Progressive metal
Encyclopedia
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal
originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s. Progressive metal blended elements of heavy metal and progressive rock
music, taking the loud "aggression", amplified electric guitar
-driven sound of the former, with the more experimental, complex and "pseudo-classical" compositions of the latter. Progressive metal often kept the conceptual themes associated with progressive rock. Throughout the years, progressive metal has borrowed influences from several other genres, including classical
and jazz fusion
music.
Whilst the genre emerged towards the late-1980s, it was only until the 1990s that progressive metal achieved some commercial success. Dream Theater
, Queensrÿche
and Fates Warning
are examples of progressive metal bands who achieved a degree of popularity and success; additionally, heavy metal bands such as Metallica
incorporated elements of progressive music in their work. Nevertheless, towards the end of the 1990s, progressive metal's popularity started to fade, despite still having a committed fan following. Despite some popularity, progressive metal remained a largely underground genre throughout most of its course, despite some commercial success and a "dedicated following" in the 1990s.
The mixing of the progressive rock
and heavy metal styles can be traced back to the late 1960s and early 1970s. One of England's heaviest progressive rock bands, High Tide, fused the elements of "metal progenitors such as Cream
, Blue Cheer
, and the Jeff Beck Group
" into their sound. Other bands such as King Crimson
and Rush
were also incorporating metal into their music, as well as Uriah Heep
, whose "by-the-books progressive heavy metal made the British band one of the most popular hard rock groups of the early '70s". Rush
songs such as "Bastille Day
", "Anthem", "By-Tor and Snow Dog", "2112
", "The Fountain of Lamneth" and "Something for Nothing" have been cited as some of the earliest examples of progressive metal. Another early practitioner of progressive rock and heavy metal were Lucifer's Friend
. Night Sun
was also an early band who mixed heavy metal with progressive rock tones, though only releasing one album. However, progressive metal did not develop into a genre of its own until the mid-1980s. Bands such as Psychotic Waltz
, Fates Warning
, Queensrÿche
, and Dream Theater
took elements of progressive rock groups (primarily the instrumentation and compositional structure of songs) and merged them with heavy metal
styles associated with bands like Judas Priest
and Black Sabbath
(the former of which had some progressive influences on their early albums). The result could be described as a progressive rock mentality with heavy metal sounds.
These three early flagship bands for progressive metal (Fates Warning, Queensrÿche, and Dream Theater) each had somewhat different sounds. Queensrÿche had the most melodic sound of the three and achieved, with Operation Mindcrime and Empire the genre's most immediate commercial successes, which peaked with the crossover single "Silent Lucidity
" reaching number nine on the Billboard Hot 100
. Dream Theater
drew more heavily upon traditional progressive rock and also built much of their earlier career on the band members' virtuoso instrumental skills, despite also achieving an early - and unexpected - MTV
hit with the eight-minute "Pull Me Under
" from 1992's Images and Words
. Fates Warning
were the most aggressive and heavy and arguably had the most in common with the thrash
and extreme metal
scenes of the time, which led them to be the least accessible of the three bands.
Though progressive metal was, and has remained, primarily an album-oriented genre, this mainstream exposure increased the genre's profile, and opened doors for other bands. Over the 1990s, bands such as Pain of Salvation
, Vanden Plas
, Threshold
, Symphony X
, Tool
, Andromeda
, Porcupine Tree
and Arjen Anthony Lucassen's
Ayreon
project all succeeded in developing their own audiences and signature sounds. In the decade which followed, artists who began their careers outside of the progressive milieu, such as Sweden's
Tiamat
(originally a death/doom metal act), Green Carnation
and Opeth
(both formed in the death metal
mould), developed a progressive sound and became identified with the progressive metal genre.
Pain of Salvation
drew heavily on more obscure 1970s prog acts. Ayreon
stayed with the traditional Prog Metal themes, but mixed them with many other influences, prominently rock opera
and ambient
. Symphony X
married progressive elements to power metal
and classical music
. Tool
created a progressive sound using alternative metal elements and odd rhythms. Steve Vai
's former singer and heavy metal
band Strapping Young Lad
's singer and guitarist Devin Townsend
combined elements of post metal and ambient
with traditional progressive metal on his first two solo albums Ocean Machine: Biomech
and Infinity
. Mastodon
also combined progressive metal with sludge
and metalcore
elements. Opeth
, Skyfire
, and Between the Buried and Me
combined (in very different ways) their prog influence with death metal
. Bands such as 30 Seconds to Mars
created a more traditional progressive sound that incorporated elements of space rock
.
and Opeth
, are at opposite ends of the sonic spectrum to one another. King's X are greatly influenced by softer mainstream rock and, in fact, contributed to the growth of grunge
, influencing bands like Pearl Jam
, whose bassist Jeff Ament
once said, "King's X invented grunge.". Opeth's growling vocals and heavy guitars (liberally intermixed with gothic metal
-evocative acoustic passages and clean melodic vocals) often see them cited as progressive death metal
, yet their vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt
refers to Yes
and Camel
as major influences in the style of their music.
Classical and symphonic music have also had a significant impact on sections of the progressive metal genre, with artists like Devin Townsend
, Symphony X
, Sleepy Hollow
and Shadow Gallery
fusing traditional progressive metal with a complexity and grandeur usually found in classical compositions. Similarly, bands such as Dream Theater
, Planet X
and Liquid Tension Experiment
have a jazz
influence, with extended solo sections that often feature "trading solos". Cynic
, Atheist
, Opeth
, Pestilence
, Between the Buried and Me
and Meshuggah
all blended jazz/fusion with death metal, but in dramatically different ways. Devin Townsend
draws on more Ambient
influences in the atmosphere of his music. Progressive metal is also often linked with power metal
, hence the ProgPower
music festival, with bands such as Fates Warning
and Conception
originating as power metal bands that incorporated progressive elements which came to overshadow their power metal roots.
Progressive metal has also overlapped thrash metal
- most famously perhaps with Dark Angel
's swansong album Time Does Not Heal
, which was famous for its sticker that said "9 songs, 67 minutes, 246 riffs." The band Watchtower
, who released their first album
in 1985, blended the modern thrash metal sound with heavy progressive influences, and even Megadeth
were often and still are often associated with progressive metal, as Dave Mustaine
even once claimed that the band was billed as "jazz metal" in the early '80s. The band Racer X
would also fall within this genre of technical proficiency featuring Paul Gilbert
, a guitar instructor at the Musicians Institute
in LA, a tendency evidenced on songs such as "B.R.O." from 1999's Technical Difficulties. The band Voivod
also combined elements of thrash metal and progressive metal, specifically on the releases Dimension Hatross
and Nothingface
, in 1988 and 1989 respectively.
Recently, with a new wave of popularity in shred guitar
, the hitherto-unfashionable genre of "technical metal" has become increasingly prevalent and popular in the metal scene. This has led to a resurgence of popularity for more traditional progressive metal bands like Dream Theater and Symphony X, and also has led to the inclusion within the progressive metal scene of bands that do not necessarily play in its traditional style such as thrash
/power
metallers Nevermore
, technical death metal
act Necrophagist
. These bands are, rightly or wrongly, often labeled progressive metal, as they do play relatively complex and technical metal music which does not readily cleave to any other metal subgenre.
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s. Progressive metal blended elements of heavy metal and progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
music, taking the loud "aggression", amplified electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
-driven sound of the former, with the more experimental, complex and "pseudo-classical" compositions of the latter. Progressive metal often kept the conceptual themes associated with progressive rock. Throughout the years, progressive metal has borrowed influences from several other genres, including classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
and jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
music.
Whilst the genre emerged towards the late-1980s, it was only until the 1990s that progressive metal achieved some commercial success. Dream Theater
Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...
, Queensrÿche
Queensrÿche
thumb|250px|right|Queensrÿche's classic line-up performing at the [[Sauna Open Air Metal Festival]] 2011 in [[Tampere]], [[Finland]]. Left to right: bass Eddie Jackson, lead vocals Geoff Tate, drums Scott Rockenfield and guitars Michael Wilton....
and Fates Warning
Fates Warning
Fates Warning is an American progressive metal band, formed in 1982 by vocalist John Arch, guitarists Jim Matheos and Victor Arduini, bassist Joe DiBiase, and drummer Steve Zimmerman in Hartford, Connecticut. Fates Warning has experienced numerous line-up changes...
are examples of progressive metal bands who achieved a degree of popularity and success; additionally, heavy metal bands such as Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
incorporated elements of progressive music in their work. Nevertheless, towards the end of the 1990s, progressive metal's popularity started to fade, despite still having a committed fan following. Despite some popularity, progressive metal remained a largely underground genre throughout most of its course, despite some commercial success and a "dedicated following" in the 1990s.
History
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
and heavy metal styles can be traced back to the late 1960s and early 1970s. One of England's heaviest progressive rock bands, High Tide, fused the elements of "metal progenitors such as Cream
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
, Blue Cheer
Blue Cheer
Blue Cheer was an American psychedelic blues-rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009...
, and the Jeff Beck Group
The Jeff Beck Group
The Jeff Beck Group were an English rock band formed in London in January 1967 by former Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck. Their innovative approach to heavy sounding blues and R&B was a major influence on popular music.- The first Jeff Beck Group :...
" into their sound. Other bands such as King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
and Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
were also incorporating metal into their music, as well as Uriah Heep
Uriah Heep (band)
Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969 and regarded as a seminal classic hard rock act of the 1970s. Uriah Heep's progressive/art rock/heavy metal fusion's distinctive features have always been massive keyboards sound, strong vocal harmonies and David Byron's operatic vocals...
, whose "by-the-books progressive heavy metal made the British band one of the most popular hard rock groups of the early '70s". Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
songs such as "Bastille Day
Bastille Day (song)
"Bastille Day" is the first song from Rush's third album Caress of Steel. The music was written by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, and the lyrics were written by Neil Peart...
", "Anthem", "By-Tor and Snow Dog", "2112
2112 (song)
2112 is the sidelong title track of Canadian progressive rock band Rush's album of the same name, released in 1976. The overture and the first section, Temples of Syrinx, were released as a single and are still popular among Rush's setlists today. The "sci-fi" sounds in the beginning of the song...
", "The Fountain of Lamneth" and "Something for Nothing" have been cited as some of the earliest examples of progressive metal. Another early practitioner of progressive rock and heavy metal were Lucifer's Friend
Lucifer's Friend
Lucifer's Friend was a 1970s German Rock band. Allmusic author, Eduardo Rivadavia, noted the group as, "early practitioners of heavy metal and progressive rock." They also incorporated elements of jazz into their music. The band have also been cited as one of the pioneers of doom metal.-History:The...
. Night Sun
Night Sun
Night Sun were a German heavy prog/metal band consisting of Bruno Schaab , Walter Kirchgassner , Knut Rossler and Ulrich Staudt ....
was also an early band who mixed heavy metal with progressive rock tones, though only releasing one album. However, progressive metal did not develop into a genre of its own until the mid-1980s. Bands such as Psychotic Waltz
Psychotic Waltz
-Biography:The first incarnation of the band was under the name Aslan, after a character in the novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. With money earned from local shows and T-shirt sales, they recorded a self-titled demo tape in 1986...
, Fates Warning
Fates Warning
Fates Warning is an American progressive metal band, formed in 1982 by vocalist John Arch, guitarists Jim Matheos and Victor Arduini, bassist Joe DiBiase, and drummer Steve Zimmerman in Hartford, Connecticut. Fates Warning has experienced numerous line-up changes...
, Queensrÿche
Queensrÿche
thumb|250px|right|Queensrÿche's classic line-up performing at the [[Sauna Open Air Metal Festival]] 2011 in [[Tampere]], [[Finland]]. Left to right: bass Eddie Jackson, lead vocals Geoff Tate, drums Scott Rockenfield and guitars Michael Wilton....
, and Dream Theater
Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...
took elements of progressive rock groups (primarily the instrumentation and compositional structure of songs) and merged them with heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
styles associated with bands like Judas Priest
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...
and Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
(the former of which had some progressive influences on their early albums). The result could be described as a progressive rock mentality with heavy metal sounds.
These three early flagship bands for progressive metal (Fates Warning, Queensrÿche, and Dream Theater) each had somewhat different sounds. Queensrÿche had the most melodic sound of the three and achieved, with Operation Mindcrime and Empire the genre's most immediate commercial successes, which peaked with the crossover single "Silent Lucidity
Silent Lucidity
"Silent Lucidity" is a single by the American progressive metal band Queensrÿche from the 1990 album Empire. The song peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #1 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. The song was composed by lead guitarist Chris DeGarmo...
" reaching number nine on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. Dream Theater
Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...
drew more heavily upon traditional progressive rock and also built much of their earlier career on the band members' virtuoso instrumental skills, despite also achieving an early - and unexpected - MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
hit with the eight-minute "Pull Me Under
Pull Me Under
-Personnel:*James LaBrie - vocals*John Petrucci - guitar, backing vocals*Kevin Moore - keyboards*John Myung - bass, chapman stick*Mike Portnoy - drums, backing vocals-External links:* http://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/dream_theater/pull_me_under/...
" from 1992's Images and Words
Images and Words
Images and Words is currently ranked #2 on Digital Dream Door's list of the top 100 progressive metal albums of all time. Music critic Piero Scaruffi includes the album at number 8, just after Fear Factory's Demanufacture and before Sepultura's Roots, in his classification of the best metal albums...
. Fates Warning
Fates Warning
Fates Warning is an American progressive metal band, formed in 1982 by vocalist John Arch, guitarists Jim Matheos and Victor Arduini, bassist Joe DiBiase, and drummer Steve Zimmerman in Hartford, Connecticut. Fates Warning has experienced numerous line-up changes...
were the most aggressive and heavy and arguably had the most in common with the thrash
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
and extreme metal
Extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...
scenes of the time, which led them to be the least accessible of the three bands.
Pain of Salvation
Pain of Salvation is a Swedish progressive rock band featuring Daniel Gildenlöw, who is the lyricist, chief composer, guitarist, and lead vocalist. Their sound is characterised by powerful, accentuated guitar work, broad vocal range, abrupt switching between heavy and calm passages, intense...
, Vanden Plas
Vanden Plas (band)
Vanden Plas is a German progressive metal band, based in Kaiserslautern and founded in the mid 1980s. In 1991, they recorded the song "Keep On Running" as an anthem for the local national league football club FC Kaiserslautern, and did the same in 1994 with "Das Ist Für Euch"...
, Threshold
Threshold (band)
Threshold is a progressive metal band, formed in Surrey, UK in the late 1980s.-History:Threshold began their career in 1988, initially playing covers of metal groups like Ratt and Testament. As they continued playing together, they began to write their own songs, and eventually stopped playing...
, Symphony X
Symphony X
Symphony X is an American progressive metal band from Middletown, New Jersey.Founded in 1994 by guitarist Michael Romeo, their albums The Divine Wings of Tragedy and V: The New Mythology Suite have given the band considerable attention within the progressive metal community...
, Tool
Tool (band)
Tool is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1990, the group's line-up has included drummer Danny Carey, guitarist Adam Jones, and vocalist Maynard James Keenan. Since 1995, Justin Chancellor has been the band's bassist, replacing their original bassist Paul D'Amour...
, Andromeda
Andromeda (Swedish band)
Andromeda are a progressive metal band from Sweden formed in 1999. They are currently signed to Massacre Records, Replica Records and Avalon/Marquee. The style emphasizes on strong keyboards and technical drumming. The band is also well known for the smooth vocals of David Fremberg.They have...
, Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...
and Arjen Anthony Lucassen's
Arjen Anthony Lucassen
Arjen Anthony "Oswold Jr." Lucassen is a progressive metal/rock composer, singer and musician from the Netherlands, best known for his long-running progressive opera project titled Ayreon....
Ayreon
Ayreon
Ayreon is a project by Dutch composer and musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen.Ayreon's musical style derives mostly from heavy metal and progressive rock, but combines them with genres like folk, classical and electronica...
project all succeeded in developing their own audiences and signature sounds. In the decade which followed, artists who began their careers outside of the progressive milieu, such as Sweden's
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
Tiamat
Tiamat (band)
-Biography:Initially, the band played straightforward black metal under the name Treblinka. After having recorded the album Sumerian Cry in 1989, vocalist/guitarist Johan Edlund and bassist Jörgen Thullberg parted ways with the other two founding members, and subsequently changed the name to Tiamat...
(originally a death/doom metal act), Green Carnation
Green Carnation
Green Carnation is a band from Kristiansand, Norway formed in 1990 that has created songs from both the progressive rock and progressive metal genres. Some also describe their music as art rock...
and Opeth
Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. Though the group has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's driving force throughout the years...
(both formed in the death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
mould), developed a progressive sound and became identified with the progressive metal genre.
Pain of Salvation
Pain of Salvation
Pain of Salvation is a Swedish progressive rock band featuring Daniel Gildenlöw, who is the lyricist, chief composer, guitarist, and lead vocalist. Their sound is characterised by powerful, accentuated guitar work, broad vocal range, abrupt switching between heavy and calm passages, intense...
drew heavily on more obscure 1970s prog acts. Ayreon
Ayreon
Ayreon is a project by Dutch composer and musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen.Ayreon's musical style derives mostly from heavy metal and progressive rock, but combines them with genres like folk, classical and electronica...
stayed with the traditional Prog Metal themes, but mixed them with many other influences, prominently rock opera
Rock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...
and ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
. Symphony X
Symphony X
Symphony X is an American progressive metal band from Middletown, New Jersey.Founded in 1994 by guitarist Michael Romeo, their albums The Divine Wings of Tragedy and V: The New Mythology Suite have given the band considerable attention within the progressive metal community...
married progressive elements to power metal
Power metal
Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
and classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
. Tool
Tool (band)
Tool is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1990, the group's line-up has included drummer Danny Carey, guitarist Adam Jones, and vocalist Maynard James Keenan. Since 1995, Justin Chancellor has been the band's bassist, replacing their original bassist Paul D'Amour...
created a progressive sound using alternative metal elements and odd rhythms. Steve Vai
Steve Vai
Steven Siro "Steve" Vai is a three time Grammy Award-winning American guitarist, songwriter and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. Steve Vai is widely known as a flamboyant guitar virtuoso....
's former singer and heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Strapping Young Lad
Strapping Young Lad
Strapping Young Lad was a Canadian extreme metal band formed by Devin Townsend in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1994. The band started as a one-man studio project; Townsend played most of the instruments on the 1995 debut album, Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing...
's singer and guitarist Devin Townsend
Devin Townsend
Devin Garret Townsend is a Canadian musician and record producer. He was the founder, songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist in extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad from 1994 to 2007 and has had an extensive career as a solo artist....
combined elements of post metal and ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
with traditional progressive metal on his first two solo albums Ocean Machine: Biomech
Ocean Machine: Biomech
Ocean Machine: Biomech is the second studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend. The album was released in July 1997 on Townsend's label, HevyDevy Records.-Background:...
and Infinity
Infinity (Devin Townsend album)
Infinity is the third solo album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend. The album was released in October 1998 on Townsend's label, HevyDevy Records.-Background:...
. Mastodon
Mastodon (band)
Mastodon is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1999. The band is composed of bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders, guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds, guitarist Bill Kelliher and drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor...
also combined progressive metal with sludge
Sludge metal
Sludge metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that melds elements of doom metal and hardcore punk, and sometimes incorporates influences from southern rock, stoner rock and grunge. Sludge metal is typically abrasive; often featuring shouted vocals, heavily distorted instruments and sharply contrasting...
and metalcore
Metalcore
Metalcore is a subgenre of heavy metal combining various elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. The name is a portmanteau of the names of the two genres. The term took on its current meaning in the mid-1990s, describing bands such as Earth Crisis, Deadguy and Integrity...
elements. Opeth
Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. Though the group has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's driving force throughout the years...
, Skyfire
Skyfire (band)
Skyfire is a melodic death metal band from Höör, Sweden.-Biography:Skyfire was formed in the town of Höör, Sweden in 1995 by Andreas Edlund , Martin Hanner , Jonas Sjögren and Tobias Björk . The four were friends since high school and had similar tastes in music. The band recorded two demos:...
, and Between the Buried and Me
Between the Buried and Me
Between the Buried and Me is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina. They have released a total of five studio albums, as well as a cover album, an EP and a live DVD/CD...
combined (in very different ways) their prog influence with death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
. Bands such as 30 Seconds to Mars
30 Seconds to Mars
30 Seconds to Mars is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1998. Since 2007, the band has consisted of actor Jared Leto , Shannon Leto and Tomo Miličević...
created a more traditional progressive sound that incorporated elements of space rock
Space rock
Space rock is a subgenre of rock music; the term originally referred to a group of early, mostly British, 1970s progressive and psychedelic rock bands such as Hawkwind and Pink Floyd, characterised by slow, lengthy instrumental passages dominated by electric organs, synthesizers, experimental...
.
Diversity
Progressive metal can be broken down into countless sub-genres corresponding to certain other styles of music that have influenced progressive metal groups. For example, two bands that are commonly identified as progressive metal, King's XKing's X
King's X is an American hard rock band that combines progressive metal, funk and soul with vocal arrangements influenced by gospel, blues, and British Invasion rock groups. The band's lyrics are largely based on the members' struggles with religion and self-acceptance...
and Opeth
Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. Though the group has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's driving force throughout the years...
, are at opposite ends of the sonic spectrum to one another. King's X are greatly influenced by softer mainstream rock and, in fact, contributed to the growth of grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
, influencing bands like Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
, whose bassist Jeff Ament
Jeff Ament
Jeffrey Allen Ament is an American musician who serves as the bassist for the American rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of Pearl Jam...
once said, "King's X invented grunge.". Opeth's growling vocals and heavy guitars (liberally intermixed with gothic metal
Gothic metal
Gothic metal or goth metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that combines the aggression of doom metal with the dark melancholy of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music...
-evocative acoustic passages and clean melodic vocals) often see them cited as progressive death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
, yet their vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt
Mikael Åkerfeldt
Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt is a Swedish musician who achieved fame as the lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Opeth as well as the lead vocalist of death metal band Bloodbath. He was the vocalist and guitarist for the band Sörskogen and the guitarist of the band Steel...
refers to Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
and Camel
Camel (band)
Camel are an English progressive rock band formed in 1971. An important group in the Canterbury scene, they have been releasing studio and live recordings steadily, with considerable success, since their formation.-1970s:...
as major influences in the style of their music.
Classical and symphonic music have also had a significant impact on sections of the progressive metal genre, with artists like Devin Townsend
Devin Townsend
Devin Garret Townsend is a Canadian musician and record producer. He was the founder, songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist in extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad from 1994 to 2007 and has had an extensive career as a solo artist....
, Symphony X
Symphony X
Symphony X is an American progressive metal band from Middletown, New Jersey.Founded in 1994 by guitarist Michael Romeo, their albums The Divine Wings of Tragedy and V: The New Mythology Suite have given the band considerable attention within the progressive metal community...
, Sleepy Hollow
Sleepy Hollow (band)
Sleepy Hollow is a rock band that formed in Lodi in 1999. Their music is an eclectic blend of classic heavy metal, progressive rock, and psychedelic rock influences. All members share vocal duties...
and Shadow Gallery
Shadow Gallery
Shadow Gallery is an American progressive metal band formed in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, United States, during the early 1980s, originally under the name Sorcerer. After changing their name to Shadow Gallery and recording a short 8-track demo, the band was signed to Magna Carta Records in 1991...
fusing traditional progressive metal with a complexity and grandeur usually found in classical compositions. Similarly, bands such as Dream Theater
Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...
, Planet X
Planet X (band)
Planet X is an instrumental rock/progressive metal supergroup, founded by keyboardist Derek Sherinian and drummer Virgil Donati. Throughout a decade of activity, they have released three studio albums and one live album, each with a variety of guest musicians and oft-changing...
and Liquid Tension Experiment
Liquid Tension Experiment
Liquid Tension Experiment is an instrumental progressive rock/metal supergroup, founded by Dream Theater's former drummer Mike Portnoy in 1997. The band has released two albums through Magna Carta Records...
have a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
influence, with extended solo sections that often feature "trading solos". Cynic
Cynic (band)
Cynic is an American progressive rock band, incorporating experimental music, alternative, metal and jazz fusion elements, founded in Miami, Florida and currently based in Los Angeles, California. Their first album, Focus, released on September 14, 1993, is widely regarded as a landmark release of...
, Atheist
Atheist (band)
Atheist is a technical death metal band from Florida, founded in 1984, whose music combines metal riffs with subtle Latin music arrangements and jazz fusion.- History :...
, Opeth
Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. Though the group has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's driving force throughout the years...
, Pestilence
Pestilence (band)
Pestilence is a death metal band from the Netherlands founded in 1986. Later they incorporated more jazz and fusion elements into their music. After disbanding in order to pursue other musical directions in 1994, Pestilence has reunited in 2008...
, Between the Buried and Me
Between the Buried and Me
Between the Buried and Me is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina. They have released a total of five studio albums, as well as a cover album, an EP and a live DVD/CD...
and Meshuggah
Meshuggah
Meshuggah is an extreme metal band from Umeå, Sweden, formed in 1987. Meshuggah's line-up has primarily consisted of founding members vocalist Jens Kidman and lead guitarist Fredrik Thordendal, drummer Tomas Haake, who joined in 1990, and rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström, who joined in 1992...
all blended jazz/fusion with death metal, but in dramatically different ways. Devin Townsend
Devin Townsend
Devin Garret Townsend is a Canadian musician and record producer. He was the founder, songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist in extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad from 1994 to 2007 and has had an extensive career as a solo artist....
draws on more Ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
influences in the atmosphere of his music. Progressive metal is also often linked with power metal
Power metal
Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
, hence the ProgPower
ProgPower
ProgPower is the name of four progressive and power metal festivals:*ProgPower Europe , held in the Netherlands since 1999*ProgPower USA, held in the United States since 2001...
music festival, with bands such as Fates Warning
Fates Warning
Fates Warning is an American progressive metal band, formed in 1982 by vocalist John Arch, guitarists Jim Matheos and Victor Arduini, bassist Joe DiBiase, and drummer Steve Zimmerman in Hartford, Connecticut. Fates Warning has experienced numerous line-up changes...
and Conception
Conception (band)
Conception is a power/progressive metal band from Raufoss, Norway.-Formation and record label:The band was formed in Norway in 1989 by guitarist Tore Østby, singer Dag Østby, drummer Werner Skogli and bassist Freddy Samsonstuen. In 1990, after a demo tape, Arve Heimdal replaced Werner Skogli and...
originating as power metal bands that incorporated progressive elements which came to overshadow their power metal roots.
Progressive metal has also overlapped thrash metal
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
- most famously perhaps with Dark Angel
Dark Angel (band)
Dark Angel was an American thrash metal band from Los Angeles, California. Their over-the-top style earned them the nickname "the L.A...
's swansong album Time Does Not Heal
Time Does Not Heal
Time Does Not Heal is the fourth and final album by Dark Angel, which was released in 1991. When released it had a sticker reading "9 songs, 67 minutes, 246 riffs!".-Track listing:-Credits:*Ron Rinehart - Vocals*Eric Meyer - Guitars...
, which was famous for its sticker that said "9 songs, 67 minutes, 246 riffs." The band Watchtower
Watchtower (band)
WatchTower is an American progressive metal band based in Austin, Texas. The band were influenced by late 1970s progressive rock and acts such as Rush and UK as well as the burgeoning New Wave of British Heavy Metal...
, who released their first album
Energetic Disassembly
Energetic Disassembly is the debut album by progressive metal band Watchtower, released in 1985 . It contains a re-recording of the song 'Meltdown', first recorded in 1983 for the Cottage Cheese From the Lips of Death compilation....
in 1985, blended the modern thrash metal sound with heavy progressive influences, and even Megadeth
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California which was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson and guitarist Greg Handevidt, following Mustaine's expulsion from Metallica. The band has since released 13 studio albums, three live albums, two...
were often and still are often associated with progressive metal, as Dave Mustaine
Dave Mustaine
David Scott "Dave" Mustaine is the founder, main songwriter, guitarist, and lead vocalist for the American heavy metal band Megadeth. Prior to Megadeth, Mustaine was the first lead guitarist and a co-songwriter of the heavy metal band Metallica until he was fired from the band in 1983. In 2009, he...
even once claimed that the band was billed as "jazz metal" in the early '80s. The band Racer X
Racer X
Racer X is an American heavy metal band formed in 1985 in Los Angeles, California. The group has gone through numerous lineup changes, including a hiatus, with founders guitarist Paul Gilbert and bassist Juan Alderete being the sole constant members.- 1980s :...
would also fall within this genre of technical proficiency featuring Paul Gilbert
Paul Gilbert
Paul Brandon Gilbert is an American guitarist. He is well known for his technical guitar work with Racer X and Mr...
, a guitar instructor at the Musicians Institute
Musicians Institute
Musicians Institute is a privately owned for-profit music vocational school located in Hollywood, California. Although not a regionally accredited school, the school offers a variety of unaccredited Bachelor Degree, Associate Degree and Certificate programs in fields including contemporary music...
in LA, a tendency evidenced on songs such as "B.R.O." from 1999's Technical Difficulties. The band Voivod
Voivod (band)
Voivod are a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Quebec, Canada. Their musical style has changed several times since the band's origin in the early 1980s...
also combined elements of thrash metal and progressive metal, specifically on the releases Dimension Hatross
Dimension Hatröss
Dimension Hatröss is the fourth album from the Canadian thrash metal/progressive metal band Voivod. It was released on June 29, 1988 on Noise Records. The Batman theme's cover only appears on the CD version, it is not present on the original vinyl and cassette pressings.-Track listing:All Songs...
and Nothingface
Nothingface (album)
Nothingface is the fifth album by Canadian thrash metal/progressive metal band Voivod. It was released by Mechanic/MCA Records on October 13, 1989. The album marked a change for the band, expanding their sound and exploring more progressive sounds...
, in 1988 and 1989 respectively.
Recently, with a new wave of popularity in shred guitar
Shred guitar
Shred guitar or shredding is lead electric guitar playing that relies heavily on fast guitar solos. While some critics argue that shred guitar is associated with "... sweep-picked arpeggios, diminished and harmonic minor scales, finger-tapping and ... whammy-bar abuse", several guitar...
, the hitherto-unfashionable genre of "technical metal" has become increasingly prevalent and popular in the metal scene. This has led to a resurgence of popularity for more traditional progressive metal bands like Dream Theater and Symphony X, and also has led to the inclusion within the progressive metal scene of bands that do not necessarily play in its traditional style such as thrash
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
/power
Power metal
Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
metallers Nevermore
Nevermore
Nevermore is an American heavy metal band from Seattle, Washington. Formed in 1991, they are known to incorporate elements from styles such as thrash, power, progressive, and neo-classical metal into their songs, and also makes use of acoustic guitars and a wide range of vocal styles.-Early years...
, technical death metal
Technical death metal
Technical death metal is a musical subgenre of death metal that focuses on complex rhythms, riffs and song structures. Technical experimentation in death metal began in the late '80s and early '90s by bands such as Death, Atheist and Cynic...
act Necrophagist
Necrophagist
Necrophagist is a German death metal band, founded and fronted by Muhammed Suiçmez; a German-born, Turkish guitarist and vocalist. The band is known for its rapid and technical compositions....
. These bands are, rightly or wrongly, often labeled progressive metal, as they do play relatively complex and technical metal music which does not readily cleave to any other metal subgenre.
Differences with avant-garde metal
Although progressive metal and avant-garde metal both favor experimentation and non-standard ideas, there are rather large differences between the two genres. The experimentation of progressive metal has a strong emphasis on technicality and theoretical complexity (influenced by jazz music). This is done by playing complex rhythms and implementing unusual time signatures and song structures - all with the use of traditional instruments. For avant-garde metal, most of the experimentation is in the use of unusual sounds and instruments - being more unorthodox and questioning of musical conventions.See also
- List of progressive metal artists
- Timeline of progressive rock and progressive metal
- Avant-garde metal