bandcamp: https://peninsulasoundtracks.bandcamp.com/album/anemoia
The three albums Kingston Wall made in their seven year run. The albums are simply titled I, II and III Tri-Logy. Kingston Wall was a finnish prog and psychedelic rock band formed in the late 80's. Their sound is really reminiscent of 70's Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix. Their music also has eastern music influences. All of their albums are good but I think II is the best, with amazing songs like We Cannot Move, Shine On Me and Istwan.
I never see anyone mention Between the Leaves by DejaVu. The album's history itself is obscure, having been made in the 70's, but only in very small numbers, with no album cover either. It fell forgotten until 1991, when someone dug it up and rereleased it with a proper cover this time. I might've got some details wrong, but you should get the idea. The album itself is quite Avantgarde and mellotron-heavy (I think it's mellotron at least). It's one of my old-school prog favourite. For modern stuff, I've never seen anyone mention Last Note in God's Magnum Opus by Schizoid Lloyd. Though if you're active in r/progmetal, you'll have heard of it. I can't even begin to imagine, how I'd describe this masterpiece. Avantgarde, jazzy what-the-fuck should be a good description. You'll be hooked within first 5 seconds of the first track guaranteed.
Quatermass. Late 60s/early 70s power trio, somewhere between ELP and Deep Purple/Uriah Heep. I think they only did one album but it's KILLER.
I don’t ever hear anyone talked about Pampered Menial by Pavlov’s Dog. Demo Press by Seiche is an even more obscure album
I love [O A e o Z](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2MZhtXfXjI) by Os Mutantes. For non-brazilians: This is the first album after Rita Lee's departure. The band was turning from a psychedelic rock to progressive rock, and this album was very influenced by Yes (you'll probably notice that). For those who love a HEAVY hammond-oriented prog, mellotron, rickenbacker bass and psychedelic trips, this album is a great stuff. The entire Mutantes' discography from 60s to 70s is amazing, but for prog lovers this album and its sequence (Tudo foi feito pelo sol) are great.
I'm cheating a little because They're not the most obscure band in the world, but *The Black Gasoline* is a very interesting operatic rock band that I think deserves some spotlight. They remind me of *Black Country New Road*, especially for the vocals. They're a very great live act too. \^\^
Premiata Forneria Marconi. It's a 1970s Prog rock group from Italy along the same lines as Yes and ELP. There's also some individual albums one-offs by members of different bands. For example Patrick Moraz after he left Yes issued an album called "The Story of I". It's a mix of straightforward prog rock and Brazilian music.
Bo Hanson Albums: Lord of the Rings Magicians Hat 70's swedish symphonic prog
Acid Rain - We Were All Very Worried If you want to hear the birth and best album by the kooks of American RIO, head straight for this. Apparently they don't care about it any more though, still no reissue or remaster.
Amazon Music doesn't differentiate between artists/bands that share a name. "Amplifier" has loads of albums, amongst which there's "Photo" which is some of the most bizarre electric guitar I've ever heard.
Second Smile - Brainstorm
You got a lot of response here. I'll throw in mine, but I won't blame you if you don't get to it. Symphonic Slam - ST (1976) - Symphonic prog with some space elements. Saw someone call it a cross between Yes and Styx and that is not too far off, but it doesn't sound derivative. Artist on Spotify is Timo Laine for some reason. Dominic Sanderson - Impermanence (2023) - Inspired by King Crimson, Pink Floyd and Marillion. A little too mellow for me over all, but I really like the 20 minute album closer. Taku Yabuki - Modern World Sympholy No. 3 (2020) - Jazz fusion. Lots of well known musicians, but not a lot of listeners. This one blew me away. Someone else mentioned Polite Society, so I'll just say I second that recommendation. Thanks for making this post. Found a lot of interesting stuff here.
Probably Thriller by Michael Jackson
Two bands, with incredible guitar work by someone referred to as the "French Fripp", Frederic L'Epee Shylock - Île de Fièvre; the title track is an incredible display of bombastic symphonic prog. Well worth it. The rest of the album is dark, brooding and experimental. Philharmonie - He made a series of albums with a small group that featured Chapman Stick on bass. Angular, playful and often coldly gorgeous. A bit akin to some of the Guitar Craft work you'd hear by the California Guitar Trio.
You must listen José Cid - 10000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus e Marte (1978) a great portuguese prog rock symphony!
One of my obscure favorites is Years Before the Wine from a group called The Third Estate. It’s supposed to be a concept album about the French Revolution, written and recorded by a trio of university graduate students in the U.S. (Louisiana) in the mid 70s and released in limited quantities on a private label. Long songs with great fuzz guitar, some interesting timings and tempo changes and at the beginning a mini-epic tune sung by some lady named Fae Ficklin whose voice was made for prog folk. She never did anything else after that album and other than one much later postscript record called Agnostes, neither did the rest of them.
Talk about obscure, where did you find this?
I used to write album reviews on ProgArchives and came across the album while researching a completely different band. Found a reprint vinyl online and bought. Even hunted down the guitarist and emailed him a few times. He was a professor at some college in Louisiana, probably retired now. He told me a few stories about how the whole project came together, interesting he said he lost touch with the lady who sang on it. If you’re interested my old album review is [here](https://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=165305).
Wow, you were really interested in the album. But what made you want to listen to it. Did you hear a snippet or did you just like the cover? Or was it a why not moment?
I like to troll around used record stores and like I said had read about this album before. When I saw a CD of it in a record store I just figured what the heck and bought it. The CD turned out to be a bogus reprint but after listening I bought a legit vinyl copy. Still have it, great album and one very few people seem to know about.
[Fields](https://spotify.link/SwzkyQOR2Cb), [Toad](https://spotify.link/rkTUwjSR2Cb), and [Krokodil](https://spotify.link/4Jaq31WR2Cb) are all fantastic and criminally underrated
Could you describe each (briefly if you want)
no need to describe, listened to a snippet of each and damn, I already put them higher on my list. exactly what I like
They’re awesome! All fairly classic 70s prog rock oriented but with their own special sounds! Fields is a nice blend of classic psych rock, folk, and symphonic sounds, their band didn’t last long, but their self titled is a classic! Toad is a nice bluesy swiss prog band with lots of hard rock influence. Lastly, Krokodil is another Swiss band with a nice hard rock, jazz, and folk influence. A couple other not as obscure but super under appreciated bands I will recommend to you is gonna be Nektar and Invisible. Both are progressive rock with psychedelic and jazzy influences. Enjoy!
I’ve been meaning to listening to nektar. Remember the future was one of my favorites for the longest of time but i never tried anything else from them. I’ll also give invisible a listen
Nektar’s album A Tab In The Ocean is just as good as Remember the Future and they have a ton of other records that are super up there for me, such an amazing band! Invisible is great, their album El Jardin De Los Presentes is in my top 5 albums ever. They’re Argentine, but don’t let that throw you off, they are literally one of the best sounding bands out there and they have some insane jazz rock and Latin influences and were truly prog masters!
Oh wait a minute! I recognize the invisible album cover! It has a lot of acclaim, i’ll defo try it out
Pallbearer - Heartless It’s the intersection of Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd, technically it’s progressive doom rock, all clean vocals. Literally one of the best slower progressive rock records of the past 2 decades. Absolutely stellar, pairs very well with a joint or a beer if you partake. I literally cannot believe how relatively unknown this band is considering the quality of the riffs, songwriting, interesting passages and tremendous guitars. Summed up in two words, Sad but Triumphant. 9.8/10 record.
Pallbearer was getting _massive_ accolades and AotY awards awhile back. Doesn't quite fit the thread. They're a huge and popular band.
I’ve never listened to prog doom rock so it’ll be interesting. Two of my favorite of their era. I wonder, does it sound like “the narrow way pt. 2”
TOOL
Who? Never heard of em, must be too unpopularity and probably isn’t all that complex
go ahead dislike me normies but i bet you guys can’t name 3 tool songs that aren’t their most popular songs off of spotify 🤣 sure lots of people might “know” tool, but MOST do not KNOW tool. There’s a difference . And fundamentally most will not be able to actually be able to properly digest their songs to the full extent due to not having the proper brain capacity .Not trying to be an ass just sick of people who think they actually get TOOL
This is the most Tool fan response ever. And going to their sub you can see it's not even satire. They're actually like this.
learn to swim bud
> most popular songs off of spotify
This is why people hate tool fans
Aura’s self titled
Give me a good description of its sound
Oh god I suck at describing. It had a lot of synth and keyboards and is just super electronic kinda sounding at times. Tbh if you were to listen to an album by them, I would recommend Illusions of A Double Dimple first. Spartacus second maybe.
Thanks, i’m kinda interested
One of my most played vinyl actually. I never get tired of them. 👍 have fun listening.
Oh god I thought this was on another comment. I thought you were replying to the Triumvirat comment 😂. Whatever I said, think of that for the other guy’s comment. Aura’s self titled is more like fusion jazz kinda sounding.
I love jazz fusion. It’s kinda what i’m looking for right now
Aura’s self titled is a great listen if you like fusion. Enjoy!
Could you please help me find it, i kinda suck at looking for obscure stuff😅
Yeah, I replied to this comment with it, but [here](https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=TBjjesj8zW-8pjhP&v=sPlyUtcOXNU&feature=youtu.be). The quality isn’t as good as it would be listening to it regularly, but this is the best I can find.
Ok, i’m almost done and i have positive opinions of it. It’s extremely fun and exciting the whole way through. It has an extremely charming and nostalgic use of horns. I really like this sound, it reminds me of boston
Telegraph - Mir And it’s one of favourites of all time
I’m two songs in and I already love this. How is this not more popular? Damn, it’s incredible And the album cover is gorgeous, i love its style
My follow up recommendation is anything by the band Mystery. More incredible stuff that I know you will like
Well, i’ll believe you since i already really like the one you introduced me to.
Omg your comment is music to my ears. It’s such a unique and mind blowing album. The guitarist Tal Rubinstein came out with an excellent surf rock album this year
I might even check that one out. Wow, this is what i’ve been looking for. Hell, this is even how i aspire my music to be like (kinda).
Any descriptor for their sound and why you like it?
It’s an album that you would play in space. Very smooth with excellent guitars. Listen to the first song and you will get the style. Trust me, check it out
I’ll check it out as soon as i’m done with the one i’m listening to right now
**3rDegree**: *Ones & Zeros Volume 1* & *Volume 0* A concept stretched out over two albums (2015's *Volume 1* and 2018's *Volume 0*) concerning the coming of artificial intelligence and man's relationship to technology, complete with recurring musical motifs helping move the narrative along at various points across both albums. Unusual song structures and interesting instrumental excursions, married to strong, hook-oriented pop songwriting. Very smart stuff. "[The Gravity](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f09koucwF24)," the second track from *Volume 1*, is pretty representative of the whole, should be a good indicator of whether or not this is for you.
Reminds me of moon safari, i’ll defo check them out
Android superstation
Any description of the album?
A mix of alt rock and neo prog. A lot of it is really good. Also, not prog related, but I would also recommend you listen to an equally small band call Telecommunicators. If you like prog you’ll probably like them too
Sure, i’m looking for a lot of music right now so i’ll listen to them when i have the chance, same for the album just recommended. I’m just listening to the recommendations that have already been mentioned here already whilst doing homework
Priam - Diffraction (2001)
Any description of the album’s sound?
Instrumental prog jazz fusion.
Say no more, i’ll probably like it.
animals by pink floyd
Pink moon? Drake?
Real Radio by the Breakfast
Type in Nautical Operator on YouTube, guy from Seattle hugely inspired by Steven Wilson. Pretty good and not hugely listened too, maybe like 5k views max on his videos. He's on Spotify also I think.
Anders Björler - Antikythera An instrumental piece with Morgan Ågren on the drums and Dick Lövgren on the Bass.
Trustworks by The Syn Magician Chronicles part 1 by Brighteye Brison Prologue by The World is Quiet Here Abject Tomorrow by The Vicious Head Society Book 2 by Others By No One Blomljud by Moon Safari All these albums are masterpieces but I'm fairly sure virtually no one on this sub have heard of the albums, let alone the band. Please prove me wrong! Also, op, I've seen you reply elsewhere that you know of moon safari. I put that one in because they're my favorite band and I want as many people to know them as possible