saut

I've always thought of Tool as progressive metal.

POD is maybe Christian Rap Metal?


Tool was my favorite band for a good couple of years (they may reclaim "favorite band status" with the release of their new album though), so there a good lot of bands I can recommend that I got into through Tool.

First is probably Kyuss. I heard Tool's cover of "Demon Cleaner" and ran off to download the original version by Kyuss. Turned out that it kicked serious ass (and was better than Tool's cover of it, a rare thing indeed) so I quickly grabbed the rest of their catalogue. They don't quite sound like Tool, but I can definitely hear similarities in their styles, especially the guitar tone.

Songs by Kyuss to check out: Gardenia, Asteroid, Catamaran, Odyssey, 50 Million Year Trip.

After that, I think I got into bands like the Melvins and Isis, the former being huge influences of Tool (they even did a song together), and the latter being a band that was influenced by Tool.

Songs by The Melvins to get: Roadbull, Revolver, Divorced
Songs by Isis to get: Anything from the Pantopticon CD

Following those bands was King Crimson, a prog act from the 60's, which continues to make music today. I believe that Robert Fripp, the core and creative force of King Crimson is collaborating with Tool on their new album. Tool has said many times that they are heavily influenced by KC. The style of music is not the same (although songs like THRAK are metallish), but the wacky time signature changes and sonic assault/mellow section techniques are present.

Songs by King Crimson: In the Wake of Poseidon, THRAK, Moonchild, In the Court of the Crimson King, Red, Epilogue... aw hell just get everything you can find.


After getting into King Crimson and searching through the progressive genre, I came across Porcupine Tree. They blend old-school prog/spacerock (think Pink Floyd) with folk (think Jethro Tull). Their last album, In Absentia, is a lot heavier compared to their earlier works. This is probably a good starting point for you.

Songs by Porcupine Tree: Wedding Nails, Blackest Eyes, Shesmovedon, Prodigal, Hatesong. The songs get less metal and more progressive as you read from left to right. The song "Prodigal" will definitely remind you of DSOTM era Pink Floyd.


Porcupine Tree led me into my current favorite band, Opeth. I wanted more music like Porcupine Tree (especially for the folky stuff and the badass guitar solos) and heard that Steven Wilson (lead singer/creative control of PT) had recently produced several album for the metal band Opeth. I quickly grabbed the latest album, "Damnation," and was incredibly impressed by how good it was. Very mellow, great singing and acoustic/electric guitar playing (the second solo on Windowpane!!!!), and impeccable songwriting. Thirsty for more Opeth, I downloaded whatever I could find... only to be incredibly disappointed. It turns out that "Damnation" was not quite like the rest of Opeth's catalogue, which contains growled vocals (Yuck!). I was immediately turned off and listened exclusively to Damnation for a long time. One day, however, I decided to give their heavy songs another shot, and popped the "Still Life" album into my CD player. I was, of course, blown away -- even with the growling, and discovered that Opeth is not quite like any other metal band. The heavy sections (which ultimately grew on me) are punctuated with great acoustic guitar and clean singing passages. Anyway, I've pretty much listened to Opeth exclusively for the past few months (holy shit, did I really just type as much as I think I did?).

Songs from Opeth to start off with: Windowpane, Harvest, Death Whispered a Lullaby, Closure. These songs have no growling and are heavily feature the acoustic guitar. Harvest is one of the best songs I've ever heard and I urge you to download that one if you decide to download any.

Once you love those and are aching for more: Start off with The Drapery Falls (not too much growling), then move on to The Moor, Godhead's Lament, Moonlapse Vertigo, and Demon of the Fall. Godhead's Lament features a superb folk section about 3 minutes in. Moonlapse Vertigo has my favorite intro and outro of all time (the first two minutes of this song are WOWWWWW). Demon of the Fall is the song that Opeth uses to close all of their shows, and is a favorite among diehards (especially the death metal fans).


If you actually read all that then I hope it helps you (or anyone) discover new music.


Before I go, here's a couple more bands that I got into through Tool, but weren't really worth mentioning in the grand scheme of things:

A Perfect Circle (obviously)
Peach (Tool's bassist's former band)
Godspeed! You Black Empower (a post-rock band, really long songs featuring mostly string instruments and no singing)
Dream Theater (progressive metal -- they have some great songs and some terrible ones... check out Home, Metropolis, and A Change of Seasons)
Sigur Ros (another post-rock band, probably not your cup of tea right now. really mellow)