--- title: "Progressive Metal" type: "MusicGenre" url: "https://themetalnet.com/genre/progressive-metal" parent: "Metal" bands: 1606 era: "mid 1980s" --- # Progressive Metal **Progressive Metal** is a metal sub-genre, formative in the mid 1980s. TheMetalNet maps 1,606 bands and 4,342 albums under it. Progressive metal fuses metal’s power and heaviness with the complexity of progressive rock — long, intricate compositions, odd time signatures, shifting movements, and virtuosic musicianship. It emerged in the mid-1980s, with Queensryche, Dream Theater, and Fates Warning, the genre’s Big Three, expanding metal through jazz, classical, and conceptual, narrative-driven songwriting. Songs can stretch past ten minutes and range from crushing to delicate. It prizes ambition, technique, and composition over immediacy. ## Facts | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Genre | Progressive Metal | | Level | Sub-genre | | Parent genre | Metal | | Formative era | mid 1980s | | Bands | 1,606 | | Albums | 4,342 | | Formation span | 1960 to 2026 | ## Notable bands (top 60 by prominence) - [Dream Theater](https://themetalnet.com/band/dream-theater) (United States, 1985) - [Porcupine Tree](https://themetalnet.com/band/porcupine-tree) (United Kingdom, 1987) - [Tool](https://themetalnet.com/band/tool) (United States, 1990) - [Opeth](https://themetalnet.com/band/opeth) (Sweden, 1990) - [Mastodon](https://themetalnet.com/band/mastodon) (United States, 2000) - [Coheed and Cambria](https://themetalnet.com/band/coheed-and-cambria) (United States, 2001) - [Amorphis](https://themetalnet.com/band/amorphis) (Finland, 1990) - [Buckethead](https://themetalnet.com/band/buckethead) (United States, 1969) - [Queensrÿche](https://themetalnet.com/band/queensryche-deeea939) (United States, 1981) - [Ayreon](https://themetalnet.com/band/ayreon) (Netherlands, 1995) - [Steve Vai](https://themetalnet.com/band/steve-vai) (United States, 1960) - [Between the Buried and Me](https://themetalnet.com/band/between-the-buried-and-me) (United States, 2000) - [Devin Townsend](https://themetalnet.com/band/devin-townsend) (Canada, 1972) - [Pain of Salvation](https://themetalnet.com/band/pain-of-salvation) (Sweden, 1991) - [Evergrey](https://themetalnet.com/band/evergrey) (Sweden, 1993) - [Gojira](https://themetalnet.com/band/gojira) (France, 1996) - [Protest the Hero](https://themetalnet.com/band/protest-the-hero) (Canada, 1999) - [Riverside](https://themetalnet.com/band/riverside) (Poland, 2001) - [Savatage](https://themetalnet.com/band/savatage) (United States, 1979) - [Symphony X](https://themetalnet.com/band/symphony-x) (United States, 1994) - [Orphaned Land](https://themetalnet.com/band/orphaned-land) (Israel, 1991) - [Fates Warning](https://themetalnet.com/band/fates-warning) (United States, 1982) - [Marty Friedman](https://themetalnet.com/band/marty-friedman) (Japan, 1962) - [Stam1na](https://themetalnet.com/band/stam1na) (Finland, 1996) - [The Ocean](https://themetalnet.com/band/the-ocean) (Germany, 2000) - [Dog Fashion Disco](https://themetalnet.com/band/dog-fashion-disco) (United States, 1995) - [Nevermore](https://themetalnet.com/band/nevermore) (United States, 1991) - [Threshold](https://themetalnet.com/band/threshold) (United Kingdom, 1988) - [Green Carnation](https://themetalnet.com/band/green-carnation) (Norway, 1990) - [Royal Hunt](https://themetalnet.com/band/royal-hunt) (Denmark, 1989) - [Neal Morse](https://themetalnet.com/band/neal-morse) (United States, 1960) - [Cynic](https://themetalnet.com/band/cynic) (United States, 1987) - [Novembre](https://themetalnet.com/band/novembre) (Italy, 1990) - [Shining](https://themetalnet.com/band/shining) (Norway, 1999) - [Vanden Plas](https://themetalnet.com/band/vanden-plas) (Germany, 1986) - [Waltari](https://themetalnet.com/band/waltari) (Finland, 1986) - [Periphery](https://themetalnet.com/band/periphery) (United States, 2005) - [Tony MacAlpine](https://themetalnet.com/band/tony-macalpine) (United States, 1960) - [TesseracT](https://themetalnet.com/band/tesseract) (United Kingdom, 2003) - [Vision Divine](https://themetalnet.com/band/vision-divine) (Italy, 1998) - [Liquid Tension Experiment](https://themetalnet.com/band/liquid-tension-experiment) (United States, 1997) - [Madder Mortem](https://themetalnet.com/band/madder-mortem) (Norway, 1993) - [The Algorithm](https://themetalnet.com/band/the-algorithm) (France, 1989) - [Dysrhythmia](https://themetalnet.com/band/dysrhythmia) (United States, 1999) - [In the Woods…](https://themetalnet.com/band/in-the-woods) (Norway, 1991) - [Klone](https://themetalnet.com/band/klone) (France, 1995) - [Manticora](https://themetalnet.com/band/manticora) (Denmark, 1996) - [Tad Morose](https://themetalnet.com/band/tad-morose) (Sweden, 1991) - [Textures](https://themetalnet.com/band/textures) (Netherlands, 2001) - [Angel Dust](https://themetalnet.com/band/angel-dust) (1984) - [Becoming the Archetype](https://themetalnet.com/band/becoming-the-archetype) (United States, 1999) - [Devin Townsend Project](https://themetalnet.com/band/devin-townsend-project) (Canada, 2008) - [DGM](https://themetalnet.com/band/dgm) (Italy, 1994) - [Disillusion](https://themetalnet.com/band/disillusion) (Germany, 1994) - [Into Eternity](https://themetalnet.com/band/into-eternity) (Canada, 1997) - [Intronaut](https://themetalnet.com/band/intronaut) (United States, 2005) - [Shadow Gallery](https://themetalnet.com/band/shadow-gallery) (1985) - [Sithu Aye](https://themetalnet.com/band/sithu-aye) (Myanmar, 1990) - [Akercocke](https://themetalnet.com/band/akercocke) (United Kingdom, 1997) - [Animals as Leaders](https://themetalnet.com/band/animals-as-leaders) (United States, 2007) ## Where it is played - [United States](https://themetalnet.com/country/us): 279 bands - [Italy](https://themetalnet.com/country/it): 75 bands - [United Kingdom](https://themetalnet.com/country/gb): 62 bands - [Germany](https://themetalnet.com/country/de): 61 bands - [Sweden](https://themetalnet.com/country/se): 45 bands - [France](https://themetalnet.com/country/fr): 45 bands - [Australia](https://themetalnet.com/country/au): 41 bands - [Brazil](https://themetalnet.com/country/br): 32 bands ## Bands formed by decade | Decade | Bands formed | | --- | --- | | 1960s | 24 | | 1970s | 22 | | 1980s | 88 | | 1990s | 225 | | 2000s | 368 | | 2010s | 404 | | 2020s | 88 | --- Source: [TheMetalNet https://themetalnet.com/genre/progressive-metal](https://themetalnet.com/genre/progressive-metal). Catalog data from MusicBrainz and Metal Archives. Full site index: https://themetalnet.com/llms.txt