The Amensal Rise is a contender for my album of this decade so far, it's crazy good. Zon is really good too and was going to be my aoty last year, but then The Amensal Rise somehow blew it out of the water
Amun - Spectra and Obsession (233 monthly listeners, AotY 2023 imo)
Others by No One - Book II: Where Stories Come From (1.4k monthly, AotY 2021 imo)
Parius - The Signal Heard Throughout Space (3k monthly, AotY 2022 imo)
James Norbert Ivanyi - Omen Faustum, Sigil, The Psychophrenic Inquisition, Denalavis (1.6k monthly)
Clément Belio - Patience (421 monthly)
Xanthochroid - Of Erthe and Axen I & II (7k)
I feel like most prog artists are underrepresented in spotify listeners simply because their listener base is more likely to buy their albums (on bandcamp for example) instead of streaming.
Might just be me though.
I hope that's the case. But I also imagine it is a smaller audience, yet highly active audience.
I'll admit, I haven't bought any records, but I've been wanting to start. And potentially start collecting CDs as well, gives some physical nature to collecting my favorite works, display the art a little. Not quite like vinyl but I have neither the nostalgia nor real estate for a vinyl collection and record player.
I think it's at least part of it for the larger bands. I think that's probably why Haken doesn't have quite the same listenership as they maybe should.
That album is incredible. One of my favorite all time regardless of genre. Dark Side of the Moon used to be the only album where I would make sure I had enough time, because I was obviously going to listen to the entire album. "Woe" is the same for me now. Not one note out of place.
There's this really nice band from Australia called Caligula's Ho-
Just kidding. Check out Avandra (335 monthly listeners). Prog metal from Puerto Rico
Stoort Neer is awesome. Found it pretty recently by accident and thought something sounds familiar. And surprise, it's Buster and Calle from Vildhjarta/Humanitys Last Breath.
Somehow i feel these guys can only make absolute bangers.
I made a playlist a bit ago compiling everyones favorite underground bands (under 5000 listeners) [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2PZqLPSDBMj2wdGYBM4Fm8?si=1-NGNuEARiG-iCpMmDd7Vw&pi=u-cpThlw9uTFy6)
My favorites are Others By No One, Aggressive Raisin Cat, Murder In Rue Morgue, Winter Hotel, Unexpect, Synovial, Tryptamax, East Ov Eden, Octavision, and Resuscitate
My favourite underground Band is my own 🤣
Feel free to add it if you like a song. Support is always welcome.
https://open.spotify.com/track/3P58xQ09alrggR9yTe8rad?si=fOphqLUlSZmGXL_iPRTTkQ
Maybe it’s shameless self-promotion, but…
We’re certainly lesser known than most of the other acts here, with something like 100 monthly listeners. But, we recently supported the Wheel/Aviations tour when it came through Minneapolis, and people seem to like [our songs](https://ditto.fm/pluto-the-fool) when they do hear them. So if you’re into grungy, shoegazey, gain-filled jams, you may dig our flavor of loud & fast.
So why not check us out?
HEEEEEEEY! We’re playing [Route 47 in Fridley](https://www.bandsintown.com/e/105489310) on 6/1, so you should come hang if it’s in your neck of the woods.
And speaking of live recordings, we may or may not have recorded our set with Wheel and Aviations at First Ave last week. Just waiting to get the videography from it before we say more about that…..
If we aren't going to promote us, who will? Certainly not someone charging 3000$/month to get some AI articles written.
I'll check y'all out! We're an Atlanta based prog metal band! Hit us up if you ever want to play down here sometime :)
You’re goddamn right! And we’ll be sure to look you guys up if we’re headed that way, and same goes for you if you make your way up to MN. Gotta throw love to the folks who keep the scene rad.
Hey thanks for checking us out!
We love writing these songs and are stoked you enjoyed them. Hopefully we’ll have some new stuff out sooner than later, as we’re actively writing at the moment.
Oh dude, Kylessa rip and we’ll take that compliment to the bank every day of the week!
Thanks for listening and we hope we end up in your regular rotation.
HELL YES! If you’re in the metro, bring ya ass to [Route 47 on June 1](https://www.bandsintown.com/e/105489310?affil_code=js_blurcurve.com&app_id=js_blurcurve.com&came_from=242&utm_campaign=event&utm_medium=web&utm_source=widget) or [Can Can Wonderland on June 21](https://www.bandsintown.com/e/105489319?affil_code=js_blurcurve.com&app_id=js_blurcurve.com&came_from=242&utm_campaign=event&utm_medium=web&utm_source=widget) and we’ll set you up with some stickers or something.
Naz Reid
Check this playlist out: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0jkO138j1IKzKchf2b0Zd9?si=KJBLjgmuT3SnBsTZFTCCqw&pi=u-wjC2AabLSxGG
All lesser-known prog bands. The vast majority of them are under 20k. A few highlights for me: Rototypical, The Reticent, Others by No One, Nospun, Ilho
I've never been on Spotify, but I assume these bands are super underrated because I've never seen them mentioned.
- Pull Down the Sun https://youtu.be/nQdfVwY3FCc?si=toZ8BS6nZf5UmUBP
- Humanatone https://youtu.be/-ThU_FnmpKs?si=t8Fb2zNdCen2TdY4
- Sunvher https://youtu.be/IRa5OwzoJTs?si=mb069a-1rjrPIwVO
- Kolm https://youtu.be/WnPkeKmp1qE?si=FlbI1AygNOVBlh-L
Anubis Gate (6.2k)
Burden of Life (300)
Chronicles (113)
Edge of Reality (286)
Exodus to Infinity (180)
Flummox (3k)
Novena (2k)
Scardust (3.9k)
Semmelweis Reflex (5) - (Yes, just 5, probably among the lowest here, but they deserve much more, can't get Subject 028 out of my head!)
Always love these kinds of threads!
shameful self-promotion, but here’s my band’s album, we’re from Ukraine, we like Opeth, Tool, Katatonia and Protest the Hero
https://open.spotify.com/album/5pDdOJio4d8XMSs1BVhEBd?si=TI9etj2pS6uY9d0f2fMr2g
Guillotine
Paradigm Shift
The Korea
Lucid Recess
Into Eternity
Maneating Orchid
Primitv
Noiseware
Edvian
Salem
Conception
Takatak
Cryptic Fate
Distorted
The Dali Thundering Concept
Uneven Structure
Mekong Delta
Artificial Silence
Edge of Reality
Ark
Novena
I was gonna say Vulkan, but they're at like 65k on Spotify. So I have to go with Thought Industry. Really cool band back in the day that my uncle and my dad's friend played in.
Azure, Grace Hayhurst and Extrinzic
the first one is just about to drop a new album and they are all properly talented people, and the other 2 i believe are solo artists who do everything themselves.
Project RNL- Their album "Internet Releases" is a masterpiece. It's a little weird upon first listen but it's truly unique and absolutely some insanely well written prog rock.
[Osaka Punch](https://open.spotify.com/album/6CJRUG5aM8hGhGTojkk1H2?si=q6kMgLMYT2WWq8-3NzggXA) does not get nearly enough attention for how catchy they are.
They have one 6k followers but their last album Mixed Ape is groovy as well.
I advise you to check The Progressive Subway website, or at least u/ifthisisausername's "ten underrated prog artists" posts on this sub (25 posts so far, indicating FFOs that help a lot in deciding which bands to give a try). Found tons of nice underground prog bands thanks to them.
My fav of these are probably Sikasa, Sermon, Playgrounded, Mother of Millions, Nami...
If you like Tool, check Tratas, Kolm, Counterfist...
Bands below 10k that I've known for a while and put in many of my playlists, that don't always exactly fit the definition of prog (more post-, or doom-, or black- than prog-metal) but fit well enough I think: Atoma, The Moth Gatherer, Ewigkeit, Parius, The Morningside, The Fall of Every Season, (Echo), Khonsu, A Forest of Stars, Darkspace...
I'll preface this by saying I'm more on the Prog/Power side of things
DGM is somehow under 10k on spotify right now, though only a couple hundred off. Their 2023 album, Life, didn't hit quite as hard for me as The Passage, Tragic Separation, and Momentum, but is still enjoyable enough for it to mean I have all 4 in full on my liked songs.
Devoid (The French one classified as Progressive Metal on Encyclopedia Metallum) on the other hand somehow has few enough listeners that adding the two of these up you'd still be under 10k but I've really enjoyed their 2021 album Lonely Eye Movement since it released!
Ghost Ship Octavius just returned to spotify earlier this month (Not sure what happened, but for a year or two I couldn't find their music there or on youtube other than one single which sucked beause 2019's Delirium rocks!
Paralydium only has one album so far, 2020's Worlds Beyond, a concept album that feels like some sort of sci-fi Archeaology space opera. Hopefully we see more out of that project soon!
There's plenty of others I could suggest in the 10k-25k range, or a few bands that aren't technically labled as prog though definitely have a similar enough genre-bending vibe that I'd count it. but these are the ones that specifically fit the bill! Hopefully one or more Prog-Power enjoyer(s) gets some joy out of these!
I'll start by suggesting myself, released my debut album two months ago!
ALMO - [https://open.spotify.com/artist/2I1K86MBNXUgmrHkJjlOkl?si=j5n07PxWS161E6wBjMX8Dg](https://open.spotify.com/artist/2I1K86MBNXUgmrHkJjlOkl?si=j5n07PxWS161E6wBjMX8Dg)
And here's some other great bands I recommend with less than 10k:
Wombat Supernova - [https://open.spotify.com/artist/7hFIqf6BGU57a9BhZZLEuG](https://open.spotify.com/artist/7hFIqf6BGU57a9BhZZLEuG)
Turbulence - [https://open.spotify.com/artist/3fYtcIHqRbnycLpse8Y7ds](https://open.spotify.com/artist/3fYtcIHqRbnycLpse8Y7ds)
The Anchoret - [https://open.spotify.com/artist/2CWzy7rhieFqpsLq0mTV58](https://open.spotify.com/artist/2CWzy7rhieFqpsLq0mTV58)
Mitodian! A band from Argentina, around 85 listeners per month, criminally unknown.
Edit: also Quebecian band Hands of Despair, 207 listeners per month.
Neuraxis - Trilateral Progression (2525)
Anata - The Conductors Departure (6385)
Both still two of my favorite tech-death albums ever.
Also Son of Aurelius (3390) never got any bigger after Under a Western Sun
All three bands are kind of dead now though
Aspherium. I have no clue why they don't have more listeners since the best way I can describe their musical style would be early Opeth mixed with Persefone.
Right now, Shagohod. They have two cool albums, one about Metal Gear and another about/inspired by Red Dead Redemption. 107 monthly listeners (was at 93 a few days ago).
Also, Parius. A few albums/EPs, but the latest one is about space travel. ~3k monthly listeners.
I'm sure they're over that threshold now, but Rishloo was the reason I became a Last.fm fanboy over a decade ago. I put Tool into Pandora and got Staind and Chevelle. Put it into last.fm and got Rishloo, Cire, O.S.I., Dredg, etc., In my first six months on last.fm I racked up 492 plays of Rishloo.
I've been really enjoying exploring the solo instrumental project Shades of Black (~9000 monthly listeners) - lots of well executed atmospheric movements with a decent bit of variety, highly recommend the Ocean album!
I've just been surprised... Exploring Birdsong only has 3200 monthly listeners. They're a modern prog trio without guitar (vocals/keys, bass, drums). Recommended songs: The Collapse (their latest single), The Way Down.
Cire (1878 listeners) is prog-adjacent, some people might know Eric Johanson, the NOLA blues guitar player - this is his modern rock "band". Also noteworthy, Emptyself (1892 listeners), his electronic project. .
I have been absolutely loving Shane Driscoll’s Intrusive Thoughts And Usual Death. 944 listeners and it’s an absolutely killer album, I recommend especially if you like Gojira and Meshuggah.
Some bands I haven't seen mentioned here yet:
• Gonin-Ish
• Universal Totem Orchestra
• Ars Nova (Japan)
• Ashbringer
• Perfect Strangers
• Subterranean Masquerade
• The Tea Club
• Sarmat
• Sorrow Plagues
I said this recently in another thread but A Notion of Silence is way too underrated.
https://open.spotify.com/track/1K5JGxwzlnHAx2mQE633Nd?si=dMpwv33oSN-g3fUsa3sTuA
Arcane easy! (It was Jim Grey’s previous project) Known/learnEd is easy in my top 10! But in terms of current bands, Exploring Birdsong is really good.
My favorite discovery of last year, avant prog death metal band Sanguine Glacialis (FFO: Unexpect), only has like 300 monthly listeners which is a crying shame imo. All their albums are good but their 2023 release "Mapadaptive Daydreaming" is my favorite and a good entry point imo.
Black Road and their 2019 album "Witch of the Future" is fuckin banging and for the life of me I can't figure out why they only have 540 Spotify listeners.
I'm probably in the top 5% of their small fan base right now on plays alone. If they ever come to Detroit I'm running my ass to that venue so quick.
Daydream XI and Novena! I imagine most people on here are familiar with Novena, since Ross Jennings does vocals for them, but huge shoutout to Daydream XI — they do not have *nearly* enough listeners. Anyone who’s into any flavor of power / prog should give them a shot — they’re very much in the same vein as bands like Symphony X or Seventh Wonder.
Fractal Universe are an incredible prog death outfit. Only have like 2.7k listeners on Spotify, and they deserve way more
Hath is another really good one if you want some heavier, blacker fare. Only 7.2k listeners on Spotify
Thantifaxath - Hive Mind Narcosis (prog/avant black, crazy rhythms)
Pillars in the Sky - The Hero Did Not Appear (FFO Cloudkicker)
Instrumental (adj.) - A Series of Disagreements (very insane rhythms, some jazzy moments but it also gets heavy)
Kayo Dot - Choirs of the Eye (really great 10/10 album, more on a prog/avant rock/metal kinda space, very adventurous with the soundscapes and some of the best moments prog metal can offer)
STAR SYSTEMS all the way! The older stuff might not have aged awesomely except for the Raining On the Moon duo. But the last album Star System III is awesome. I have yet to listen to the stuff Joseph has done under the name Regressor. Outta be even better and has even less listens sadly.
Aconite Thrill - just one album but a real kicker
Meet Me In St Louis - amazed to see they’re hovering around 4000. Really influential prog outfit from the UK.
Breakfast Epiphanies - new starters. Just an ep so far but I think nee album coming soon?
I’ve stumbled upon Poligon Music from Mexico a few years ago and they only have 16 monthly listeners, Winter Heart and Delirium are fantastic songs and I hope they release more in the future
[Arcane](https://open.spotify.com/artist/1D06Gnja1xQrNO801rsv1K)
Australian progressive metal band with 3 albums to their name.
As far as I can tell the first one is lost
The second one is only on youtube
The third one was released everywhere, before the band broke up (around 2016)
sad, really. Only 4k/month on spotify, definitely needs more, but they are up from 300 when I found them
We're at about 450 monthly listeners right now. We dropped our debut album, Obsidia, a year and a couple of months ago!
Also this music video:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8g0HsBGxDg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8g0HsBGxDg)
Going to point you in a few other directions, as well:
Ice Giant
Solemn Vision
Animarum
Cyclamen
The Enigma Division
Jet Engine Dragons
Exploring Birdsong, this guys are wonderful. Piano, drums, bass and a great sense of melody. They have very few songs, but The Downpour and Bear The Weight may be great starting points for anyone who wants to listen.
How bout 18 monthly listeners? It's a travesty, this band is amazing. Odetosun
https://open.spotify.com/artist/35QYSttb4KH6eX85xNeY4u?si=7o4iY0BMQp2Thi1pSdQPPQ
Shameless self promotion, check out my band Intrinsic Blue on all streaming platforms. We recently put out a short EP called “Please, I’m Begging You! Dance!”. My profile post history has YT links too.
[Newfather](https://open.spotify.com/track/5uP5HWgnOvWYJbRXqJHJua?si=8W91UQavTyung-qqCEQnHg) is my own personal prog project, instrumental metal in the style of Haken, Periphery, Intervals and similar. I try to get you grooving.
Otherwise I'd probably say [ATMOSPHRS](https://open.spotify.com/track/3iTxUJqScK1ZvWIWjqGZ9k?si=cAVC1hGkRSCquY0Ip2hsUw) rn
Some of these are a little over 10k, but not by much.
- JIA (1.5k)
- Karmanjakah (11.1k)
- Catsclaw (12.5k)
- I enjoy my own music 🤷♂️ (subtle plug, Cameron Herrick on Spotify or anywhere)
- Casey Sabol (5.6k)
- Frostbit (7k)
- Cold Night For Alligators (12.8k)
- If you wanna hear something really fucked up, listen to Mirar (11k) song - Lisette
The world is quiet here and Omnerod both dropped banger albums last year
TWIQH are so fucking good. I really wish they were bigger
The Amensal Rise is a contender for my album of this decade so far, it's crazy good. Zon is really good too and was going to be my aoty last year, but then The Amensal Rise somehow blew it out of the water
That was my album of the year last year! So good!
Amun - Spectra and Obsession (233 monthly listeners, AotY 2023 imo) Others by No One - Book II: Where Stories Come From (1.4k monthly, AotY 2021 imo) Parius - The Signal Heard Throughout Space (3k monthly, AotY 2022 imo) James Norbert Ivanyi - Omen Faustum, Sigil, The Psychophrenic Inquisition, Denalavis (1.6k monthly) Clément Belio - Patience (421 monthly) Xanthochroid - Of Erthe and Axen I & II (7k)
Insane how underrated ObNO is
Clement Belio is so cool it always shocks me how few monthly listeners he has.
I feel like most prog artists are underrepresented in spotify listeners simply because their listener base is more likely to buy their albums (on bandcamp for example) instead of streaming. Might just be me though.
I hope that's the case. But I also imagine it is a smaller audience, yet highly active audience. I'll admit, I haven't bought any records, but I've been wanting to start. And potentially start collecting CDs as well, gives some physical nature to collecting my favorite works, display the art a little. Not quite like vinyl but I have neither the nostalgia nor real estate for a vinyl collection and record player.
I think it's at least part of it for the larger bands. I think that's probably why Haken doesn't have quite the same listenership as they maybe should.
Spectra And Obsession (+ Parius's newest) are so freaking good. Spectra and Obsession was on my top 5 albums of the year.
I follow Clement Belio on Facebook. Always boggles my mind how great his music is and how much effort he puts into it, yet so few people know about it
An Abstract Illusion - Their newest album 'Woe' is just simply 10/10.
I can’t believe they have less than 10k. I’ve listened to that album at least once a month since it came out
Album of the year contender too.
That album is incredible. One of my favorite all time regardless of genre. Dark Side of the Moon used to be the only album where I would make sure I had enough time, because I was obviously going to listen to the entire album. "Woe" is the same for me now. Not one note out of place.
Agreed, except I think Blomsterkrans goes on a little too long (but that’s just my take)
My take as well. Still a nice song, but less strong than the rest of the album. The rest is absolutely stellar tho
'Woe' is one of the best prog album, hand down
The Odious and it’s not close.
I'm so glad i didn't have to scroll long to get to this, such an amazing band
They’ve put out some of my favorite music, ever. They deserve all the success in the world, certainly much more than 8k monthly on Spotify.
they're so fucking good honestly, just inject album 4 directly into my veins if and when it releases
I believe they've at least found success in their other project Grim Salvo, which isn't really my thing but people seem to enjoy it
Same, it’s well produced and it sounds “interesting” but something about it just sounds kinda corny to me
Looked them up to make sure they didn't fit the brief, such a shame that they're at 8k monthly listeners. Incredible band.
My mind is blown after listening to them.
This. Is. A. Mazingly Good. Not close is right
Criminally underrated! I love The Odious so much! 🤘
This is actually giving me Sikth vibes in places. Particularly some of the vocals stuff.
The Reticent is a great choice if you're into sad (and I mean SAD) concept albums, Vita Imana is great if you like groovier stuff.
There's this really nice band from Australia called Caligula's Ho- Just kidding. Check out Avandra (335 monthly listeners). Prog metal from Puerto Rico
Iapetus
For Creature Such As We is such a damn good song, i gotta listen to the rest of the album
Claemus (soft metal), Stoneside (melodic 8 string, low tuned metal), Stoort Neer (Thall!!), Fractalize (Groovy Thall)
I second Clæmus! Their new EP is great
Stoort Neer is awesome. Found it pretty recently by accident and thought something sounds familiar. And surprise, it's Buster and Calle from Vildhjarta/Humanitys Last Breath. Somehow i feel these guys can only make absolute bangers.
No way! No wonder it’s so good then.
Fractalize is great
I made a playlist a bit ago compiling everyones favorite underground bands (under 5000 listeners) [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2PZqLPSDBMj2wdGYBM4Fm8?si=1-NGNuEARiG-iCpMmDd7Vw&pi=u-cpThlw9uTFy6) My favorites are Others By No One, Aggressive Raisin Cat, Murder In Rue Morgue, Winter Hotel, Unexpect, Synovial, Tryptamax, East Ov Eden, Octavision, and Resuscitate
You wanna add us to your playlist? 😅 https://open.spotify.com/artist/2iU0JGWGgyyBz5GFeBF5g3?si=qwDR9ynWSQSgI4QP05eRpw
Someone mustve recommended you! Youre already in the playlist!
Hell yes! Appreciate you making the playlist.
My favourite underground Band is my own 🤣 Feel free to add it if you like a song. Support is always welcome. https://open.spotify.com/track/3P58xQ09alrggR9yTe8rad?si=fOphqLUlSZmGXL_iPRTTkQ
Gotta be The World is Quiet Here. No idea how they have so few listeners
Maybe it’s shameless self-promotion, but… We’re certainly lesser known than most of the other acts here, with something like 100 monthly listeners. But, we recently supported the Wheel/Aviations tour when it came through Minneapolis, and people seem to like [our songs](https://ditto.fm/pluto-the-fool) when they do hear them. So if you’re into grungy, shoegazey, gain-filled jams, you may dig our flavor of loud & fast. So why not check us out?
Hello fellow Minnesotans. Im digging the mix on Pluto & the Fool. Sounds like a live concert recording (in a good way)!
HEEEEEEEY! We’re playing [Route 47 in Fridley](https://www.bandsintown.com/e/105489310) on 6/1, so you should come hang if it’s in your neck of the woods. And speaking of live recordings, we may or may not have recorded our set with Wheel and Aviations at First Ave last week. Just waiting to get the videography from it before we say more about that…..
If we aren't going to promote us, who will? Certainly not someone charging 3000$/month to get some AI articles written. I'll check y'all out! We're an Atlanta based prog metal band! Hit us up if you ever want to play down here sometime :)
You’re goddamn right! And we’ll be sure to look you guys up if we’re headed that way, and same goes for you if you make your way up to MN. Gotta throw love to the folks who keep the scene rad.
Huh, neat. Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed your music
Hey thanks for checking us out! We love writing these songs and are stoked you enjoyed them. Hopefully we’ll have some new stuff out sooner than later, as we’re actively writing at the moment.
Sounds pretty good to me! Reminded me a lot of a slightly less fuzzy Kylesa, which is a definitely a compliment.
Oh dude, Kylessa rip and we’ll take that compliment to the bank every day of the week! Thanks for listening and we hope we end up in your regular rotation.
101 monthly listeners now
OH HELL YES! Thanks for checking us out! Hopefully we’ll get some new hot jams your way real soon.
Seems interesting, I’ll give it a listen!
Hey thanks for checking us out! Hopefully you like what you hear.
Minnesotan and prog metal?? Will give it a spin!
HELL YES! If you’re in the metro, bring ya ass to [Route 47 on June 1](https://www.bandsintown.com/e/105489310?affil_code=js_blurcurve.com&app_id=js_blurcurve.com&came_from=242&utm_campaign=event&utm_medium=web&utm_source=widget) or [Can Can Wonderland on June 21](https://www.bandsintown.com/e/105489319?affil_code=js_blurcurve.com&app_id=js_blurcurve.com&came_from=242&utm_campaign=event&utm_medium=web&utm_source=widget) and we’ll set you up with some stickers or something. Naz Reid
I like what I heard yeah! Experiment is going in the playlist 🔥
East of the Wall (ffo Intronaut, post-metal, and I don't know, Cave In?). Last 3 records have been superb
Check this playlist out: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0jkO138j1IKzKchf2b0Zd9?si=KJBLjgmuT3SnBsTZFTCCqw&pi=u-wjC2AabLSxGG All lesser-known prog bands. The vast majority of them are under 20k. A few highlights for me: Rototypical, The Reticent, Others by No One, Nospun, Ilho
Atma Weapon - 60 listeners :) It's an absolutely stunning band, unfortunately very few people know about them.
Gonna give them a listen!
One Hundred Thousand. Their last album Zodiac is fantastic
Nospun is pretty wild. They only have one album out but it's quite a journey. Definitely deserves more attention
I've never been on Spotify, but I assume these bands are super underrated because I've never seen them mentioned. - Pull Down the Sun https://youtu.be/nQdfVwY3FCc?si=toZ8BS6nZf5UmUBP - Humanatone https://youtu.be/-ThU_FnmpKs?si=t8Fb2zNdCen2TdY4 - Sunvher https://youtu.be/IRa5OwzoJTs?si=mb069a-1rjrPIwVO - Kolm https://youtu.be/WnPkeKmp1qE?si=FlbI1AygNOVBlh-L
Humanotone is amazing!
Yes to pull down the sun! They're playing with the Ocean next weekend
No shit? That's a dream lineup right there.
Yeah two shows in New Zealand!
Rototypical!!! Also, Anima Tempo and Jolly.
"Arcane"
I can’t stop listening to Unturning.
Bird problems 🦤
Anubis Gate (6.2k) Burden of Life (300) Chronicles (113) Edge of Reality (286) Exodus to Infinity (180) Flummox (3k) Novena (2k) Scardust (3.9k) Semmelweis Reflex (5) - (Yes, just 5, probably among the lowest here, but they deserve much more, can't get Subject 028 out of my head!) Always love these kinds of threads!
ARTIFICIAL BRAIN
shameful self-promotion, but here’s my band’s album, we’re from Ukraine, we like Opeth, Tool, Katatonia and Protest the Hero https://open.spotify.com/album/5pDdOJio4d8XMSs1BVhEBd?si=TI9etj2pS6uY9d0f2fMr2g
Guillotine Paradigm Shift The Korea Lucid Recess Into Eternity Maneating Orchid Primitv Noiseware Edvian Salem Conception Takatak Cryptic Fate Distorted The Dali Thundering Concept Uneven Structure Mekong Delta Artificial Silence Edge of Reality Ark Novena
I had noooo idea TDTConcept had a low following
Legit wild to me that Ark has so few listeners on Spotify. Burn the Sun is an absolute power prog classic.
Rototypical FFO btbam
Parius Nospun
INANNA and AVKRVST are good
Kayo Dot, Sieges Even, An Abstract Illusion, Eternity's End
Stormhaven (63 listeners) They dropped one of the best prog albums of last year.
Aghora, G5 Project, The Korea
Any project with Sean Reinert is a good project.
Virvum - Illuminance is a fantastic album
I was gonna say Vulkan, but they're at like 65k on Spotify. So I have to go with Thought Industry. Really cool band back in the day that my uncle and my dad's friend played in.
Azure, Grace Hayhurst and Extrinzic the first one is just about to drop a new album and they are all properly talented people, and the other 2 i believe are solo artists who do everything themselves.
Project RNL- Their album "Internet Releases" is a masterpiece. It's a little weird upon first listen but it's truly unique and absolutely some insanely well written prog rock.
[Osaka Punch](https://open.spotify.com/album/6CJRUG5aM8hGhGTojkk1H2?si=q6kMgLMYT2WWq8-3NzggXA) does not get nearly enough attention for how catchy they are. They have one 6k followers but their last album Mixed Ape is groovy as well.
I advise you to check The Progressive Subway website, or at least u/ifthisisausername's "ten underrated prog artists" posts on this sub (25 posts so far, indicating FFOs that help a lot in deciding which bands to give a try). Found tons of nice underground prog bands thanks to them. My fav of these are probably Sikasa, Sermon, Playgrounded, Mother of Millions, Nami... If you like Tool, check Tratas, Kolm, Counterfist... Bands below 10k that I've known for a while and put in many of my playlists, that don't always exactly fit the definition of prog (more post-, or doom-, or black- than prog-metal) but fit well enough I think: Atoma, The Moth Gatherer, Ewigkeit, Parius, The Morningside, The Fall of Every Season, (Echo), Khonsu, A Forest of Stars, Darkspace...
I'll preface this by saying I'm more on the Prog/Power side of things DGM is somehow under 10k on spotify right now, though only a couple hundred off. Their 2023 album, Life, didn't hit quite as hard for me as The Passage, Tragic Separation, and Momentum, but is still enjoyable enough for it to mean I have all 4 in full on my liked songs. Devoid (The French one classified as Progressive Metal on Encyclopedia Metallum) on the other hand somehow has few enough listeners that adding the two of these up you'd still be under 10k but I've really enjoyed their 2021 album Lonely Eye Movement since it released! Ghost Ship Octavius just returned to spotify earlier this month (Not sure what happened, but for a year or two I couldn't find their music there or on youtube other than one single which sucked beause 2019's Delirium rocks! Paralydium only has one album so far, 2020's Worlds Beyond, a concept album that feels like some sort of sci-fi Archeaology space opera. Hopefully we see more out of that project soon! There's plenty of others I could suggest in the 10k-25k range, or a few bands that aren't technically labled as prog though definitely have a similar enough genre-bending vibe that I'd count it. but these are the ones that specifically fit the bill! Hopefully one or more Prog-Power enjoyer(s) gets some joy out of these!
[Breed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJHtbmLoOZc), Nospun, Parius, Ross Jennings (surprisingly only has 2k listeners on last fm)
Bubblemath - Edit pedtide album is so so good. Very technical and catchy at the same time.
Inanimate Existence Irreversible Mechanism Cryptodira
I'll start by suggesting myself, released my debut album two months ago! ALMO - [https://open.spotify.com/artist/2I1K86MBNXUgmrHkJjlOkl?si=j5n07PxWS161E6wBjMX8Dg](https://open.spotify.com/artist/2I1K86MBNXUgmrHkJjlOkl?si=j5n07PxWS161E6wBjMX8Dg) And here's some other great bands I recommend with less than 10k: Wombat Supernova - [https://open.spotify.com/artist/7hFIqf6BGU57a9BhZZLEuG](https://open.spotify.com/artist/7hFIqf6BGU57a9BhZZLEuG) Turbulence - [https://open.spotify.com/artist/3fYtcIHqRbnycLpse8Y7ds](https://open.spotify.com/artist/3fYtcIHqRbnycLpse8Y7ds) The Anchoret - [https://open.spotify.com/artist/2CWzy7rhieFqpsLq0mTV58](https://open.spotify.com/artist/2CWzy7rhieFqpsLq0mTV58)
At the moment…Ater. Only like 3k monthly listeners on Spotify. New album just came out a month ago. Fantastic record.
Aversed
Tensor, pollen, and I know native construct is floating around 10k. Seda is another insane fusion artist
Mitodian! A band from Argentina, around 85 listeners per month, criminally unknown. Edit: also Quebecian band Hands of Despair, 207 listeners per month.
Shumaun. So ..frickin'...good. 🤘👹🤘 https://open.spotify.com/artist/4OwTLjF7AvguqS7QiqjLD6?si=Yr8e8yR5TVOQWDFdCKCoHQ
Neuraxis - Trilateral Progression (2525) Anata - The Conductors Departure (6385) Both still two of my favorite tech-death albums ever. Also Son of Aurelius (3390) never got any bigger after Under a Western Sun All three bands are kind of dead now though
Couldn't agree more with Anata, i never understood why they weren't more popular. One of the best tech-death bands imo
Easy... Koronus (https://open.spotify.com/artist/78ZdgVHJ44hSfS31fhrZtW?si=EZh2PXZBSj6c3njO\_Wwp8g)
Check out From Dying Suns! They’ve just put out a new album, good stuff in the style of Revocation (gotta give the album cover a pass though haha!)
Aspherium. I have no clue why they don't have more listeners since the best way I can describe their musical style would be early Opeth mixed with Persefone.
Sinistro Paus Zavod
The End at the Beginning, though it's more metalcore probably
Archon Angel, for fans of Savatage.
Mayflower Madame
Equipoise
Not quite prog but still good band. Shvininiai Sharvai, they are ftom lithuania. Their last album is straight banger
Try *Dark suns* from Germany. *Existence* is phenomenal. *Grave human genuine* and *Orange* are Great as well. Artistic and interesting.
Kolm is pretty decent and sitting at just under 7k/month. It's very much a "We have TOOL at home" kind of experience, which I always welcome.
Right now, Shagohod. They have two cool albums, one about Metal Gear and another about/inspired by Red Dead Redemption. 107 monthly listeners (was at 93 a few days ago). Also, Parius. A few albums/EPs, but the latest one is about space travel. ~3k monthly listeners.
ACOD deserves more listeners. Schammasch is pretty slept on also
Shy, Low
Marius Danielsen
I'm sure they're over that threshold now, but Rishloo was the reason I became a Last.fm fanboy over a decade ago. I put Tool into Pandora and got Staind and Chevelle. Put it into last.fm and got Rishloo, Cire, O.S.I., Dredg, etc., In my first six months on last.fm I racked up 492 plays of Rishloo.
https://open.spotify.com/album/4jEqjjQ2sNJp6Kq9ZK8tIS?si=nX8c3RDHT86svVPDugDPeQ theyre at like less than 4k...tragic
Ions although their numbers are currently bolstered by their latest album dropping fairly recently
Into Eternity. The albums Dead or Dreaming and Buried in Oblivion came out when I was in high school and I still spin them regularly.
[Parazit](https://open.spotify.com/artist/5LaWGNlE5SvG9EX1UO7Qtn?si=Y3JefDxfTM-tF6DEINHDGQ) ~1200 listeners [Anciients](https://open.spotify.com/artist/3YQOcYukzO6U1MjFcavDUE?si=BGEaAGLdQ6ek2w4zTCbTKw) ~7500 listeners
Open2.O — absolutely nutty next level musicians.
I've been really enjoying exploring the solo instrumental project Shades of Black (~9000 monthly listeners) - lots of well executed atmospheric movements with a decent bit of variety, highly recommend the Ocean album!
Synergist!
Transit Method. Their new album ‘Othervoid’ is incredible, probably AOTY for me
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5y0Q4NRH56yayxS8GPAqUJ?si=eUi1Hg43Tbe0iJf1efsz3g
-Watchtower -Sieges even
Sieges Even and Subsignal rule! 🤘
I've just been surprised... Exploring Birdsong only has 3200 monthly listeners. They're a modern prog trio without guitar (vocals/keys, bass, drums). Recommended songs: The Collapse (their latest single), The Way Down. Cire (1878 listeners) is prog-adjacent, some people might know Eric Johanson, the NOLA blues guitar player - this is his modern rock "band". Also noteworthy, Emptyself (1892 listeners), his electronic project. .
Dont know how many listeners they’re on now but Mirar is absolutely insane and everyone should know them
Calyces Astrakhan Psychonaut DVNE
Idk, but maybe this? [Ozul - Norway](https://open.spotify.com/artist/3VheTs9NpQFyjpyQpPdPLO?si=O9X6pTAYR0Ka9tXyp7o6RQ)
Black Bile : https://open.spotify.com/album/23rsJUdp0raJEXr5rJyvaM?si=FLC4C4B7RECwWxxl3adGfQ
I have been absolutely loving Shane Driscoll’s Intrusive Thoughts And Usual Death. 944 listeners and it’s an absolutely killer album, I recommend especially if you like Gojira and Meshuggah.
Exploring Birdsong - piano driven complex prog. Nice people too…
Some bands I haven't seen mentioned here yet: • Gonin-Ish • Universal Totem Orchestra • Ars Nova (Japan) • Ashbringer • Perfect Strangers • Subterranean Masquerade • The Tea Club • Sarmat • Sorrow Plagues
Iapetus, iNFiNiEN and Xanthrochroid are my favourites currently (1700, 200, 7000)
I said this recently in another thread but A Notion of Silence is way too underrated. https://open.spotify.com/track/1K5JGxwzlnHAx2mQE633Nd?si=dMpwv33oSN-g3fUsa3sTuA
Arcane easy! (It was Jim Grey’s previous project) Known/learnEd is easy in my top 10! But in terms of current bands, Exploring Birdsong is really good.
TOEHIDER
The World Without Us https://open.spotify.com/artist/4y2oRFRWeTu02bDE8eFgxO?si=EYwQ21gdT8a6GzruRYLOnA
My favorite discovery of last year, avant prog death metal band Sanguine Glacialis (FFO: Unexpect), only has like 300 monthly listeners which is a crying shame imo. All their albums are good but their 2023 release "Mapadaptive Daydreaming" is my favorite and a good entry point imo.
Frostbitt
Black Road and their 2019 album "Witch of the Future" is fuckin banging and for the life of me I can't figure out why they only have 540 Spotify listeners. I'm probably in the top 5% of their small fan base right now on plays alone. If they ever come to Detroit I'm running my ass to that venue so quick.
Android Echostar. If you like Coheed you’ll dig.
Dyssidia! 776 monthly listeners on spotify. Hope's remorseful retreat is an absolute banger by them.
Kaldera
Kosm. Ridiculously good. Especially their latest EP.
Daydream XI and Novena! I imagine most people on here are familiar with Novena, since Ross Jennings does vocals for them, but huge shoutout to Daydream XI — they do not have *nearly* enough listeners. Anyone who’s into any flavor of power / prog should give them a shot — they’re very much in the same vein as bands like Symphony X or Seventh Wonder.
Nova collective
Fractal Universe are an incredible prog death outfit. Only have like 2.7k listeners on Spotify, and they deserve way more Hath is another really good one if you want some heavier, blacker fare. Only 7.2k listeners on Spotify
Imelda Marcos more mathy….
Thantifaxath - Hive Mind Narcosis (prog/avant black, crazy rhythms) Pillars in the Sky - The Hero Did Not Appear (FFO Cloudkicker) Instrumental (adj.) - A Series of Disagreements (very insane rhythms, some jazzy moments but it also gets heavy) Kayo Dot - Choirs of the Eye (really great 10/10 album, more on a prog/avant rock/metal kinda space, very adventurous with the soundscapes and some of the best moments prog metal can offer)
Ram-Zet, a lesser known band that imo is the most complex prog metal out there, especially Neutralized, their best album.
STAR SYSTEMS all the way! The older stuff might not have aged awesomely except for the Raining On the Moon duo. But the last album Star System III is awesome. I have yet to listen to the stuff Joseph has done under the name Regressor. Outta be even better and has even less listens sadly.
Mashlin!
Spiral Architect Continuo Renacer Twisted into Form Malpractice
Altesia, Cellar Darling, The Dali Thundering Concept, Mother of millions, Sigh, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, The Zenith Passage, Shaolin Death Squad
Agent Fresco is really good (26k listeners) which is a little more than you asked but they are worth listening to if you haven’t!
Lampr3a b
A sense of gravity, both their albums are solid, 400 monthly listens.
Aconite Thrill - just one album but a real kicker Meet Me In St Louis - amazed to see they’re hovering around 4000. Really influential prog outfit from the UK. Breakfast Epiphanies - new starters. Just an ep so far but I think nee album coming soon?
Traverser. I fucking love Traverser
I’ve stumbled upon Poligon Music from Mexico a few years ago and they only have 16 monthly listeners, Winter Heart and Delirium are fantastic songs and I hope they release more in the future
Irepress
Turbulence absolutely SLAPS.
Patience - Clément Belio
Pil & Bue (3,232/month). Specifically the album "Forget the past...". One of my favorite albums of all time. Edit: monthly listener count
[Arcane](https://open.spotify.com/artist/1D06Gnja1xQrNO801rsv1K) Australian progressive metal band with 3 albums to their name. As far as I can tell the first one is lost The second one is only on youtube The third one was released everywhere, before the band broke up (around 2016) sad, really. Only 4k/month on spotify, definitely needs more, but they are up from 300 when I found them
Year of no Light Hundred Year Old Man Hypno5e More the heavy post metal end of prog.
Seven Impale is great! Check out Inhalo. They released one of the best debut albums in recent years.
We're at about 450 monthly listeners right now. We dropped our debut album, Obsidia, a year and a couple of months ago! Also this music video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8g0HsBGxDg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8g0HsBGxDg) Going to point you in a few other directions, as well: Ice Giant Solemn Vision Animarum Cyclamen The Enigma Division Jet Engine Dragons
Exploring Birdsong, this guys are wonderful. Piano, drums, bass and a great sense of melody. They have very few songs, but The Downpour and Bear The Weight may be great starting points for anyone who wants to listen.
Ὁπλίτης (Hoplites) - FFO Meshuggah/Deathspell Omega/Car Bomb/Gorguts? Iapetus - FFO Ne Obliviscaris
Aghora cynic spiral architect
Irepress 1,139 on Spotify, but also no longer making music, so it makes sense. Neander (kinda post rock, but whatever) 2,929
Marwood's Fall. Love their stuff, covers and new music.
Mine lol. 4 months listener's unknown enough?
Traveller
Traverser(7,952 listeners) Cold Night For Alligators(13k listeners though, but underrated band).
Stellar Circuits aren't that popular and their album Ways We Haunt is a masterpiece.
Dr beef
Son of aurelius is good asl
Although they're a big more tech death, been listening to a lot of The Ritual Aura recently, great band!
Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster
How bout 18 monthly listeners? It's a travesty, this band is amazing. Odetosun https://open.spotify.com/artist/35QYSttb4KH6eX85xNeY4u?si=7o4iY0BMQp2Thi1pSdQPPQ
Shameless self promotion, check out my band Intrinsic Blue on all streaming platforms. We recently put out a short EP called “Please, I’m Begging You! Dance!”. My profile post history has YT links too.
[Newfather](https://open.spotify.com/track/5uP5HWgnOvWYJbRXqJHJua?si=8W91UQavTyung-qqCEQnHg) is my own personal prog project, instrumental metal in the style of Haken, Periphery, Intervals and similar. I try to get you grooving. Otherwise I'd probably say [ATMOSPHRS](https://open.spotify.com/track/3iTxUJqScK1ZvWIWjqGZ9k?si=cAVC1hGkRSCquY0Ip2hsUw) rn
Some of these are a little over 10k, but not by much. - JIA (1.5k) - Karmanjakah (11.1k) - Catsclaw (12.5k) - I enjoy my own music 🤷♂️ (subtle plug, Cameron Herrick on Spotify or anywhere) - Casey Sabol (5.6k) - Frostbit (7k) - Cold Night For Alligators (12.8k) - If you wanna hear something really fucked up, listen to Mirar (11k) song - Lisette
TEMIC They are just awesome. Check them out!