Top 10 Heaviest Progressive Metal Bands

The Top Ten
1 Meshuggah Meshuggah is a Swedish progressive metal band from Umeå, formed in 1987. They are often considered the fathers or founders of the djent metal sub genre due to their use of downtuned guitars. They are also known for their song “Bleed”, which is known for its extremely complicated instrumentation, ...read more.
2 Opeth Opeth is a Swedish progressive death metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990 by David Isberg, who invited Mikael Akerfeldt into the band as a bassist. Isberg ended up leaving the band, which lead to Mikael becoming the band's vocalist, guitarist, principal songwriter, and driving force. Along with ...read more.
3 Gojira Gojira is a progressive metal band from Bayonne, France. The band was known as Godzilla until 2001. Gojira is composed of Joe Duplantier on vocals and rhythm guitar, his brother Mario Duplantier on drums, Christian Andreu on lead guitar, and Jean-Michel Labadie on bass.

Gojira wins. Hands down.

4 Neurosis Neurosis is a post-metal band, based in Oakland, California. They formed in 1985 as a hardcore punk band, and their sound progressed towards a doom metal style that also included influences from dark ambient and industrial music as well as incorporating elements of folk music.
5 The Ocean

Aeolian, precambrian, some parts of heliocentric and anthropocentric. way heavier than opeth, I can say, although less atmospheric.

6 The Dillinger Escape Plan The Dillinger Escape Plan is an American mathcore band from Morris Plains, New Jersey. The group originated in 1997 after the disbanding of Arcane, a hardcore punk trio consisting of Ben Weinman, Dimitri Minakakis, and Chris Pennie.
7 Scar Symmetry Scar Symmetry is a Swedish metal band from Avesta in Dalarna County, Sweden, formed in 2004. The band has released six albums, with seven released singles.
8 Between the Buried and Me Between the Buried and Me is an American progressive metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina. Formed in 2000, the band consists of Tommy Giles Rogers, Jr.

Not as heavy as Meshuggah, and like Opeth has a lot of beautiful soft passages mixed with heavy riffing and growl/screaming

Modern band, Colours is a great album.

9 Isis
10 Cattle Decapitation Cattle Decapitation is an American Deathgrind band from San Diego, California formed in 1996. Cattle Decapitation's songs protest the mistreatment and consumption of animals, the abuse of the environment and touch subjects such as misanthropy and genocide of the human race. Much of their music is based on putting humans in the situations that animals are subjected to, for example animal testing, slaughter, etc. While the band started with an entirely vegetarian lineup, only two current members are vegetarian namely Travis Ryan and Josh Elmore.
The Contenders
11 Gorod Gorod is a technical death metal band from Bordeaux, France. They formed in 1997 under the name Gorgasm releasing their debut album Neurotripsicks on Deadsun Records in 2004. They changed their name to Gorod in 2005 to avoid confusion with an American band also called Gorgasm, re-releasing their debut ...read more.
12 Emperor Emperor was a Norwegian black metal band formed in 1991, regarded as highly influential by critics and emerging black metal bands.
13 Periphery Periphery is an American progressive metal band based in Washington, D.C., formed in 2005. They are known for their heavy, progressive sound which employs poly-rhythmic patterns and soaring melodies. They are credited with popularizing the modern djent scene. Over time they have progressed from djent ...read more.
14 Cult of Luna Cult of Luna is a Swedish post-metal band from Umeå founded in 1998. They often perform post-metal music similar to the contemporary bands Neurosis and Isis.
15 Voivod Voivod is a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Québec. Their musical style has changed several times since the band's origin in the early 1980s. The band's current line-up consists of Denis "Snake" Bélanger, Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain, Dominique "Rocky" Laroche and Michel "Away" Langevin.
16 Edge of Sanity Edge of Sanity was a Swedish progressive death metal band that, alongside Opeth, is commonly regarded as being the first to fuse extreme metal styles like death and black metal with progressive rock. Their sound is often described as "Progressive Melodic Death Metal".
17 Vektor Vektor is an American progressive thrash metal band from Tempe, Arizona. The band was formed under the name Locrian around June 2003, but changed their name to Vektor in 2004.
18 Death Death was an American death metal band formed in 1983 by Chuck Schuldiner. Death is considered to be one of the most influential bands in heavy metal and a pioneering force in death metal. Its debut album, Scream Bloody Gore, has been widely regarded as the first death metal record, while the band's ...read more.
19 Mastodon Mastodon is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in early 2000 and composed of bassist Troy Sanders, guitarists Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher and drummer Brann Dailor.

Early mastodon is heavy. Blood Mountain, Leviathan, and Remission are their heaviest

20 Dir en grey Dir En Grey is a Japanese heavy metal band formed in 1997 and currently signed to Firewall Div., a sub-division of Free-Will.

They can be very heavy

21 After The Burial After the Burial is an American metalcore band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. They are currently signed to Sumerian Records and have released four of their five full-length albums through the label.

9 string guitar!

22 Born Of Osiris Born of Osiris is an American deathcore band, formed in 2003 in Palatine, a suburb of Chicago. The group underwent several name changes, including Diminished, Your Heart Engraved, and Rosecrance, before finally settling on Born of Osiris in 2007, basing the name on the Egyptian deity Osiris, and the ...read more.
23 Cynic Cynic is an American band which incorporates elements of progressive, experimental, alternative, and heavy metal. Founded in Miami, Florida. Founding members Paul Masvidal and Sean Reinert publicly revealed their homosexuality in May 2014, a move that was broadly supported by the heavy metal community. ...read more.
24 Atheist Atheist is a progressive/technical death metal band from Florida, founded in 1984 by drummer Steve Flynn and singer/guitarist Kelly Shaefer.
25 Symphony X Symphony X is an American progressive metal band from Middletown, New Jersey. Founded in 1994, the band consists of guitarist Michael Romeo, keyboardist Michael Pinnella, drummer Jason Rullo, lead vocalist Russell Allen and bassist Michael Lepond.
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