Top 10 Most Technical Heavy Metal Bands
List and vote on what you think are the most technical heavy metal bands. I'm only going to give a few examples (and I won't even choose the most difficult songs by them or the most technical bands I know). I want YOU to blow me away. Any form of metal is acceptable.There will more than likely be a massive gap between the musicians on this top 10 list (and it will probably be out of order - this is not by accident). Why, you may ask? Well, again, I'm hoping the VIEWERS will fill in the blanks. If I wanted to showcase the most technical bands or artists I know, the list would consist almost entirely of technical death metal, neo-classical metal, and blues shred bands or artists.
I still plan to include a few of these, but all of them would sound almost exactly the same as Brain Drill. Trust me, there are more of these types of bands than you'd think - especially tech-death bands. Hundreds of thousands have popped up in the last couple of years.
I'm happy for YOU to add these bands to the list since they make up the majority of the most technical heavy metal artists, but I'm leaving that task to you. This list is not about "feeling" or "how good it sounds." It's about pure technicality.
There are rules, though. You can't choose a band based on ONE SONG. The band or artist has to consistently be a technical band or artist in general. So no one-off sped-up YouTube videos.
Please refrain from putting bands like Metallica, Pantera, Slipknot, Slayer, Megadeth, or the Spice Girls on here. They're all good (and all, haha), but this is a list of the MOST TECHNICAL BANDS - not your favorite bands.

There's really no explanation needed for why Dream Theater is amazing. All you have to do is listen to "The Glass Prison" and "Pull Me Under."
Not the best band out there, but they are technical grandmasters.
Each instrumentalist in the band is the best at what he does on the entire planet. That's enough to describe them.

These guys definitely won't be near the top of the list in terms of technicality, but they are quite different from Brain Drill. Again, I'm hoping you'll fill in the gaps.

Ah, Brain Drill, often criticized for their lack of songwriting ability. But keep in mind just how difficult it is to create an entire album - let alone multiple albums - while playing this many notes in a song (their title track on their second album runs for 16 minutes) without repeating riffs or simplifying the music. It's more challenging than one might think, even for talented players.


Tech-death supergroup Blotted Science features members from bands like Watchtower, Spastic Ink, Hate Eternal, and Obscura. They are a very complex band, with music that is often extremely fast yet consistently intricate.
You might be wondering why some of the bands on this list are slower. As I've already stated, I'm purposely including a variety of bands and skipping the majority of ultra-speed tech groups - not because I think they lack "feeling" or "aren't music," but because I want you to engage with this and fill in the blanks.
Another reason is that all of the slower bands I'm choosing are quite technical. They aren't like Metallica or Megadeth, who usually play mid-fast paced, simple riffs in a repetitive fashion. These bands generally play complex songs with little repetition, and that's the point. "Technical" refers to a mixture of speed and complexity.

Definitely not as technical as the above artists, but these guys deserve a mention. They are easily one of the most technical thrash metal bands, especially in the 80s, other than bands like Watchtower - probably one of the only 80s thrash bands that could compete with Coroner.



Yes, I agree with you on the definition of technical (speed + complexity). I considered this combination when comparing Annihilator and Coroner, and I gave preference to Annihilator.
One of the most underrated thrash metal bands.

This belongs in the top five. If we only had to pick one band to represent technical death metal on this list, Spawn of Possession is it.
I know I said I wasn't going to add many technical death metal bands, but I chose this one because they are not an "ultra-technical death wankery" band.
The Newcomers



A quite technical band, not as fast as many of the others but extremely complex.
Their older songs were faster and more "technical" than their newer material, but they lacked melody and had almost no leads.
As the lead guitarist is influenced by Chuck, their riffs and solos are the best. I love this band.

Amazing! Technically proficient and emotive as well - a rare combo. One of the best ever in any genre.

They deserve to be on here. Very skillful, technical, fast, and brutal. They are like a licensed surgeon gone serial killer.
I've always appreciated the faster the better attitude when it comes to technical death metal. Cryptopsy is definitely top-tier!
While somewhat obscure, their album From This Day Forward is the epitome of technical metal.

Almost perfect - nearly every album is worthy of a "deep" introspective listen, especially for aspiring musicians!
They aren't the most technical, but they are very technical. Maiden rules, so that's why I vote for them.




These guys should be number one. Simple as that.

These guys will probably end up somewhere near the bottom of the list, but they truly have some ridiculously technical stuff. They're likely one of the more technical modern black metal bands.
Their self-titled first album was recorded with a group of guest vocalists (all instruments are played by Christopher A. Erikson). Just listen to the entire album - there are some technical masterpieces within it.




An obscure band within the Neo-Classical tradition. They sound similar to Yngwie and put a great emphasis on guitar work.
Check out their metal covers of Vivaldi's Summer and Beethoven's 5th.