Bryan

Unknown to me at the time, my journey into the world of progressive rock began with my discovery of TOOL in 2001. While I had some difficulty appreciating the more challenging "Lateralus", they were still unlike anything my young mind had ever encountered in music. Not long after TOOL, I found RADIOHEAD.

It was here that I first heard of "progressive rock", after my father categorized them under that genre. The label stuck with me, but I didn't consciously pursue prog yet. PINK FLOYD was the first major prog discovery I made, and for close to a year they were my absolute obsession.

I heard them mentioned as one of the main "prog" bands, so I decided to further investigate the genre. I went through all the seminal 70s bands (YES, GENESIS, ELP, RUSH, KING CRIMSON, JETHRO TULL, etc) and enjoyed all of them, but little did I know I had just started to scratch the surface of prog. I also discovered OPETH around this time, thus opening my eyes to progressive metal.

It was at around this time that I discovered PA and had enough confidence in my skills as a reviewer to ask for a position as prog reviewer. This was granted to me, and suddenly my taste in prog expanded tremendously. I discovered some of the slightly lesser known 70s bands such as SOFT MACHINE, GONG, AMON DUUL II, etc, as well as more recent bands like PORCUPINE TREE, AYREON, PAATOS, and countless others.

My time at this site has seen my tastes change quite a bit as I've ventured across the seas of prog, a growing obsession with OPETH's "Blackwater Park" album eventually inspiring me to further investigate the style known as progressive metal. In mid-2005 I became an administrator for the forums, and though real life would eventually force me to step down, I've continued to contribute to the site on a daily basis. As my interest in the metal genre grew and I began to discover lesser known groups such as CYNIC and MAUDLIN OF THE WELL, I was eventually named to the site's prog-metal experts team, in charge of expanding and maintaining the genre.

I also played a part in getting the post-rock subgenre added to the site and have become leader of the post-rock specialist team, who've assumed the role of essentially building the subgenre's database up from the ground. My reviews now focus mainly on prog-metal, as I aim to shed light on the oceans of outstanding, ignored talent produced by this (somewhat controverisal) subgenre. Though I've let them stand for postierity's sake, I'm none too fond of my older reviews and would happily ignore most of them.

Still, keep an eye on them for an insight into some music you may not be familliar with (or another opinion on that which you are).