12. Mastodon – Cold Dark Place (2017)
A surprise curveball from the sludge titans. Not a full instrumental album, but the title track and ambience-heavy sections offer a prog-metal soundscape that chills and grooves. A dreamy, heavy lullaby for stargazers in denim vests. 🌌
11. Animals as Leaders – Weightless (2011)
Tosin Abasi = guitar wizard. This one’s all djenty breakdowns, jazzy time signatures, and enough notes-per-second to break your brain. No vocals needed when your guitar is basically doing death-defying gymnastics. 🐙🎸
10. Liquid Tension Experiment – LTE 2 (1999)
Prog on steroids. Featuring Dream Theater’s John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess and Mike Portnoy (plus Tony Levin on bass), this is like a musical space battle. If you’ve ever wanted to be dropkicked into hyperspace by a Moog synth, this one’s for you. 🛸🥁
9. Earth – Earth 2 (1993)
The drone-doom blueprint. A wall of feedback and tone so thick you could spread it on toast. There are only 3 tracks, but they last longer than your average Iron Maiden encore. Warning: not for the faint-eared. ⚠️🌋
8. Joe Satriani – Surfing with the Alien (1987)
The Silver Surfer shreds. This one defined ‘80s guitar instrumental rock. Whammy bars, melodic hooks, cosmic vibes — it’s a time capsule of neon fretboard wizardry. Satriani made his Ibanez S scream and sing. 🛹🌌
7. Russian Circles – Geneva (2009)
Post-metal excellence. Cinematic, brooding, yet as crushing as a glacier falling on your tent at ArcTanGent. This is the soundtrack to hiking across a storm-ridden mountain with thunder in your boots. 🏔️⚡
6. Metallica – S&M2 (Instrumentals only) (2020)
Alright, this one’s cheeky. But the instrumental versions of Metallica’s classics with the San Francisco Symphony? 👏 Goosebumps. “The Call of Ktulu” and “Orion” are straight-up heavy metal ballets. 🖤🎻
5. Explosions in the Sky – The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place (2003)
Post-rock perfection. This album feels. Like heartbreak and hope had a jam session. No distortion overload here — just shimmering guitars painting entire emotional galaxies. 🌠😭
4. Steve Vai – Passion and Warfare (1990)
Steve Vai doesn’t play guitar — he channels aliens through six strings. This album is bonkers. Epic, weird, spiritual, and just the right amount of ‘is this guy alright?’ madness. “For the Love of God” is a shredder’s gospel. 😇👽
3. Pelican – The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw (2005)
Post-metal done with brute force and grace. Massive riffs, soaring dynamics, and an apocalyptic sense of groove. Like Isis and Mogwai formed a tag team and decided to soundtrack the end of the world. 🔥🌊
2. Buckethead – Colma (1998)
From the man who wears a KFC bucket and plays 300+ albums, Colma is a rare moment of serene genius. Ambient, emotional, restrained (!), and oddly comforting — like meditating in a haunted dojo. 🍗🎃
🥁 1. Scale the Summit – The Migration (2013)
Tidy! This is peak instrumental prog-metal. Every track is like hiking through a fantasy world with dragons, riffs, and time signatures that need a calculator. The Texas-based band are insanely tight, melodic, and imaginative without ever needing a vocalist. The true champions of the modern instrumental metal scene. 🏆🐉
🎤 Honourable Mentions (Because We’re Not Monsters)
- Steve Morse Band – High Tension Wires
- Yngwie Malmsteen – Rising Force (He sings on some tracks, but mostly it’s just fretboard fireworks)
- Mono – Hymn to the Immortal Wind
- Blotted Science – The Machinations of Dementia (metal and neuroscience had a weird baby)
🤘Final Riff
Who needs lyrics when the guitars are telling tales better than any bard could? These albums prove rock and metal don’t need a frontman to slap — sometimes a distortion pedal and a vision are all it takes to blow our minds (and eardrums). 🎧💥
Let us know which ones we criminally left out. Diolch, legends! 🏴💀
