The following is a list of notable progressive metal artists, bands and groups. This list contains some bands that at least at some point during their career played progressive metal. Rooted in the early 1980s, the genre fused mellow progressive rock with a heavy metal aesthetic. Characteristics may include complex song structures, unusual time signatures, lengthy songs and often using concept albums.

Later on, many extreme metal bands began to experiment and developed an array of progressive metal fusions with other genres, including death metal, black metal, thrash metal and avant-garde metal.

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

0–9

  • 3
  • 10 Years

A

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • An Abstract Illusion
  • Adagio
  • Aeon Zen
  • After Forever
  • Agalloch
  • Age of Nemesis
  • Aghora
  • Akercocke
  • Aletheian
  • Alchemist
  • Alter Bridge
  • Amorphis
  • Amoral
  • Anacrusis
  • Angband
  • Angra
  • Animals as Leaders
  • Anubis Gate
  • Arch Echo
  • Atheist
  • August Burns Red
  • Avenged Sevenfold
  • Ayreon
  • Azusa

B

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • Balance of Power
  • Baroness
  • Becoming the Archetype
  • Believer
  • Benevolent
  • Benea Reach
  • Between the Buried and Me
  • Biomechanical
  • The Black Mages
  • Blind Illusion
  • Borknagar
  • Born of Osiris
  • Burst

C

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • Cacophony
  • Caligula's Horse
  • Candiria
  • Cattle Decapitation
  • Carbonized
  • Cellar Darling
  • Circus Maximus
  • Communic
  • Coheed and Cambria
  • Conception
  • Confessor
  • Coroner
  • Crimson Glory
  • Cronian
  • Cynic

D

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • Dark Suns
  • DBC
  • Death <small>(later)</small>
  • The Dillinger Escape Plan
  • Deus Invictus
  • Devin Townsend
  • Dir En Grey <small>(later)</small>
  • Distorted Harmony
  • Dog Fashion Disco
  • Dream Theater
  • Dysrhythmia

E

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • Echoes of Eternity
  • Edge of Sanity
  • Enchant
  • Enslaved
  • Epica
  • Evergrey
  • Extol

F

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • The Faceless
  • Fates Warning

G

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • Galactic Cowboys
  • Gojira

H

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • Haken

I

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • Intervals
  • Isis

J

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • Jinjer
  • Job for a Cowboy
  • John Petrucci

K

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • Kalijuge
  • Kamelot
  • Katatonia
  • Karnivool
  • Katagory V
  • Kekal
  • Khallice
  • King's X

L

  • Leah
  • Lye by Mistake
  • Leprous
  • Lethal
  • Liquid Graveyard
  • Liquid Tension Experiment
  • Loathe
  • Lotus Eater

M

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • Manticora
  • Mastodon
  • Meshuggah
  • Moonsorrow
  • Mudvayne
  • MullMuzzler
  • Mutiny Within
  • Myrath

N

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • Narnia
  • Ne Obliviscaris
  • Necrophagist
  • Negură Bunget
  • Nerverek
  • Nevermore
  • Nodes of Ranvier
  • Northlane
  • No Sin Evades His Gaze

O

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • Obscura
  • Oficina G3
  • Opeth
  • Orphaned Land

P

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • Pain of Salvation
  • Pathosray
  • Periphery
  • Persefone
  • Pestilence
  • Planet X
  • Platypus
  • Porcupine Tree
  • Primus
  • Prospect
  • Protest the Hero
  • Prototype<!--Only real source available, but they're definitely one of the more prominent progressive metal bands out there.-->
  • Proyecto Eskhata
  • Puya
  • Pyramaze

Q

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • Queensrÿche
  • Quo Vadis

R

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • Redemption
  • Rhapsody of Fire
  • Rivers of Nihil
  • Riverside
  • Royal Hunt
  • Rusty Eye

S

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • Savatage
  • Scale the Summit
  • Sculptured
  • Schaliach
  • Seventh Wonder
  • Shadow Gallery
  • Derek Sherinian
  • Sikth
  • Sithu Aye
  • Sky Architect
  • Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
  • Soen
  • Sons of Apollo
  • Spheric Universe Experience
  • Spiral Architect
  • Spiritbox
  • Spock's Beard
  • Star One
  • Stolen Babies
  • Stormy Atmosphere
  • Stratovarius
  • Symphony X
  • System of a Down

T

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • Tangerine Circus
  • Tesseract
  • The Contortionist
  • The Human Abstract
  • The Mars Volta
  • The Ocean
  • Therion
  • Threshold
  • Tool
  • Tourniquet
  • Toxicon
  • Trivium
  • Týr

V

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • Vanden Plas
  • Vardøger
  • Vektor
  • Vision Divine
  • Vildhjarta
  • Voivod
  • VOLA
  • Voyager

W

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • Watchtower
  • Whom Gods Destroy
  • Winger
  • Without Face
  • Wuthering Heights

Z

<!--Please only add bands with articles to this list and cite two sources confirming that the band is progressive metal. New additions without articles or sources will be deleted.-->

  • Zero Hour

See also

  • Progressive metal
  • Progressive rock
  • List of progressive rock artists
  • List of heavy metal bands

Notes

References

  • <cite id=refBukszpan2003></cite>
  • Christe, Ian (2003). Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal. HarperCollins.
  • ^ The Harvard Crimson "Bassist Chris Wolstenholme pens and sings a pair of tracks late in the game, and while they are fine pieces of progressive metal, his admittedly pleasing smooth voice lacks Bellamy's intense vibrato"