A Top 100 Prog Metal Albums List by Rexorcist

100 / USA

PM, Neoclassical M

I understand that this is a very unpopular choice to put at the top of an entire prog metal top 100. But I feel that as a prog metal album, this captures the spirit of the Guardians as well as everything neoclassical about this particular band, balancing all the best aspects of these often connected genres together. I also like using this album for background music when I word on my books.

100 / USA

Prog Death Metal, Tech Death Metal

My favorite death metal album of all time, this is where the band mastered their sense of human introspection. It feels darker than their original gorefest albums Scream Bloody Gore and Leprosy because it's more touching and relatable in its evil way. It's more human.

100 / USA

PM, Neoclassical Metal

I honestly didn't realize when I went through my log that I had put both of these two Symphony X albums as the top two of my prog chart, and yet, here I am. This is where Symphony X balanced their neoclassical sound with a greater sense of classical magic, instead of relying on riffage. I think that represents true album making as opposed to metal making.

100 / USA

Alt-Metal, PM

What I love about this album is that it feels too cerebral to just call a prog metal album, especially an alt-metal album. It really FEELS like something as opposed to just being a well-written prog album. And alternative needs cerebral music badly.

100 / Norway

PM, Avant-Garde M, Symphonic M

Arcturus really grew from their black metal days, didn't they? When I listen to prog or experimental, I want to be surprised more than I usually do with other genres. But I also demand consistency. This did everything right in that vein, really feeling like its own opera.

100 / Japan

Prog Power Metal, Melodic Power Metal, Neoclassical Metal

This is where Galneryus really mastered their skills and powers. They had a few hit albums that were well performed, but also samey because they were pretty much writing songs that sounded like their anime theme songs. While there is some of that here, there's more variety, bombast and sophistication.

100 / USA

PM

Mastodon were at the top of the edge factor during their first few albums, but now they have something calmer and provocative while still being a metal album, as if they were trying to touch the heavens themselves. And they succeeded.

100 / Norway

Prog Black Metal, Black Metal

This is the one where all three sides of Enslaved came together in a brutal whole. Those sides are the prog, the traditional, and the viking. I honestly don't know how this isn't more popular with the Enslaved fanhood. They say it's the production, but I think the production's fine.

100 / Sweden

Melodic Death Metal, Prog Death Metal

Crimson II improves on the original's story with extra melody and variety, but the same amount of fearfulness and story-based shocks.

100 / Denmark

Prog Power Metal, Melodic Power Metal, Folk Metal

This album doesn't let the medieval behavior get in the way of the metal brutality. It's an album for cheese fans, but without the cheese.

100 / USA

PM, Prog Rock

Dream Theater are one of the more accessible prog bands for a reason: they make the 80's arena sounds cool by transitioning them into thought-provoking metal.

100 / USA

PM

This is another fine example of Symphony X's keen sense of diversity. Even though they went less neoclassical and a little more accessible, their sense of metallic variety and edge didn't waver.

100 / Sweden

Djent, PM, Avant-Garde Metal

Djent is an overly repetitive genre where even the great Meshuggah beats the same song to death. Fortunately, the frontman had a serious creative explosion one day, and this popped out of his underused genius. This one album is capable of so many things, and Thordendal's personality kept it feeling like one cohesive work.

100 / ENG

Prog Death Metal, Tech Death Metal

You know you're a great prog band when you can transition jazz fusion to death metal. And at the same time, it has extremely meaningful lyrics and incredible musicianship. I honestly wish we got more jazzy extreme metal.

99 / USA

PM, Sludge Metal

Mastodon are just flatout one of the coolest bands ever. Their sludge is some of the absolute best, and they deliver it in such an adventurous and brutal manner with Laviathan. But as a prog album it's very deep and surprising, which is very difficult for a band sticking with one sound for an extended period of time.

98 / USA

PM, Alt-Metal

An inferior but still powerful predecessor to Lateralus, this is where Tool had become more than just a great alternative band and started experimenting with new and more artistic ways to get their introspective behavior across. In other words, it's my kind of album, one that takes a genre I normally get tired of and brings something inventive to it.

98 / Sweden

PM

I'm not quite as into Opeth as a lot of people, but I'm not gonna deny that I really enjoyed that black depression that emitted from every riff. This is emotional metal to its core, and one I would easily recommend to anyone looking to get into prog. In fact, I'd even recommend it as an intro to death metal for a taste of it, as those influences add a lot to the album's power.

98 / USA

PM, Sludge Metal

I sometimes call this Leviathan II, because it does many of the same things with its own sense of originality, and just a slight drop in quality since it's building off of a previous album.

98 / USA

PM, Neoclassical Metal

The one where it really began. Symphony X fully grasped the idea of the "riff" and mastered the classical infusion by putting much more effort into it. After two middling attempts, they finally grasped what made music music. But even then, they were a little monotonous and had some improvement to do. Thankfully, multiple later albums showcase those improvements.

97 / Canada

Melodic Metalcore, Prog Metalcore, PM

Forgive the use of the progcore tag, but a punk, prog and metal fan like me wants a tag like that to exist. Besides, it's probably the best way to describe early PTH. They were catchy, interesting, maniacal and just plain great musicians.

97 / Sweden

PM

Ghost Reveries is an evershifting tonal opera of utter despair, whether relaxing or heavy. The one downfall is that it keeps recycling all of its beautiful ideas, otherwise it would surpass Blackwater Park.

97 / USA

PM, Metal Opera, Prog Rock

I admit I've fallen slightly out of favor with this one as my new favorite DT album is Images and Words. But the truth is this is still a weird and interesting story, one that I honestly wish they'd make a movie out of. I'm a sucker for psychological stories and rock operas.

97 / USA

Deathcore, Prog Death Metal, Progcore

This is one of the heaviest deathcore albums on the planet, as should be expected from Fit for an Autopsy. But there are also more rhythmic surprises.

97 / Italy

Prog Power Metal

This album alone proved to me that DGM is one of Italy's best metal bands. They have a lot of power metal's namesake attached to them, and they can merge power metal brutality with prog technicality effortlessly. This is the best example of their power, as it is the catchiest of the DGM albums I've heard.

97 / Romania

Prog Black Metal, PM, Atmo-Black Metal

Negura Bunget don't usually put out great albums, and are not my choice for the top black metal band. But OM is one of my top choices for prog black metal, because it's just so weird and yet so serious and almost magical. That right amount of tribalism keeps the atmosphere of the album unpredictable through its runtime.

97 / Germany

PM, Atmo-Sludge Metal, Post-Metal

The Ocean have really made a name for themselves with a heavy dosage of mood and attention-demanding technicalities. They're a rough and heavy metal band for relaxing and just listening to what can be done with metal music, and the things that The Ocean can do, especially on Pelagial are more psychologically deep than most prog metal acts.

97 / USA

Awake might not be quite as good as Images and Words, but it has all of the same strengths. The light infusions of 80's arena rock and Floud still make the band a very cool and accessible prog band that not only knows how to remain interesting despite the pop structures, but are great for headbanging because of them.

96 / USA

PM, Avant-Garde M.

An extremely bold album, this is the less rhythmic and more consistent of the two wild and kinetic hit albums that these guys made. Because of its consistency, this album gets the edge.

96 / Sweden

Djent, PM

The first djent studio album ever made has a lot of creativity among the anger and brutality. For the first six of the ten songs, there's just new idea after new idea, and it constantly surprised me. Even though many of these ideas were rehashed in the last four songs, the band made sure to keep the anger and personality strong.

95 / Sweden

Melodic Death Metal, Prog Death Metal

edge of Sanity found their grip with the previous album, but they began improving on it with Crimson, which is all about one of the freakiest stories in the world of concept albums.

96 / Denmark

Prog Power Metal, Melodic Power Metal

The Shadow Cabinet has all of the melodic and instrumental strengths of Maddening Crowd, but with less folk metal influence, so it gets a slightly lower rating. Still, it's a power metal classic that draws you into the medieval fantasy worlds it sets up without any of the cheese.

96 / USA

PM, Alt-Metal

There's less edge to this album due to some more rock orientation as opposed to metal, but that also adds to the variety. So whatever the introspective behavior of Aenima and Lateralus was lost in making this album was made up for with a few new twists and turns, that largely stay as fresh as previous efforts.

96 / Hungary

PM, Avant-Garde Metal

Rengeteg is like the offspring of death metal and worldbeat. Its tribal mysticism and progressive musicianship create unearthly atmospheres and take the listener to multiple new worlds with its weirdness and its perfect black metal atmosphere.

96 / Norway

This is where the classic black band went practically full time prog. They had some trouble with it on a couple of their albums, but this is where they started really living up to the genre's name. Many of the band's best riffs are featured on this one.

96 / USA

PM

Take all of the strengths of Biomech and add a little of that Maudlin variety, and actually MAKE a prog album out of it. Altogether, you have one of the strongest prog albums on Earth. Even though a few riffs are a little familiar, it has everything a fantastic prog album needs.

96 / USA

Prog Power Metal, Melodic Power Metal, Christian Metal

One of the strongest Christian-themed bands puts out their masterpiece. It's always interesting, full of spirit (no pun intended) and high energy, even when Theocracy goes for a more gospel approach.

96 / USA

Capturing their best studio album with more metal edge and perfect live album production, BtBaM make something timeless for the metalcore scene. This is the kind of album that a fan of prog, punk and metal needs in life. Believe me, I know.

96 / USA

Prog Death Metal, Tech Death Metal

Individual Thought Patterns might be the weakest of Death's reinvention era, but it still has a lot of brilliant tricks up its sleeves. Just because the band already pulled those tricks before doesn't mean they didn't still have a lot of very interesting, complex and innovative ideas.

95.5

PM, Atmo-Sludge Metal

As a theme, the album is unique and very cool for handling something so unique in the metal scene, or music in general. And the musicianship is still very strong and surprising to the point where one can't wait for part 2.

95 / Canada

Prog Thrash Metal, Tech Thrash Metal

Would've been a 100 if there was a little more variety, but that just shows you how strong this band can be as a thrash band alone. Their punk-infused technicality has a sci-fi vibe as strong as the later Vektor, if not occasionally stronger. This is easily one of the cooler metal albums that punk fans should check out if they're curious about metal.

95 / Canada

Melodic Metalcore, Prog Metal, Progcore

Some of the most spirited, heavy, technical and powerful metal and or/punk I've heard, only outshined by Fortress.

95 / Sweden

PM

There's an incredible sense of sadness and humanity carried with this album, one that I haven't even heard Opeth recreate yet.

95 / USA

PM, Heavy Metal, US Power Metal

A mix between a raw progginess and 80's metal epica, Awaken the Guardian is a powerful and emotional classic with energy to spare.

95 / Poland

Djent, Avant-Garde Metal

Kobong are as weird and wild as a djent band really need to be. Their different elements separate them from Meshuggah, making this unfortunate shortlived band an obscure classic, largely due to the wow factor, insanity and consistency of this brilliant album.

95 / Norway

Avant-Garde Metal, PM, Symphonic Metal

Every one of the strengths of the later opus The Sham Mirrors is here. There's a purely operatic level of creativity here which knows how to amaze. Despite some inconsistency, this is the kind of album where a band proves they are real artists.

95 / USA

Sludge Metal, PM, Metalcore, Progcore

The Mastodon debut even today separates itself from the Mastodon studio catalogue with its metalcore behavior, and it's damn good metalcore, too. The strengths of later albums are there, even if they need slight fine-tuning.

96 / Japan

Prog Power Metal, Melodic Power Metal

One of the best albums by one of the most iconic metal bands of Japan, there's more energy in this album than a Red Bull warehouse. The whole album is all about independence and victory chants, which might be samey but showcases talent to spare.

95 / Norway

Prog Black Metal

Blow the Lights pulls off an effortless winter vibe which brings us back to the viking age without steering into the genre, and its level of complexity keeps this both a menacing metal monster and a relaxing winter classic, either separated or at the same time depending on different spots.

95 / Italy

Melodic Power Metal, Prog Power Metal

This is an understated classic with complexity, melody and personality that rivals that of their most famous album, Return to Heaven Denied.

95 / USA

Prog Death Metal, Deathcore, Progcore

Fit for an Autopsy shows some real deathcore energy and brilliance that puts them at the front of their scene.

95 / Italy

Prog Power Metal

While this isn't quite on the same level as Different Shapes, this is still an incredibly creative and cool album with an almost effortless ability to implement personality into the songwriting, making something impressive brilliant.

94 / USA

Avant-Garde Metal, PM

Even though its shortcoming is occasional inconsistency, this wild ride knows how to put you to sleep with beautiful melodies or make you rock out loud. It's an incredibly artistic album which, despite overabundance, showcases the band in some weird mental state in which they always know what they want to do, and how to pull it off.

94 / Romania

The band reaches another creative peak which shows that their usual elements are much more fleshed out this time. While the primitive attitude comes off as a little too ambitious at times, the ambition helps a lot more than it hurts, and the moods and structures are delivered with great personality.

93 / Poland

Djent, PM

This debut is super-funky and seriously out of whack, many of the things Meshuggah should be. There's a lot of fun to be had with this Zappa-esque prog album.

93 / Denmark

Prog Power Metal, Melodic Power Metal

Another grandios performance by Wuthering Heights, this album shows that back when the band still needed a little practice, they were capable of writing and performing songs that had no trouble taking you on great adventures to farawar lands with practically none of the DND cheese.

93 / Sweden

PM

Although it's being compared to several superior Opeth albums, it's practically a sin to say that this album is lightweight. The dark beauty of the band was really starting to show its face here, and the end result is something understated and beautiful.

93 / Canada

PM

Infinity carries Biomech's signature sound with an improved atmosphere, more diversity and better results, leading up to the greatness that would become Terria.

92.5 / Australia

Prog Thrash Metal

A weird collaboration of multiple genres that's a bit difficult to classify, King Gizzard takes their offbeat but consistent personality to metal again with a strong result that's all about jamming.

92.5 / Norway

Prog Death Metal, PM

This fairly wild but always consistent collection of mutliple extreme genres is as emotional and thematic as it is complex, and justifies the Christian themes in dark metal as well as Trouble.

92.5 / Sweden

Djent

Meshuggah steer closer to a consistent groove sound, making weird solo after weird solo in a challenging but always perfectly moody and groovy experiment that works in most ways.

92.5 / USA

Sludge Metal, PM

Although bloated, there's a neverending rock hard attitude to this album. Through multiple kinds of songs and genres taking focal turns to keep things going, Baroness might be a little generic but is proud enough to be a modern sludge classic.

92.5 / France

Death Metal, Prog Death Metal

Thanks to some groove and industrial behavior, this album might be drawn out but it's also very hypnotic in its indomitable metal attitude.

92 / USA

Tech Death Metal, Prog Death Metal

Always shifting and rarely drawn out, Elements continues the band's signature sound with a constantly consistent atmosphere of raw metal power.

92 / USA

Progcore, Metalcore, PM

Although many of its techniques were put to shame on the live variant, this is still a very twisty and intriguing punk album that bridges punk and metal perfectly.

92 / USA

PM, Prog Rock

Dream Theater makes a bold move going into 90 minutes with one half being a full-on epic, but because they're always trying to change pace with strangely accessible prog, it always works out.

92 / USA

Prog Power Metal

For a straightforward prog power band, they're very good at what they do. Mindmaze justifies familiarity with serious riffage and complexity without going too maniacal or simplistic.

91.5 / Italy

Prog Power Metal, Power Metal

The start of DGM's golden age shows growth into bolder and more anthemic territory, and keeps things catchy and unique, even though the good progginess would be surpassed by the band later on.

91.5 / Italy

Prog Power Metal, PM

Although it doesn't reach the heights of later albums, Misplaced kicks off DGM's classic era with a very interesting, energetic and feel-good album.

91.5 / USA

PM, Prog Rock

Tool once again steers further away from their debut's alternative sound for a more rock-based sound, but the cerebral behavior of past prog albums is there in various new formats, making for something unique to the already unique Tool catalog.

91 / France

Prog Power Metal, Melodic Power Metal

Adagio might not be the best band, but Underworld sees them improving on their melodic prowess, mastering the beauty they were trying to achieve on other albums and somewhat failed.

91 / USA

PM

While no longer the USPM band they set themselves up as, Fates Warning were still very strong as a prog band, releasing some of their cooler songs on this album.

91 / Japan

Symphonic Power Metal, Prog Power Metal

The songwriting isn't always perfect, but lots of energy and anthemic vibes are featured here on this easy-to-rock-to essential from Japan.

90 / Germany

Power Metal, Prog Power Metal

Angel Dust always had a tendency to play around with metal tropes and genres, and this shows them at one of their creative peaks.

91 / Switzerland

The thrash side will be missed, but Coroner were still able to put out a very cool album with strong grooves and a lot of interesting twists.

91 / Sweden

PM

The atmosphere might be weaker despite everything the band does with this album, but it still does a lot of great things with the concept of darkness, diversifying more than other Opeth albums.

90 / Germany

Atmo-Sludge Metal, PM

While its effect is slightly waned by the magnificent presence of Phanerozoic I, this album continues the sound and themes with much of the technical skill and emotional core still present.

90

Prog Death Metal

There's a jazzy complexity about this album that's able to shift through various moods, although all of its tricks were performed better by Atheist.

89 / USA

PM, Heavy Metal, US Power Metal

While much of its true-to-heart heavy metal presence is surpassed by Awaken the Guardian, this classic brings some fresh ideas to the table.

89

PM

Although this album's older than Blackwater Park, it's kind of a little brother to the monolith as it has all of the emotion, progressive nature and nocturnal beauty, but not as fleshed out.

89

PM

An attempt at something new turned this Symphony X album into a collective of proggy epics, more in tune with the roots of progressive rather than the signature neoclassical style of the band. As a result, we get some great melodies with less creativity and more to flesh out into what became Paradise Lost.

89 / Hungary

Avant-Garde Metal, PM

Drawn out to a fault but highly creative nonetheless, this album is all about excellent moods and various influences.

88

PM

Train of Thought, an aptly-named album, continues the sound of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence with some cool and fresh ideas but a lot of familiar ones, creating another cool but familiar work in the Dream Theater realm.

87

PM, Avant-Garde Metal

A fairly folksier presence makes this Thy Catafalque album stand out from the rest to help overcome used ideas and make them fresh again.

87

PM, Heavy Metal, US Power Metal

It has a less progressive presence about it, but as an 80's USPM album, this does its job as well as an average Queensryche album.

87

Deathcore, PM, Progcore

This album might have a tendency to give in the deathcore tropes, but rerecording an already decent album was a smart move as it fleshes out a lot of the strnegths and improves on the weaknesses of the original version.

87 / USA

PM

An understated debut with some very cool compositions and excellent metal attitude, this generic but complex album shows what the band were starting to become.

87 / Sweden

This might be a less emotional album, but Orchid has plenty of moments of emotional beauty and raw metal menace because of it.

87 / USA

Metalcore, Progcore, PM

ALaska takes BtBaM out of the depths of the generic metalcore collective and into deeper and more interesting territory.

86 / USA

PM

This supergroup made a surprisingly good debut with the best elements of oldschool and modern classics, recalling the early days of prog metal while staying relevant with some cool tracks.

86 / USA

Prog Thrash Metal, Tech Thrash Metal

Watchtower have their own metal personal working hard for them, and it makes all of their ideas much better when you consider that Voivod would expand on all these ideas later.

86 / Japan

Prog Power Metal, Melodic Power Metal

This might be general Galneryus fodder, but there's nothing wrong with that. Galneryus have been putting out catchy and hyper-energetic albums for years, and this album remains true to their spirit while recycling old ideas while they still have fight left.

86 / ????

Deathcore, PM, Progcore

This metallic and energetic album marks a good swansong for a band in need of further fleshing out. Extra complexity said good things about where they'd be headed if they didn't call it quits.

86 / USA

Prog Power Metal, Christian Metal

Theocracy might not be the BEST writers, but they have an uncanny ability to capture the power of the holy spirit in the form of metal, and there's plenty of that here.

85 / Norway

Prog Black Metal

Both technically and literally, Monumension lies right between the two best prog efforts by Enslaved: Mardraum and Below the Lights. There's less general metal heaviness, leaving more room for introspection, and the production is slightly improved. This is still way better than many of the softer outings by the iconic metal band.

86 / Canada

PM, Alt-Metal

So Voivod go alternative. You can't really blame them as they loving playing with genres like a collection of multicolored blocks. They put out some pretty cool stuff here that still has that metal attitude, even if it's missing Voivod's lovable punk persona in most places. But this is still a wild and fun album.

85 / Finland

PM, Melodic Death Metal

While generic, the band is doing everything they can as a melo-death band, taking new turns and keeping things more interesting than previous efforts.

85 / Finland

PM

Simplistic but unique, Tuonela is a fine and metallic but fanciful album that tries some new and softer ideas for the band with good delivery.

85 / USA

Djent, PM

Djent's getting into heavier storytelling, and they pull off some good ideas with a nice sense of emotion and groovy delivery to make up for some sameyness.

85

Djent, Deathcore, Progcore

The Contortionist is the type of djent band that uses generic traits of djent to try and keep things innovative and interesting by switching out elements often.

84.5 / Denmark

This is the kind of album that easily brings you to the medieval ages by focusing more on the music than the imagery.

84.5 / Sweden

Prog Power Metal, Neoclassical Metal

This heavily sci-fi album has a very cool, if not cheesy, vibe to it. It's a classic because of its unique sound, even though its progressive structures have been done before.