Night Verses are the most distinct band of the ones you've mentioned. They're instrumental progressive metal, and man do they kick butt! From the Gallery of Sleep is a masterpiece of relentless yet beautiful metal, that has its fair share of ups and down and surges and breakdowns. It's one of those albums that rightly get featured on "albums of the decade" (or even century) lists, it is that freaking awesome and impactful. The same can be said about their newest album, although I need to give it more plays than I have till now. They're definitely one of the most deserving bands to watch out for presently if you're a metal lover.

Lastly, but not in the least, we talk about the wizard and the legend, Buckethead! I remember when I came to know about him, the thing that peaked my curiosity was the amount of music the dude was putting out on a regular basis. I was shocked, but also positively surprised, that there's an instrumental guitarist who releases quite more than a few albums, EVERY YEAR! I wondered how is that even possible? I also thought is it all good material? After learning about the common opinion that yes it is all very good, I thought how long would it take me to check out everything he's done and keeps doing? And then of course there was also the fact that he did not just do rock, acoustic and metal, but also experimental, noise and funk! My mind was blown for a long time after discovering the legend that Buckethead was. Trying to look up on the internet for information on who the man really was/is, and related things was quite fun too, haha.

About his gigantic back-catalogue, check out the albums of his that you see on top of my charts, they're all amazing and very diverse in the range of genres they cover. Another thing to say about Buckethead that's probably not said enough is that a lot of his output is very fun to listen to. The man's comfortably one of the most versatile and eclectic musicians you'll ever come across. So there you go. I guess that's enough recommendations from me to keep you occupied for a fair amount of time to come. Check all that glorious art out and let me know how you find these bands/albums as you go ahead. Have fun!

Nothing wrong with it ^_^

Thank you! I'm happy for you too! You have an amazing lineup of shows coming up. I hope you manage to see Leprous, I have heard they put on an incredible show. I might see Pineapple Thief as well. I will have to go through their entire discography soon since they have a vast one. 8 shows is a lot! I saw Caligula's Horse this February, Haken, and Between the Buried & Me in March. All of them put on great shows! As good as, or even better than their albums! Last year, I saw Meshuggah and got the same feeling. Unfortunately, I didn't go when TesseracT toured last year, as I wasn't into them much then. But they've really grown on me now, and I'm eagerly waiting for them to tour again! Haha, I don't have much variety. I don't think you will find an artist you don't already know about! I generally listen to prog and adjacent genres only, nothing out of the ordinary, but would appreciate any recommendations!

I am definitely excited about seeing Leprous! I am not familiar with Monuments yet, but I'll make sure to check them out as well. And from your description, it seems like I need to see Pineapple Thief live! Glad that you enjoyed CH's live performance. I remember Earthside were full of energy that night! The keyboardist was jumping around a lot, holding his keyboard and performing as if he were a guitarist! It's really a bummer about TesseracT, but I'll catch them next time they tour. Flying to another city just to see TesseracT shows you must be a really big fan of the band! Considering they are your third most listened to artist here it makes sense! I haven't heard of Karmanjakah, but I'm intrigued! I'll definitely give them a listen. Thank you for the recommendation!! Which album do you think is their best ?

Awesome! We can compare notes. :) Monuments are pretty great. Their singer, Andy Cizek, has an amazing voice. Yes, you should absolutely go see Pineapples! They're both powerful and soothing live. So good. Yeah, Frank from Earthside is a madman! Ha! I learned of them because of their collaboration with Daniel from TesseracT. He sings on two of their songs - A Dream in Static and Let the Truth Speak. They performed the latter on that tour. Yeah, it's a total bummer you missed TesseracT!! :( I'm sure you'll have the opportunity to see them soon enough. Yes, I'm a massive fan, and as I had to cancel a trip to see Gojira and Mastodon last summer, this made up for it in spades! I stumbled upon Karmanjakah by accident not long ago. They've actually worked with Acle from TesseracT, which I found out after the fact. Check our their most recent EP called Ancient Skills and the 2021 album A Book About Itself. Let me know if it grabs you. Hope you're doing well!

Thank you! I will dive into Monutments' music. I have purchased a ticket for PT's show now and I am excited to see them live! I learned about Earthside's collaboration with Daniel recently after I got into TesseracT, it's such a cool connection! They have also collaborated with Baard on one of their songs! I will have to check out Karmanjakah's music now that I know about their connection to TesseracT, and I'll look into their latest EP. I'll let you know my thoughts on it. By the way, did you catch Gojira's performance at the Olympic opening ceremony ? What did you think of it ? I believe it's the first time a metal band performed at such a big event! And I wish it could have been longer!! I am doing well! Hope everything's going well on your end too!