Welcome to the first half of The Elite Extremophile’s Top 50 Prog Albums of 2023. This article covers spots 50-26, and the top 25 will follow soon!
As a reminder: the label of “2023” is not entirely accurate. The music featured here covers December 2022 through November 2023. Trying to find new music in the month of December is a fool’s errand, as much of my time during that month is occupied with writing and editing this list.
As I always say, I’m sure there are some excellent albums not included on my list. This site is a one-man operation (in relation to reviewing, that is; my editors, Kelci and Dan, have been tremendously helpful), and I simply cannot listen to everything that gets released. I also have my personal biases against some rather popular trends in prog. (*cough* djent *cough*)
2023 wound up being an excellent year for the type of music I enjoy. While it wasn’t necessarily difficult to whittle the list down to fifty entries, some of the albums that failed to make the cut for this year’s list probably could place as high as the low thirties in weaker years. (Such acts include Loma Baja, The Ocean, Legendry, and Lil Yachty.) I contemplated expanding the list, but this already takes up a ton of my time as it is. So, let’s get to it!
#50: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – The Silver Cord (Extended Edition) | Progressive electronic | Bandcamp
King Gizzard’s electronic answer to their spec-thrash-ular PetroDragonic Apocalypse comes in two varieties: standard and extended. The music on both versions is good, but the 88-minute extended edition is unquestionably the stronger of the two. Expanded instrumental sidebars suit the band well, and this version has a lot of fun callbacks and references to PDA. I wish there were a slightly-more-focused 60-70 minute version of this album to split the difference, but this release is still a fun counterpart to their other album this year.
#49: Agusa – Prima Materia | Progressive rock, Psychedelic rock | Bandcamp
Agusa’s latest release sees them scale back a bit from their last record, with the average song length being only about ten minutes, instead of 20-plus. The music here also draws more from psychedelia than some of their other output, including a few surprisingly bluesy flashes. There’s still plenty of Camel-influenced jazziness, so it’s not like they totally overhauled their sound or anything.
#48: Yes – Mirror to the Sky | Progressive rock | Bandcamp
Look, I’m just as surprised as the rest of you that Yes managed to put out a good album with Jonathan Davison. Mirror to the Sky confirms my prior diagnosis that Yes’s recent crappiness isn’t due solely to the band being Jon Anderson-less. The playing here is vigorous and purposeful, and Geoff Downes and Steve Howe utilize some great tones on their instruments. I’m still not a fan of Davison as a vocalist, though – his style is unbefittingly light and wispy for Yes – but the underlying songwriting is solid enough to overcome this setback. The title track in particular is a great example of what Yes is still capable of in the present day.
#47: Suns of the Tundra – The Only Equation | Progressive metal, Alternative metal | Bandcamp
The Only Equation is another solid entry in the broad category of bands that clearly take a lot from Tool but don’t just directly rip them off. The music here is punchy, aggressive, and melodic, and it features a lot of tonal and textural variation. Quiet moments are woven in smartly amidst heavier passages. Synthesizers add a nice bit of depth to the music, and flashes of genres like classic prog and even post-punk pop up on occasion.
#46: PeroPero – Massive Tales of Doom | Progressive metal | Bandcamp
This Austrian duo’s brand of progressive metal is idiosyncratic, and it works well for them. The riffs carry a lot of weight, and they’re often in striking, irregular meters. The vocals are undeniably the most distinctive element in their music, though. They’re sung with great dramatic flair, and I could potentially see them putting some people off. If you’re willing to give it a shot, though, PeroPero delivers with lots of strange, inventive instrumental passages and oddly memorable verses.
#45: Mammatus – Expanding Glory | Progressive rock, Space rock | Bandcamp
While I wouldn’t call Mammatus’s newest album “focused,” it’s a definite step up over their sometimes-ponderous prior work. The astral instrumental excursions this band goes on are fun, and they feel purposeful. The various colors and textures deployed here paint an image of soaring through clouds and space, and though it can be a bit long-winded, it’s still a fun journey.
#44: Jordsjø – Salighet | Progressive rock, Progressive folk | Bandcamp
Salighet is more-or-less exactly what I’ve come to expect from Jordsjø. That’s hardly a knock against them; they’ve simply established a distinct sound. Along with Tusmørke, they’re one of the folkier Norwegian prog bands out there, and that really helps them stand out. Folk melodies are woven in among odd-time riffs, lush arrays of keyboard, and dark instrumental passages.
#43: CHROMB! – Cinq | Avant-prog | Bandcamp
Cinq sees CHROMB! return to their noisier, more chaotic roots. The compositions here are tight and to-the-point, featuring finger-twisting passages and a genuinely strange energy. This album bounces from song to song and idea to idea at a quick pace, but it does not cause whiplash. There’s a sensible flow to these movements, and the album feels an appropriate length.
#42: Jättedam – Onda Blommor | Psychedelic rock, Progressive folk | Bandcamp
This Swedish sextet tactfully blends jangly folk rock with psychedelic textures, inventive songwriting, and catchy melodies to make an attention-grabbing record. There’s a charming, homespun quality about this album, and there’s a good balance between high-energy, upbeat songs and more sedate cuts. Flashes of jazz crop up here and there, and I like the restrained but tasteful use of synthesizers.
#41: Panopticon – The Rime of Memory | Post-metal, Black metal, American folk music | Bandcamp
Panopticon has two albums I absolutely love: Kentucky and Roads to the North. Their other releases have been mostly good, but there’s usually something just slightly off about them that I’m not wild about. Some of their releases are a bit too major-key for my taste, and The Scars separates the band’s folk and metal elements too starkly. The Rime of Memory is my favorite output from Panopticon in a while. Folk and metal are blended artfully, and the sprawl of post-metal and post-rock provides meditative airiness. Unsurprisingly, on an album where the average song length is nearly 15 minutes, there is some bloat, but this is still a strong outing.
#40: Moundrag – Hic Sunt Moundrages | Progressive rock, Heavy psych | Bandcamp
This French keys-and-drums duo is a powerful act that wields their minimal musical tools to excellent results. Hic Sunt Moundrages is a dramatic record that does a great job of evoking the earliest years of progressive rock, without simply being a soulless imitation. This music has genuine passion and creativity behind it, and the individual compositions are all carefully-constructed.
#39: The World Is Quiet Here – Zon | Progressive metal | Bandcamp
This is a pretty solid progressive death metal record in the same vein as Between the Buried and Me. The clean vocals are a bit different, and I like the way the band utilizes chimes during quieter moments. On repeated listens, my only real gripe with this album is with the guitar tones, which sound very processed and artificial. That’s just a trend I’ve noticed among the techier metal bands out there that I don’t like. The compositions here are strong and creative, though.
#38: Lars Fredrik Frøislie – Fire Fortellinger | Progressive rock | Bandcamp
The four songs on the debut solo album of Wobbler keyboardist Lars Fredrik Frøislie are exactly what I expected: keyboard-forward progressive rock with a lot of drama, textural variation, and strong melodies. The rich array of organ, Mellotron, and numerous synths lends a lot of depth to Fire Fortellinger. Parts of this album get folkier than most of Wobbler’s output, which is a nice change of pace, too.
#37: Actionfredag – Turist i eget liv | Progressive rock | Bandcamp
Actionfredag’s debut album is a fun, high-energy work. The riffs grab your attention, and there’s also a nice balance with slower, gentler pieces. Jazz flourishes are ample, and I like the specific electric piano tone deployed throughout this album. Hand percussion brings a nice textural depth and variation to everything as well. Actionfredag reminds me a lot of other Scandinavian acts like Beardfish and Shaman Elephant, which give more prominence to electric guitar.
#36: Bekor Qilish – The Flesh of a New God | Avant-garde black metal | Bandcamp
This one-man Italian act plays a blistering brand of black metal. It’s full of the to-be-expected complicated riffs, gurgling vocals, and pummeling percussion, but rich layers of retro synths are deployed to great effect. The generous inclusion of synth leads helps Bekor Qilish stand out in a crowded black metal landscape. The compositions are tight and engaging, and there’s no shortage of twists and turns to keep the listener hooked.
#35: Hackberry – Breathing Space | Progressive rock | Bandcamp
This Dutch act is instrumental, but their compositions are rich and creative enough that I’m barely even aware that there are no vocals. There are so many inventive, melodic passages, and things keep shifting and changing at a perfect pace. There are some strong Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree flavors in Hackberry’s compositions. The four songs on Breathing Space tend toward relatively heavy (though non-metallic) progressive rock, but there’s plenty of variation in style and mood.
#34: Mouth – Getaway | Progressive rock | Bandcamp
The sidelong title track is the clear star of Getaway. Across its 23-minute runtime, swooping Mellotron strings, hard-charging organ, and astral guitar lines merge and morph as the band makes its way through several musical movements. The rest of the album is strong, too. It features melodic, keyboard-forward heavy prog in the vein of acts like Uriah Heep and early Deep Purple.
#33: Gong – Unending Ascending | Progressive rock, Space rock | Bandcamp
The current formation of Gong is relatively new, but all the members were chosen by founding member Daevid Allen before his passing to continue on with Gong’s cosmic musical mission. What they’ve recorded here is an enjoyable bit of fun, melodic space rock. The melodies harken back to late ‘60s psychedelia, as do the vocal arrangements. Moments can be a bit long-winded, but those passages are greatly outnumbered by engaging instrumental voyages and interstellar verses.
#32: The Chronicles of Father Robin – The Songs & Tales of Airoea – Book I | Progressive rock | Bandcamp
The debut album from this Norwegian prog supergroup took thirty years to come to fruition. If I’d been itching for it that whole time, I don’t know if I’d consider this worth the wait. But coming from my perspective of having just discovered them this summer, this is pretty solid work. It’s in the retro/Anglo-prog tradition of powerful, organ-driven progressive rock, and Wobbler’s (and by extension, Yes’s) shadow looms large over everything. Parts of this album can wander, but those elements are minor and infrequent. I really like the guitar work here, as the rhythm playing has a fun, rough-and-ragged edge to it.
#31: Mos Generator – Time//Wounds | Progressive rock | Bandcamp
Mos Generator’s new album is groovy and melodic. It features some long, obtuse song structures, but it’s all balanced against smart hooks and infectious riffs. Some muted metal influences creep in here and there, and that bit of grit is appreciated. The closing “Until We Meet Again” is a satisfying suite to end the album, featuring four distinct parts and ending on some of the heaviest music on the album.
#30: Riverside – ID.Entity | Progressive rock, Progressive metal | Bandcamp
The latest release from Riverside is their best in a while. It features plenty of their classic heavy, Porcupine Tree-ish prog, and they’ve added dashes of Floydian psychedelia, acoustic folk, and ‘80s-inspired synth passages. It can run a bit long at points, but the individual cuts are engaging enough that that bloat is a relatively minor sin. The vocal performances are as strong as ever, and the multiple instrumental compositions are solid and well-structured.
#29: M-Opus – At the Mercy of Manannán | Progressive rock | Bandcamp
This Irish act’s quite literal approach to retro-prog works surprisingly well. Explicitly aiming to make At the Mercy of Manannán sound like an album from 1972, they’re not 100% successful on that front, but they did succeed in putting out an overall-solid, enjoyable piece of music. The music here is replete with Mellotron, synthesizer, and flashy guitar lines; and the vocal lines are melodic and memorable. Modern flavors and production help M-Opus rise above many other, schlockier retro-prog acts. The music is dramatic and grand enough to match the mythological concept of the album.
#28: Vonn Zandus – Unimortal | Progressive rock, Progressive electronic | Bandcamp
Unimortal, the debut release from Vonn Zandus, is a sunny, colorful release that demonstrates the diversity and utility of synthesizers as lead instruments in a rock context. The textures are dense, lush, and enveloping, but they do not smother. Musical ideas dwell and evolve gradually. Where many other synth-forward acts tend to fall into brooding drones or John Carpenter-inspired sequencer patterns, this release draws heavily from synth pioneers like Wendy Carlos and Rick Wakeman, and the mood is consistently joyous.
#27: Tusmørke – Hestehoven | Progressive rock, Progressive folk | Bandcamp
This Norwegian band keeps to a breakneck release schedule, but that doesn’t seem to affect the quality of their music. Their twelfth album in eleven years, Hestehoven uses Nordic folk music as its backbone. It’s often peppy, bouncy, and fun, and the blend of acoustic instruments like flute and violin with interstellar synthesizers makes for an engrossing listen. Tusmørke is one of the more idiosyncratic bands in the modern Scandinavian prog scene, and their unique character really shines through here.
#26: Mellow Beast – Reactor | Progressive rock, Psychedelic rock | Bandcamp
Mellow Beast’s latest album is another strong encapsulation of this band’s best tendencies. It’s tight, distinct, and melodic. Guitar textures are dreamy, and the multilayered vocals add to the ethereal feel. There’s a good balance between fuzzed-out riffage and smart pop hooks. On the few occasions things stretch out for jamming, the instrumentation remains impactful and serves the purpose of the music, rather than simply noodling.
The Elite Extremophile 
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