progressive metal

The tradition & historical record

Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud aggression and amplified distorted guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral or quasi-classical compositions of the latter. The music typically showcases the extreme technical proficiency of the performers and usually uses unorthodox harmonies as well as complex rhythms with frequent meter changes and intense syncopation. The polyrhythmic aspects are especially emphasized in the djent subgenre. Although the genre emerged towards the late-1980s, it was not until the 1990s that progressive metal achieved widespread success. Dream Theater, Watchtower, Queensrÿche, Tool, Symphony X, Shadow Gallery, King's X, Fates Warning, and Mastodon are a few examples of progressive metal bands who achieved commercial success. ¹

Metal Hammer describes progressive metal as "a genre with way fewer boundaries than the rest of the heavy metal family tree, meaning that each year will always bring fresh sounds from unexpected places." The publication stated that in the 1980s, "metal took on the DNA of progressive rock," that gave way to "a mutant strain of music that married volume and aggression with brain-melting complexity, far-reaching ambition and barking mad concepts." According to AllMusic, the genre's earliest acts such as Fates Warning and Queensrÿche developed their sounds by "merg[ing] their love of Yes and Rush with their admiration for Iron Maiden and Judas Priest." Most bands labeled under the genre have considerably different musical influences when compared to each other. Bands such as Dream Theater, Planet X and Puya have a jazz influence, with extended solo sections that often feature "trading solos". Some progressive metal bands incorporate ballads and acoustic music into their arrangements. Loudwire stated that the genre is "unaffected by trends." Lyrics in progressive metal draw influence from fantasy and literature, similar to the progressive rock of the 1970s. Themes may also include outer space and anti-capitalism. ¹

Progressive metal, as a distinct musical style, was primarily advanced by members of the American heavy metal scene of the early-to-mid-1980s, particularly Queensrÿche, Savatage, Fates Warning, Watchtower, and a few years later on, Dream Theater, and then even later than that in the mid-1990's, Symphony X. It has since developed in a non-linear fashion, with countless groups demonstrating innovations in personal ways. ¹

The origins of the genre date back to the very beginning of heavy metal/hard rock and progressive rock when some bands began to merge the two different approaches. 1960s pioneers King Crimson maintained their musical innovation while incorporating a harder approach, using dissonance and experimental tones, yet still maintaining a relationship to the power chords of hard rock, with the main example being "21st Century Schizoid Man". Canadian trio Rush is widely recognized as bridging the gap between hard rock, English progressive rock, and pure heavy metal. Initially influenced by Led Zeppelin, they evolved to combine established progressive rock technique with blues-based power chords. Records such as 2112 (1976) showcased technical expertise and complex compositional skill while still utilizing a more direct and heavier approach than the well-established English progressive rock sound. 1984 brought full-length debut albums from American bands Queensrÿche from Washington state, and Fates Warning from Connecticut. Both expanded their music to include more progressive elements (The Warning, 1984; The Spectre Within, 1985) – some through sound experimentation and compositional refinement, others through extremely complex structures and atypical riffs—up to the two seminal works in 1986: Rage for Order and Awaken the Guardian. ¹

In the late 2000s, bands such as Periphery, Tesseract, Animals as Leaders and Vildhjarta popularized the "djent" style of progressive metal in a sound originally developed by Meshuggah. It is characterized by high-attack, palm-muted, syncopated riffs (often incorporating polymeters), as well as use of extended-range guitars. Extended-range guitars also feature in other forms of progressive metal; artists including Dream Theater, Devin Townsend, Dir En Grey, and Ne Obliviscaris have used seven-string guitars without being part of the djent movement, Dream Theater having been one of the earliest progressive metal bands to incorporate seven-stringed guitars into their music. ¹

Progressive doom is a fusion genre that combines elements of progressive metal and doom metal. Bands include King Goat, Below the Sun, Sierra, and Oceans of Slumber. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Progressive metal”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

progressive metal is genre of heavy metal music, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 17 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²