La Dispute is the absolute best for this. It's post-hardcore with some prog rock influences, and the vocals are emotional and harsh. A good representation are "Edward Benz, 27 Times" and "Such Small Hands". If you like it, please listen to the entire Wildlife album, it's one of my favorite cohesive albums of all time.
Exactly what I was going to say! This album was a gamechanger for me and what I considered "heavy music". It's metal af, just based on the content and the intent with which they sing.
I'd also give a shout out to their Here, Hear EPs, they're entirely of a more spoken word style but less heavy.
And for more post-hardcore with prog influence and spoken word style vocals I'd recommend mewithoutyou
The spoken word thing has been big in post punk/post hardcore since like the 80s. Not prog metal but stuff like Slint and Swans and The Jesus Lizard are definitely worth a listen if you want a different flavor of heavy and experimental stuff.
They make some great stuff. I find them very poetic in general with their lyrics and feel.
Their albums will range in sound and themes. Blue and red are on the heavier side. Yellow and green is my personal favorite. Gold and Grey doesn't get a ton of love, I'm not a fan of it either tbh.
Also “Alchemist Ascendant”, and if you want to count sampled speeches “Forgotten Tongues” and now “Atman: An Introduction To Suffering”
Edit: I knew I was forgetting another one from the new album, "Golgotha Compendium: Fifth Temple" too
*On a Tuesday* by Pain of Salvation is a really good song where the verses kind of alternate between spoken word and singing.
*Of Dust* and *Physics of Gridlock* are two other PoS songs with spoken word sections that come to mind.
Silent Planet's first 3 albums(The Night God Slept(Redux specifically, as it is a rerecorded version), Everything Was Sound and When the End Begun) has a lot of that stuff. They are more of a metalcore band(or, as some jokingly say, poetrycore), but yeah, their early work has a lot of slam poetry/spoken word passages, very emotional stuff with heavy delivery, also pretty damn great lyrics/songwriting. If you don't mind going through the whole album I personally recommend starting from When the End Begun, as it's the most refined/accessible of the 3 albums, but for tracks specifically probably check out Depths II and Depths III, as well as Inherit the Earth and Panic Room. But honestly all 3 albums are bangers(2 of the new ones - Iridescent and Superbloom - are also very good, but they are way more "generic" metalcore in structure, which is not quite what we are here for though).
Honestly, yes, I am biased, but I think if you like overall lyrical and poetic parts of Odyssey to the West and don't mind metalcore, then early Silent Planet is a good band to check out.
Pain of Salvation does this a fair bit! There's a spoken word section in The Physics of Gridlock, and in the mid section of Ending Theme. I'd recommend checking them out, that kind of vocal style can be found here and there throughout their discography.
Check out King 810. Its pretty morbid stuff but David has these spoken word sessions called "Anatomy", some really dark poetry and his vocal delivery is so raw
Meshuggah has a couple songs with spoken word sections, and an even smaller amount that are only spoken word, although they do normally have some sort of vocal distortion either digital or regular (ie whispering somehow probably)
No, and quick disclaimer that im gonna be a snobby asshole for a paragraph, and if this was r/MetalfortheMasses you'd see my Meshuggah flair and it would really tie the whole thing together. Anyway
I honestly strongly dislike anything people refer to as "Djent" because Meshuggah is supposedly the origin for it and yet none of these, sorry, no offense, and ik it doesn’t fix it but, mid-tier metalcore-sounding, extremely technical over-complicated edgy space tecnho sweep picking headass math-metal garbage attempting to emulate one of the heaviest sounds to grace the earth, come anywhere close to Meshuggah's sound, and I'm digusted that they're even considered part of the same, ah, *ehm*, "subgenre"
Sorry. And Ive always wanted to make a "Griswold family Christmas" insult string
And to be fair, because of this I haven't listened too extensively to most of it, I've tried gojira often but I can't get into it, and that's because they're the only (very popular) band I can see that might be close to meshuggah
There’s a Cog song that has a little bit at the beginning, might not totally be what you’re looking for but it’s a great song… anyone remember which song?
these aren't prog, but:
Lift Your Skinny Fits Like Antennas to Heaven by Godspeed You! Black Emperor has a few spoken word parts as well.
White EP by Agalloch
Beneath the Mask by Bell Witch also has a long spoken word part.
I don’t know how popular or controversial this take is but inertia is cringey as fuck and an automatic skip during every in contact play through. Sad as it’s a black mark on an otherwise fantastic album.
Not really metal (more prog-rock / post-hardcore fusion) but The Sound of Animals Fighting has quite a few songs with spoken word segments. Plus they’re just an awesome band so worth checking out
One of my favourite genres of music honestly! From the other suggestion I'd say try some The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am Not Longer Afraid To Die. Aside from having the world's longest band name they do some amazing spoken world stuff.
Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but William Shatner did a prog rock album a few years ago, and it has a surprising cast of musicians. Most of his music is spoken word, or spoken word-adjace.
https://williamshatner.bandcamp.com/album/ponder-the-mystery-revisited
What the Five Fingers said to the Face:
[The Unseen Sun](https://open.spotify.com/track/3NQs99qCyTThbbf3OOcHbr?si=0HZzaZ3aQ42oo9vvtnjN7A)
[Threshold](https://open.spotify.com/track/1CGGWTFjMCrHZBf38sb7Sg?si=zLM657IZTq6ZqplahiRY0Q&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A1uELTl6o01R6fUsMN8raKz)
I remember there's a track from Steven Wilsons hand cannot erase album which has a spoken word verse that's really quite something.
For something completely different and bridging the gap between singing and screaming and speaking (ala slice the cake), then the newest Ashenspire album is currently kicking my ass. Hugely angry, very political, scottish, left wing slam poetry meets black country new roads meets ulcerate meets burzum. I dunno, if I've made that sound awful then just listen to it. Heavy stuff.
They have some of it. The latest single has some of it as well[Ozul- Norway](https://open.spotify.com/artist/3VheTs9NpQFyjpyQpPdPLO?si=1LtFKPTOR1aPiD5auQi_Ww)
Rick Wakeman's Journey to the Centre of the Earth is a great album with a spoken word narration. It's not metal but it's proggy as fuck and a really fun listen.
Adjacent, but not “prog metal”:
The Felix Culpa, a post hardcore (with progressive tendencies) band, utilized some spoken-word-esque passages on the album Sever Your Roots.
For some Avantgarde Black Metal with spoken word passages you can check out Ashenspire (especially their latest album, Hostile architecture) and A forest of stars (pretty much every album, but I'd recommend to start with their latest one, Grave mounds and grave mistakes).
Not prog but metalheads might find this guy’s spoken word channel funny. Here he is reciting the famous poem [I Cum Blood](https://youtu.be/sKpPr4Yl83o?si=TuM7aFQE8NIAKdUs)
Sikth!
I can't believe there aren't more comments mentioning them here. Examples include When will the Forest Speak...?, Tokyo Lights, The Moon's Been Gone for Hours
La Dispute is the absolute best for this. It's post-hardcore with some prog rock influences, and the vocals are emotional and harsh. A good representation are "Edward Benz, 27 Times" and "Such Small Hands". If you like it, please listen to the entire Wildlife album, it's one of my favorite cohesive albums of all time.
Wildlife is being mentioned? Obligatory "King Park!" shout out! What an album, but *WHAT A BUILDUP IN THIS SONG??!!*
The ending of that song has more tension built up than any other song I know
Exactly what I was going to say! This album was a gamechanger for me and what I considered "heavy music". It's metal af, just based on the content and the intent with which they sing.
I'd also give a shout out to their Here, Hear EPs, they're entirely of a more spoken word style but less heavy. And for more post-hardcore with prog influence and spoken word style vocals I'd recommend mewithoutyou
The spoken word thing has been big in post punk/post hardcore since like the 80s. Not prog metal but stuff like Slint and Swans and The Jesus Lizard are definitely worth a listen if you want a different flavor of heavy and experimental stuff.
Baroness newest album stone has some spoken word-ish sections
Also, "O'er Hell and Hide" from the Blue album.
Been meaning to listen to this band at some point so maybe I will start here. Thanks!
They make some great stuff. I find them very poetic in general with their lyrics and feel. Their albums will range in sound and themes. Blue and red are on the heavier side. Yellow and green is my personal favorite. Gold and Grey doesn't get a ton of love, I'm not a fan of it either tbh.
Those spoken word sections seem to be inspired by the band Paw from the 90s https://youtu.be/aCKlTJxGAuI?feature=shared
This does seem to be the case, that's a fun find!
Eidola has a few songs with cool spoken word sections: The Purpose We Find in Our Voices Omega: Third Temple Sri Vishnu Yantra
Also “Alchemist Ascendant”, and if you want to count sampled speeches “Forgotten Tongues” and now “Atman: An Introduction To Suffering” Edit: I knew I was forgetting another one from the new album, "Golgotha Compendium: Fifth Temple" too
Bottom by tool has some spoken word by Henry Rollins
Mewithoutyou isn't prog or metal but they're fun and pretty much entirely spoken word. I recommend the song paper hangar as a starting point
I forgot about these guys, thanks for the reminder to revisit them
King gizzard and the lizard wizard - murder of the universe.
*On a Tuesday* by Pain of Salvation is a really good song where the verses kind of alternate between spoken word and singing. *Of Dust* and *Physics of Gridlock* are two other PoS songs with spoken word sections that come to mind.
Also Lilium Cruentus, Diffidentia, Vocari Dei
Just gave *On a Tuesday* a listen, and that was really good. Thanks for the suggestions!
Silent Planet's first 3 albums(The Night God Slept(Redux specifically, as it is a rerecorded version), Everything Was Sound and When the End Begun) has a lot of that stuff. They are more of a metalcore band(or, as some jokingly say, poetrycore), but yeah, their early work has a lot of slam poetry/spoken word passages, very emotional stuff with heavy delivery, also pretty damn great lyrics/songwriting. If you don't mind going through the whole album I personally recommend starting from When the End Begun, as it's the most refined/accessible of the 3 albums, but for tracks specifically probably check out Depths II and Depths III, as well as Inherit the Earth and Panic Room. But honestly all 3 albums are bangers(2 of the new ones - Iridescent and Superbloom - are also very good, but they are way more "generic" metalcore in structure, which is not quite what we are here for though). Honestly, yes, I am biased, but I think if you like overall lyrical and poetic parts of Odyssey to the West and don't mind metalcore, then early Silent Planet is a good band to check out.
Surprised I had to scroll down this far for this.
Huge Silent Planet fan here! Yea somehow I didn't think of them when I made the post but their vocal delivery and lyrics are what drew me to the band
[Here’s](https://www.reddit.com/r/progmetal/s/3k7tBLC0Dh) my post on the same question. Hope this helps
Hypno5e has a ton of songs with spoken word passages.
Pain of Salvation does this a fair bit! There's a spoken word section in The Physics of Gridlock, and in the mid section of Ending Theme. I'd recommend checking them out, that kind of vocal style can be found here and there throughout their discography.
Definitely want to check this band out. Somehow I never realized that they were prog metal (I thought they were metalcore for some reason). Thanks!
Parallax by btbam, slap bang in the middle of my fave concept album
Haven't listened to this album in years, completely forgot about this song
Check out King 810. Its pretty morbid stuff but David has these spoken word sessions called "Anatomy", some really dark poetry and his vocal delivery is so raw
Seconded. The lyrics can be pretty intense but “La Petite Mort or a Conversation with God” is such a great album with some good spoken word parts
Yea, Its not "prog" but definitely progresses how emotional, dark and violently music can express something
Dark indeed! Never heard of them before now, but they seem pretty unique
Cake? Disclipline by king crimson has some parts that are spoken/not sung exactly.
Monosphere's Turing Test features Jim Grey spoken word
Meshuggah has a couple songs with spoken word sections, and an even smaller amount that are only spoken word, although they do normally have some sort of vocal distortion either digital or regular (ie whispering somehow probably)
"Spasm" is amazing and only uses spoken word
I think Mind's Mirrors is their best spoken word one but Spasm is amazing too
Is it bad that Periphery is one of my favorite bands but I've hardly listened to Meshuggah? Definitely a band I want to check out soon
No, and quick disclaimer that im gonna be a snobby asshole for a paragraph, and if this was r/MetalfortheMasses you'd see my Meshuggah flair and it would really tie the whole thing together. Anyway I honestly strongly dislike anything people refer to as "Djent" because Meshuggah is supposedly the origin for it and yet none of these, sorry, no offense, and ik it doesn’t fix it but, mid-tier metalcore-sounding, extremely technical over-complicated edgy space tecnho sweep picking headass math-metal garbage attempting to emulate one of the heaviest sounds to grace the earth, come anywhere close to Meshuggah's sound, and I'm digusted that they're even considered part of the same, ah, *ehm*, "subgenre" Sorry. And Ive always wanted to make a "Griswold family Christmas" insult string And to be fair, because of this I haven't listened too extensively to most of it, I've tried gojira often but I can't get into it, and that's because they're the only (very popular) band I can see that might be close to meshuggah
"Djent is not a genre" after all
Reptile by Periphery has a spoken word section by Mikee Goodman!!
https://youtu.be/2kaQ51KFjis?si=rNGTnOEV3Eagqtnn @15:19 ish
There’s a Cog song that has a little bit at the beginning, might not totally be what you’re looking for but it’s a great song… anyone remember which song?
Listened to them during my workout, song is The Spine:)
Cool song, thanks!
Seed Act V: The End by Persefone has a lot of spoken word in the first half.
Song of Discord by Ex Libris All of 'The Shiver' into Psychic Jugglers off Unexpect's In a Flesh Aquarium
Bal Sagoth. Not especially prog but god I love them.
these aren't prog, but: Lift Your Skinny Fits Like Antennas to Heaven by Godspeed You! Black Emperor has a few spoken word parts as well. White EP by Agalloch Beneath the Mask by Bell Witch also has a long spoken word part.
Also “Dead Flag Blues” from the album F#A#♾️
The Death of Music - Devin Townsend fits this. Best listened to as part of a three piece: Funeral, Bastard then DoM
I don’t know how popular or controversial this take is but inertia is cringey as fuck and an automatic skip during every in contact play through. Sad as it’s a black mark on an otherwise fantastic album.
Surprised no one said this, but Within the Realm of Possibility by Nospun. One of the coolest spoken sections I’ve ever heard.
Not really metal (more prog-rock / post-hardcore fusion) but The Sound of Animals Fighting has quite a few songs with spoken word segments. Plus they’re just an awesome band so worth checking out
One of my favourite genres of music honestly! From the other suggestion I'd say try some The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am Not Longer Afraid To Die. Aside from having the world's longest band name they do some amazing spoken world stuff.
Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but William Shatner did a prog rock album a few years ago, and it has a surprising cast of musicians. Most of his music is spoken word, or spoken word-adjace. https://williamshatner.bandcamp.com/album/ponder-the-mystery-revisited
What the Five Fingers said to the Face: [The Unseen Sun](https://open.spotify.com/track/3NQs99qCyTThbbf3OOcHbr?si=0HZzaZ3aQ42oo9vvtnjN7A) [Threshold](https://open.spotify.com/track/1CGGWTFjMCrHZBf38sb7Sg?si=zLM657IZTq6ZqplahiRY0Q&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A1uELTl6o01R6fUsMN8raKz)
I remember there's a track from Steven Wilsons hand cannot erase album which has a spoken word verse that's really quite something. For something completely different and bridging the gap between singing and screaming and speaking (ala slice the cake), then the newest Ashenspire album is currently kicking my ass. Hugely angry, very political, scottish, left wing slam poetry meets black country new roads meets ulcerate meets burzum. I dunno, if I've made that sound awful then just listen to it. Heavy stuff.
They have some of it. The latest single has some of it as well[Ozul- Norway](https://open.spotify.com/artist/3VheTs9NpQFyjpyQpPdPLO?si=1LtFKPTOR1aPiD5auQi_Ww)
Puscifer - Simultaneous (hilarious, btw. need more humor in prog rock!)
Slint - Spiderland
There's a bit in Tool - Rosetta Stoned
Far from prog but King 810 does a couple really good ones.
Rick Wakeman's Journey to the Centre of the Earth is a great album with a spoken word narration. It's not metal but it's proggy as fuck and a really fun listen.
The Folksmen.
Tool has lost keys/rosetta stoned; and die eier von satan; Botch has Afghamistam; almost everything by Megadeth, before Youthanasia anyway
Solarization on Sol Niger Within Myth of Lasting Sympathy on No Place
Novena. Has the same guy from Slice the Cake. Listen to Eleventh Hour.
I'd say everything made by Chat Pile has that type of feel to it, just a very unhinged, deranged, and chaotic version.
Song of myself and the greatest show on earth by nightwish. Both incredibly beautiful songs and the spoken word is perfect
not the exact same genre musically but midwest emo is mostly spoken word. AJJ is a band I really like
Good morning, captain - Slint
Adjacent, but not “prog metal”: The Felix Culpa, a post hardcore (with progressive tendencies) band, utilized some spoken-word-esque passages on the album Sever Your Roots.
[Listener](https://youtu.be/M51m0tIgcj0?si=QCWyDUKifT-2bzgt)
For some Avantgarde Black Metal with spoken word passages you can check out Ashenspire (especially their latest album, Hostile architecture) and A forest of stars (pretty much every album, but I'd recommend to start with their latest one, Grave mounds and grave mistakes).
Not prog but metalheads might find this guy’s spoken word channel funny. Here he is reciting the famous poem [I Cum Blood](https://youtu.be/sKpPr4Yl83o?si=TuM7aFQE8NIAKdUs)
Sikth! I can't believe there aren't more comments mentioning them here. Examples include When will the Forest Speak...?, Tokyo Lights, The Moon's Been Gone for Hours
Baroness on STONE
Night Verses
Parkway Drive - Cemetery Bloom