Progressive rock is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States throughout the mid to late 1960s. Initially termed "progressive pop", the style was an outgrowth of psychedelic bands who abandoned standard pop traditions in favour of instrumentation and compositional techniques more frequently associated with jazz, folk, or classical music. Additional elements contributed to its "progressive" label: lyrics were more poetic, technology was harnessed for new sounds, music approached the condition of "art", and the studio, rather than the stage, became the focus of musical activity, which often involved creating music for listening, not dancing.
Progressive metal is a fusion genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock that combines the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral or "pseudo-classical" compositions of the latter.
Math rock is a style of indie rock that emerged in the late 1980s in the United States, influenced by post-hardcore, progressive rock bands such as King Crimson, and 20th century minimal music composers such as Steve Reich. Math rock is characterized by complex, atypical rhythmic structures, counterpoint, odd time signatures, angular melodies, and extended, often dissonant, chords. It bears similarities to post-rock.
Sean Reinert is the drummer of Æon Spoke. He was also the drummer and founding member of Cynic, until leaving the band in September 2015. He is also regarded as one of the most influential metal drummers of all time. He credits such drummers as Dave Miranda, John Bonham, Dave Weckl, Gary Husband and Vinnie Colaiuta as being an important influence in his formative years.
A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines.
OSI is an American progressive rock band, originally formed by Fates Warning guitarist Jim Matheos in 2002. Chroma Key keyboardist and vocalist Kevin Moore is the only other full-time member of the band. The collaboration may be considered a studio project, as its members and contributors write and track most of their material independently, sharing and developing tracks long-distance, only coming together at the end of the process for mixing and additional tracking. The band's name is a reference to the Office of Strategic Influence, a short-lived American government agency formed in 2001 to support the War on Terror through propaganda. The band has featured a number of guest musicians on its albums, including Sean Malone, Steven Wilson, "Mikael", Joey Vera and Gavin Harrison.
Office of Strategic Influence is the first studio album by American progressive rock band OSI, released by InsideOut Music on February 18, 2003. The album was recorded in June 2002 and mixed in August 2002 at the Carriage House Studios in Stamford, Connecticut.
John Ro Myung is a Korean American bassist and a founding member of the progressive metal group Dream Theater.
Trey Gunn is an American musician, known for his membership in progressive rock band King Crimson from 1994 to 2003, playing Warr Guitar and Chapman Stick.
Sean Malone is an American musician who plays primarily fretless bass guitar and Chapman Stick. However, Malone also plays piano, keyboards, and guitar. Malone did a number of session jobs for various bands and musicians. He is most famous for his work in American band Cynic, in which he developed a strong partnership with the drummer Sean Reinert. Malone and Reinert played on several records together outside Cynic, making them one of the most favorable modern progressive rhythm sections.
Paul Albert Masvidal is the guitarist, singer and a founding member of the band Cynic and previously led the alternative rock band Æon Spoke. He is also known for having worked with the death metal band, Death, as a guitarist.
Spastic Ink was a progressive metal band from the United States.
Emergent is the second album by American progressive rock band Gordian Knot, and is the only album apart from Focus to contain all original members of Cynic.
At War With Self is the project conceived by multi-instrumentalist Glenn Snelwar, best known as one of the guitarists on the Gordian Knot debut album which featured members of Cynic, Watchtower, King Crimson and Dream Theater.
Cynic is an American band whose work has incorporated elements of progressive rock, alternative rock, and extreme metal. Founded in Miami, Florida. Founding members Paul Masvidal and Sean Reinert publicly revealed their homosexuality in May 2014, a move that was broadly supported by the heavy metal community. Their first album, Focus, released on September 14, 1993, is widely regarded as a landmark release of the progressive metal genre. Cynic disbanded in 1994, but reunited in 2006, and released their second album on November 17, 2008. Traced in Air was released through French label Season of Mist, followed up by an EP titled Re-Traced on May 18, 2010 and an EP titled Carbon-Based Anatomy on November 11, 2011. Their third studio album, Kindly Bent to Free Us, was released on February 14, 2014. In December 2017, after two years of an uncertain future, Reinert confirmed his split from Cynic, leaving Masvidal as the only remaining original member left.
Alteration is the debut album by Australian/Indonesian band Altera Enigma, recorded over 2 years and released on January 2006. The emotional and sophisticated style found on the album drew comparisons to Liquid Tension Experiment, Gordian Knot, and Cynic.
