PROGRESSIVE METAL 2022: RESULTS
Hey everyone! The results from our r/progmetal 2022 poll are in, so let’s get to it! I personally like reading through best-of lists from lowest order to highest to increase excitement, so I’m going to order both albums and songs from 50th to 1st. In addition, this year is extra special as there was a first and second place TIE for best album overall score, so I left it up to “most 1st place votes” to crown the absolute winner. View this thread for information about how the scores were tallied.
Okay, now that the hype-train is full of steam, and after 879 total votes from our r/progmetal community, here are your TOP 50 BEST ALBUMS OF PROGRESSIVE METAL 2022:
| Place | Artist - Album | Total Score |
|---|---|---|
| 50th | Pure Reason Revolution - Above Cirrus | 7 |
| 49th | King Buffalo - Regenerator | 7 |
| 48th | Evergrey - A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament) | 7 |
| 47th | Destrage - SO MUCH. Too Much | 8.75 |
| 46th | Sigh - Shiki | 9 |
| 45th | Aeternam - Heir of the Rising Sun | 9 |
| 44th | Tómarúm - Ash in Realms of Stone Icons | 9.25 |
| 43rd | Haunted Shores - Void | 9.5 |
| 42nd | Voivod - Synchro Anarchy | 10 |
| 41st | Artificial Brain - Artificial Brain | 10 |
| 40th | Toehider - I Have Little To No Memory Of These Memories | 11 |
| 39th | Revocation - Netherheaven | 11.75 |
| 38th | Conjurer - Pathos | 12 |
| 37th | Hath - All That Was Promised | 13 |
| 36th | Imperial Triumphant - Spirit of Ecstasy | 13.75 |
| 35th | Greyhaven - This Bright And Beautiful World | 14 |
| 34th | Michael Romeo - War of the Worlds, Pt. 2 | 16 |
| 33rd | Star One - Revel in Time | 17.5 |
| 32nd | Seventh Wonder - The Testament | 17.5 |
| 31st | Amorphis - Halo | 17.75 |
| 30th | The Mars Volta - The Mars Volta | 18.25 |
| 29th | Moon Tooth - Phototroph | 18.25 |
| 28th | Dance Gavin Dance - Jackpot Juicer | 20.75 |
| 27th | Ashenspire - Hostile Architecture | 21.75 |
| 26th | Northlane - Obsidian | 21.75 |
| 25th | Psychonaut - Violate Consensus Reality | 26.75 |
| 24th | Fallujah - Empyrean | 29 |
| 23rd | Allagaeon - DAMNUM | 32.5 |
| 22nd | Lorna Shore - Pain Remains | 33.75 |
| 21st | Monuments - In Stasis | 37 |
| 20th | Persefone - Metanoia | 37 |
| 19th | Rolo Tomassi - Where Myth Becomes Memory | 44 |
| 18th | Disillusion - Ayam | 44.5 |
| 17th | Elder - Innate Passage | 46.5 |
| 16th | David Maxim Micic - BILO IV | 48.75 |
| 15th | Kardashev - Liminal Rite | 50.5 |
| 14th | Zeal & Ardor - Zeal & Ardor | 51.5 |
| 13th | Cult of Luna - The Long Road North | 52 |
| 12th | Coheed and Cambria - Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind | 59.5 |
| 11th | Devin Townsend - Lightwork | 62.75 |
| 10th | Polyphia - Remember That You Will Die | 72.25 |
| 9th | White Ward - False Light | 75 |
| 8th | The Dear Hunter - Antimai | 79 |
| 7th | An Abstract Illusion - Woe | 87.5 |
| 6th | Parius - The Signal Heard Throughout Space | 92.75 |
| 5th | Meshuggah - Immutable | 99.75 |
| 4th | Charlie Griffiths - Tiktaalika | 102.5 |
| 3rd | Porcupine Tree - Closure/Continuation | 124.25 |
| 2nd | Animals As Leaders - Parrhesia | 126 |
| 1st | Wilderun - Epigone | 126 |
There you have it! The two way tie between AAL and Wilderun was settled with the number of 1st place picks.
Animals as Leaders - 45 #1 picks
Wilderun - 66 #1 picks
If you’re interested, here are some other quick facts about this year's album poll.
Most picked #1 Favorite Album - Wilderun
Most picked #2 Favorite Album - Animals as Leaders
Most picked #3 Favorite Album - Meshuggah
Most picked #4 Favorite Album - Wilderun
Previous years, this one included, I noted that this mostly comes down to a popularity contest (I mean which poll doesn’t.) Although it’s cool to see some lesser known bands taking the top spots this year, I put together this super unimportant metric to determine which albums were ranked highest when taking in account how popular the band is. Using the incredibly complicated formula of dividing monthly spotify listeners with number of votes received - I ended up with this top 10 in: SnizzPants’ patented “Score Adjusted for Popularity Chart”. The closer to 1 you are, the stronger the score.
| Place | Artist - Album | Popularity Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Parius - The Signal Heard Throughout Space | 37 |
| 2nd | Charlie Griffiths - Tiktaalika | 94 |
| 3rd | Wilderun - Epigone | 151 |
| 4th | An Abstract Illusion - Woe | 158 |
| 5th | Disillusion - Ayam | 380 |
| 6th | Kardashev - Liminal Rite | 581 |
| 7th | Ashenspire - Hostile Architecture | 705 |
| 8th | Psychonaut - Violate Consensus Reality | 735 |
| 9th | White Ward - False Light | 808 |
| 10th | Hath - All That Was Promised | 1,152 |
I thought this was pretty cool and really showcases how impressive Parius finishing 6th overall was with being such a relatively small band compared to the others in the top 10. Anyway, that about sums up the album portion, let's get rolling with the songs.
Here are r/progmetal’s TOP 50 BEST SONGS OF PROGRESSIVE METAL 2022:
| Place | Artist - Song | Total Score |
|---|---|---|
| 50th | Dance Gavin Dance - Die Another Day | 10 |
| 49th | Parius - Spaceflight Dementia | 10.25 |
| 48th | David Maxim Micic - Itch_ˈnʌθɪŋ_ | 10.25 |
| 47th | Polyphia - Bloodbath | 11 |
| 46th | Monuments - The Cimmerian | 11.5 |
| 45th | Toehider - I Have Little to No Memory of These Memories | 11.75 |
| 44th | Disillusion - Abide the Storm | 13 |
| 43rd | Charlie Griffiths - In Alluvium | 13.25 |
| 42nd | Devin Townsend - Lightworker | 13.5 |
| 41st | Ashenspire - The Law of Asbestos | 13.75 |
| 40th | Disillusion - Am Abgrund | 14 |
| 39th | Monuments - False Providence | 14.5 |
| 38th | Animals As Leaders - The Problem of Other Minds | 14.5 |
| 37th | Parius - The Human Molecule | 14.75 |
| 36th | Allegaeon - Called Home | 14.75 |
| 35th | Meshuggah - Phantoms | 15 |
| 34th | Cult of Luna - Blood Upon Stone | 16.5 |
| 33rd | Devin Townsend - Call Of The Void | 18.5 |
| 32nd | Animals As Leaders - Micro-Aggressions | 19.5 |
| 31st | Charlie Griffiths - Tiktaalika | 19.75 |
| 30th | Charlie Griffiths - Dead in the Water | 19.75 |
| 29th | White Ward - False Light | 20.25 |
| 28th | Wilderun - Identifier | 22.5 |
| 27th | David Maxim Micic - Cry | 22.75 |
| 26th | Meshuggah - Ligature Marks | 22.75 |
| 25th | Cult of Luna - The Long Road North | 22.75 |
| 24th | Porcupine Tree - Herd Culling | 22.75 |
| 23rd | Elder - Catastasis | 24.25 |
| 22nd | Zeal & Ardor - Götterdämmerung | 25 |
| 21st | Meshuggah - Broken Cog | 25 |
| 20th | An Abstract Illusion - Tear Down This Holy Mountain | 25.5 |
| 19th | Zeal & Ardor - Death to the Holy | 27 |
| 18th | Parius - Arecibo | 28.75 |
| 17th | Charlie Griffiths - Arctic Cemetary | 31 |
| 16th | Polyphia - Ego Death | 31 |
| 15th | Wilderun - Woolgatherer | 31.5 |
| 14th | The Dear Hunter - Ring 1: Tower | 32 |
| 13th | Tool - Opiate2 | 33.5 |
| 12th | Wilderun - Passenger | 35.25 |
| 11th | Ne Obliviscaris - Equus | 35.75 |
| 10th | Animals As Leaders - Monomyth | 36 |
| 9th | Coheed and Cambria - Ladders of Supremacy | 36.5 |
| 8th | Parius - The Acid Lakes of Ganymede | 37 |
| 7th | White Ward - Leviathan | 39.25 |
| 6th | Haken - The Alphabet of Me | 39.75 |
| 5th | Porcupine Tree - Chimera's Wreck | 44.25 |
| 4th | Animals As Leaders - Red Miso | 48 |
| 3rd | An Abstract Illusion - In the Heavens Above You Will Become a Monster | 52.25 |
| 2nd | Polyphia - Playing God | 52.75 |
| 1st | Haken - Nightingale | 84.5 |
There ya have it! Haken’s Nightingale absolutely dominated the number one song this year getting over 30 points more than second places Polyphia - Playing God. Also noting the 4-way tie? between Porcupine Tree, Cult of Luna, Meshuggah, and David Maxim Micic at 24th place? You'll have to listen to all four and decide the winner ;)
That about does it for this year's Progressive Metal wrap up. If you’re interested in the raw data, here are both the songs & albums spreadsheets for you to check out. I had a lot of fun with this this year, definitely learned some things and hope to be even more efficient next year. Thanks for participating, I’m looking forward to the comments discussing this year's winners!
Posted Feb 15, 2023, 7:34 PM UTC · edited