Leprous

With 10 years of making music under their collective belt, the Norwegian quintet are a unique outfit in that, while they embrace the prog rock and metal "requirements" as laid out by the fans, the band's sound is equally rooted in straightforward hook-laden metal. For every part Pain Of Salvation and King Crimson one may hear, there is an equal amount of Shining (NO), Devin Townsend and Opeth to balance it out. Not an easy task by any means, yet LEPROUS makes it sound effortless. "I'm not to fan of following genres in general," says vocalist / synth player Einar Solberg. "I feel many people are putting too many limitations on their work in order to follow the conventions set by the genre they belong in. In my opinion, that's the kind of things that kills creativity. The term progressive music has been gradually diluted through the years, and now it seems like the only requirement for being labeled as a prog band is that you include one or two odd time signatures plus a virtuous guitar solo in your song. The bands that truly deserves being titled as progressive bands are the bands who dare breaking with the conventions.