1. Dream Theater
There is no other band that plays progressive metal in the same way as the Dream Theater does. The Dream Theater story began in 1985 when two friends, guitarist John Petrucci and bassist John Myung, during their studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston, met a drummer named Mike Portnoy. After some time, they decided to create their own band, they called their longtime friend John Petrucci, Kevin Moore with whom they played in the Centurion school band, and called Chris Collins to take the place of the vocalist. They have released 14 studio albums up to this day.
2. Tool
Some consider Tool to be Progressive Metal, others consider it to be Art Rock. The musicians themselves are positioning their music as Grunge. The group was founded in the 1990s, in Los Angeles (USA). Their first release was called Opiate, it caught an eye of many people as something quite new and experimental. The main thing about Tool is their lyrics, which, together with the mesmerizing instrumentals are perceived as quite psychedelic. The next album called Undertow received the status of a platinum album. Their most successful album is Aenima, which brought real popularity to the band. While they haven’t released any album in 13 years, there are rumors and speculations that they may soon break their musical silence in 2019.
3. Opeth
Opeth’s music is characterized by a heavy death metal sound with the addition of melodic acoustic guitar parts, jazz, blues and progressive rock elements from the 1970s. Vocalist Mikael Akerfeldt uses both clean vocals and growling in his songs. Mikael does lots of different things for the band, he is the main vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, and in general, he is the main driving force behind Opeth. The band is firmly rooted in the Scandinavian death metal groups, but over time, Opeth began to use progressive, folk, blues-rock and jazz elements in their songs. Their sound is very unique, it combines melodic elements of other genres, beautiful vocals and growling at the same time.
4. Mastadon
Mastodon is an American metal band from Atlanta that combines sludge, stoner and progressive metal with elements of death metal. Founded in 1999 by drummer Brann Dailor and guitarist Bill Kelliher, they are considered (along with Lamb of God) as the leaders of the new wave of American heavy metal. In 2007, the track Colony of Birchmen was nominated for a Grammy in the category of The Best Metal Performance. The group has released 7 albums in its lifetime and this year it will celebrate its 20th anniversary.
5. Pain of Salvation
Pain of Salvation is a Swedish band performing progressive metal and avant-garde metal. The team was formed in 1984 under the name of Reality. In 1990 drummer Johan Langell joined the band, and Gustav Hielm became the bass player. In 1991, Gildenlöw renamed the group to Pain of Salvation. In 1997, the band recorded their debut album Entropia at the studio Roasting House Studio. Currently, the discography of Pain of Salvation consists of ten studio albums.
