Progressive Nation 2009 = Shitstorm

Mike Portnoy is an awesome drummer and up until last year, a killer tour organizer. The first annual Progressive Nation tour featured Dream Theater, Opeth, Between The Buried and Me and Three...I know, so good it barely made sense. So myself and a horde of fans around the country were eagerly awaiting this year's lineup. Could they add Meshuggah? The reunited Cynic (a band DT owes a a lot to)? Porcupine Tree? Katatonia? Shit, they really have their pick of the litter when it comes down to it.

Syncopated drum roll please (terrible drummer joke, I'm well aware)...Progressive Nation 2009 will be Dream Theater, Zappa Plays Zappa, Pain of Salvation and Beardfish. What and who the fuck are all these guys? I'm well aware that ZPZ is Dweezil playing his Dad's tunes. Fine. Pain of Salvation and Beardfish are nerd prog bands from Sweden. Jesus this sucks. No Dillinger Escape Plan. No Spylacopa. No Protest The Hero. No Redemption. No Fates Warning. No Battles. No nothing.

I am eagerly awating the tenth Dream Theater LP, which was completed in October and comes out later this year, but this abomination is some serious bullshit.

"Wait For Sleep" Live:
"The Mirror" Live 2004:

The New Guy

Ray Alder joined Fates Warning in 1988 at the age of 18. He still fronts the band some 20 years later. Some fans still call him the new guy. He replaced John Arch, who sang for FW between 1984-1988 and recorded the classic "Night on Brocken" with the band. However, Ray has recorded classic after classic as their frontman since 1988's "No Exit", up through their last two masterpieces, "Disconnected" and "FWX". The guy has the range of other prog greats like Geoff Tate and James LaBrie, except he has this much heavier/darker side to him that isn't as theatrical as Tate, nor as unpredictable as LaBrie.

In between Fates and his newer classic prog project Redemption, Ray started his own band called Engine. Much heavier that FW and with tons of Deftones-esque groove and backbone. They've put out two records that are crushing and haunting, though neither has sold much of anything. The band is an all-star team, featuring Bernie Versailles (Redemption, Agent Steel), Joey Vera (Anthrax, Armored Saint, Fates Warning, etc) and Pete Parada (Face To Face).

Ray Alder is now only 38 years onld with over 20 years in the game. He is a true legend and one of the best singers in the business. Check out some Engine and pick up the records wherever you can, since I believe both are out of print. Amazon has 'em pretty cheap. Think Taco Bell bean burrito cheap. It's worth every penny.

"Monster":
"Losing Ground":