Hello and welcome to the first edition of Progscars!

Fifteen imaginary awards to give out to the most interesting progressive rock and metal music to come out in 2017. I decided to do this for fun but also to build awareness of bands and artists.

Today we explore the best drums performances in prog songs of 2017. This wasn’t an extremely hard category to choose, many of the popular drummers out there had albums out and their performances were ace as usual!

Disclaimer:

Everyone has different definitions about which band, album and song is progressive and which isn’t. For simplicity, I have stuck to bands classified as progressive rock or metal either on rateyourmusic.com or sputnikmusic.com and occasionally based on what I think. When it is says Song in the title, it specifically means a song belonging to an album by a band classified as progressive based on point 1. I’m also sure there are a few songs on this list (and the ones to come) that are 4/4 and hardly classify as a ‘Prog Song’ but I’ve included them nevertheless. Albums in December 2017 haven’t been considered! So no Diablo Swing Orchestra. Mainly because I was too busy exploring earlier albums that I might have missed out. I’ll include them in the next edition. If you spot errors anywhere (mostly in the technical side of things), let me know. I’m always open to criticism – constructive or destructive. EPs or Live Albums not considered for any of these lists.

Criteria for Judgement:

Some groovy beats would do, but this is one category where I would say technicality is awarded with a higher ranking in my eyes. At the end of the day, all the awards are based on performances in GREAT songs in the first place, so if this great song has extra technical drums sections, it helps!

Now that that’s over with let’s get down to business! There are one ‘Just Missed’, nine nominations and, of course, one winner. The number of nominations would change depending on category.

JUST MISSED

Brann Dailor on “Steambreather”

(from Emperor of Sand by Mastodon)

Best Moment? Every time Mastodon puts out an album, I would include Brann Dailor just for those damn drum fills

#10

Greg Bogart on “Song for the Lost”

(from In Forgotten Sleep by Lör)

Best Moment? Section from 6:38

#9

Martin Lopez on “Sectarian”

(from Lykaia by Soen)

Best Moment? Those groovy beats from the very first second

#8

Matt Greiner on “Invisible Enemy”

(from Phantom Anthem by August Burns Red)

Best Moment? Hard to pick, the whole thing is awesome

#7

Spencer Prewett on “Human Murmuration”

(from Relentless Mutation by Archspire)

Best Moment? Not a moment but the damn speed with which Spencer plays

#6

Sergi Verdeguer on “Aathma”

(from Aathma by Persefone)

Best Moment? From 3:37 in part 1

#5

Brennan Kunkel on “Preserved in Ash”

(from Diaspora by Cormorant)

Best Moment? The intro! So old school

#4

Joey Baca on “Return to Earth”

(from Clairvoyant by The Contortionist)

Best Moment? The improvised cymbal-heavy beat from 3:16

#3

Matt Lynch on “Dancing Machines”

(from The Further Side by Nova Collective)

Best Moment? Whole thing is awesome, check out the live performance below!

#2

Baard Kolstad on “The Weight of Disaster”

(from Malina by Leprous)

Best Moment? Might be the most groovy song I’ve heard this year, and Baard is a big reason why. The section between 3:49 and 4:06, just Baard-ass!

WINNER!

Daniel Presland on “Urn”

(from Urn by Ne Obliviscaris)

Best Moment? The beat in part 2 from 2:33, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything like it.

So which are your favourite tracks with great drums moments from 2017?

Would love to hear from you! Let me know either in the comments here, on Facebook (Preferably) or on Instagram. You can follow me on Spotify (You might get a sneak peak of the awards a day in advance!)

Here’s the Spotify playlist of all the above tracks:

THIRTEEN awards are already out, TWO more to go!

Best Bass Performance in a Song here.

Best Debut Album here.

Best Outro of a Song here.

Best Production on an Album here.

Best Intro to a Song here.

Best Use of Electronica in a Song here.

Best Use of an Unconventional Instrument in a Song here.

Best Instrumental Song here.

Best Collaboration or Guest Appearance on a Song here.

Best Keyboard Performance in a Song here.

Best Vocal (Harsh) Performance in a Song here.

Best Vocal (Clean) Performance in a Song here.

Bets Guitar Performance in a Song here.