Most Technical Heavy Metal Bands

technicalbrutaldeath List and vote on what you think are the most technical heavy metal bands. I'm only going to give A few of examples (I'm not even going to choose the most difficult songs by them and I'm not going to choose the most technical bands I know either... I want YOU to blow me away. ) Any form of Metal.

There will more than likely be A massive gap between 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 show the most technical bands/artists I knew... there'd be nothing but technical death metal, neo-classical metal and blues shred bands/artists on this list (I still plan to have A few. ) all of them would sound almost exactly the same as brain drill, ygwnie malmsteen and Joe satriani and trust me there's more than you'd think (especially tech death bands... there's hundreds of thousands that have poped up in the last couple of years.).

I'm happy for YOU to put these bands on this list as they do make up the majority of the most technical heavy metal artists but I'm leaving that for 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/artist has to be A technical band/artist in general. So no one off sped up youtube videos.

Please re frame 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 favourite bands.

The Top Ten

1 Dream Theater (Progressive Metal)

Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band from Boston, Massachusetts. The band was formed in 1985 under the name of "Majesty", only to change its name to Dream Theater later. ...read more.

Each instrumentist in the band is the best on what he does on the entire planet. That's enough to describe them.

Definitely not the most technical metal band - I guess they are at #1 because they are popular. - Metal_Treasure

Technically absolutely brilliant. All 3 of them.

Not the best band out there, but they are technical grand masters.

2 Comments

2 Nile (Brutal Death Metal)

Nile is an American technical death metal band from Greenville, South Carolina, United States, formed in 1993. Their music and lyrics are inspired by Ancient Egyptian/Near Eastern mysticism, history, religion, and ancient art, as well as the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

The pinnacle of technical death metal

These guys definitely by the end of it won't be anywhere near the most technical band on the list but they are quite different to brain drill and again I'm hoping you will fill the gaps. - technicalbrutaldeath

3 Brain Drill (Technical Brutal Death Metal)

Brain Drill is an American technical death metal band formed in 2005 from Ben Lomond, California. They are signed to Metal Blade Records and released their full-length debut album entitled Apocalyptic Feasting on February 5, 2008. In support of their debut, disagreements were engaged and members began ...read more.

Ah Brain drill often criticized for their lack of songwriting ability. Keep in mind just how difficult it would be to come up with an entire album let alone multiple albums playing this many notes in A song (their title track of their second album goes for 16 minutes. ) without repeating riffs or dumbing down your music. It's more difficult than one might think (even for talented players. ) - technicalbrutaldeath

4 Death (Death Metal/Technical Death Metal/Progressive Death Metal)

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.

5 Jason Becker (Neo-classical Metal)

Jason Eli Becker (born July 22, 1969) is an American neoclassical metal guitarist and composer. At the age of 16, he became part of the Shrapnel Records-produced duo Cacophony with his friend Marty Friedman. They released the albums Speed Metal Symphony in 1987 and Go Off! in 1988. Cacophony broke up ...read more.

Cacophony and Becker was tech as hell!

6 Blotted Science (Technical Progressive Death Metal)

Blotted Science is an instrumental technical metal supergroup formed in 2004. It is headed by Ron Jarzombek, bassist Alex Webster and drummer Hannes Grossmann.

Tech death supergroup blotted science. With members from bands like watchtower and spastic ink, hate eternal and obscura. Very complex band in general most of their music is quite technical, extremely fast at parts but always complex.

You might be wondering why some of the bands on this list are slower... as I've already stated I'm putting A bunch of bands As A base purposely skipping the majority of ultra speed tech groups (not because I think they have "no feeling" or "aren't music" but because then you're just voting and not truly engaging with this. I want you to fill in the blanks.

Anyway another reason is All of the slower bands I'm choosing are quite technical, they're not like Metallica or megadeth who usually play mid-fast paced simple riffs in A repetitive fashion. These bands generally play quite complex songs that have little repetition and that's the point. The most "Technical" and Technicality is A mixture of SPEED and COMPLEXITY. - technicalbrutaldeath

They are the most technical band I've ever heard. And their sound is so technical.
I made a list about them and you need to play only 2-3 song samples to be convinced - Top 10 Blotted Science Songs - Metal_Treasure

7 Coroner (Technical Thrash/technical Death/thrash)

Coroner is a Swiss thrash metal band from Zürich, formed in the early 80s. They have been called "the Rush of thrash metal" for their increasingly complex style of progressive rock-infused thrash. They garnered relatively little attention outside Europe .

I would put Vektor too, dunno, Sacred Reich, Nuclear Assault probably pops in mind because of being fan of them, but Vektor definitely.

Definitely no where near as technical as the above artists BUT these guys deserve A mention. Easily one of the most technical thrash metal bands (especially in the 80s) other than the likes of "watchtower" who are probably one of if not the only 80s thrash band who competed with these guys. - technicalbrutaldeath

8 Obscura (Technical Death Metal)

Obscura is a technical/progressive death metal band from Germany, founded in 2002. The band became prominent when members of Necrophagist and Pestilence joined Steffen Kummerer to release the critically acclaimed second full-length album, Cosmogenesis. The band was named after the Gorguts album Obscura. ...read more.

Septuagint
Choir Of Spirits
Orbital Elements
Need I say more

These songs are great but they aren't Obscura's most technical songs. These 3 are on their softest end. - Metal_Treasure

Fast and technical with jaw-dropping virtuosity and very intelligent songwriting.
Lists to check out:
Top 10 Songs on Obscura’s Cosmogenesis
Top 10 Songs on Obscura’s Omnivium
Best Songs On Obscura’s Akróasis
Top 10 Songs On Obscura's Diluvium - Metal_Treasure

9 Ygwnie Malmsteen (Neo-classical Metal)

I was SO tempted to put morbid angel's 1986 DEMO on here (hahah it's basically A long guitar solo with vocals on it... and some drums. ) for A joke. Not because it isn't technical... because it is still quite complex but compared to A lot of the Neo-classical shred musicians obviously doesn't compare. - technicalbrutaldeath

Yngwie is the neoclassical metal god and his playing is really technical
try to listen to his four first album especially the first one which is highly technical and progressive
lots of shredding and signs changing,sweeping,arpeggios,and lots of notes played in a tight way...
yngwie brought a new whole genre to metal and even blew away Van Halen back then
he deserves to be in the top 5 at least

10 Necrophagist (Technical Death Metal)

Necrophagist is a German technical death metal band, founded and fronted by guitarist and vocalist Muhammed Suiçmez.

The Contenders

11 Annihilator (Technical Thrash and Speed Metal)

Annihilator is a Canadian thrash metal band founded in 1984 by vocalist, guitarist, bassist, songwriter, engineer, producer, mixer and mastering engineer Jeff Waters and former vocalist John Bates.

Songs: Schizos (I & II), Human Insecticide, Imperiled Eyes, Ultra-Motion, Alison Hell.
- Metal_Treasure

Yes, I agree with you on the definition of ‘technical’ (speed + complexity). I took into account namely this combination while comparing Annihilator and Coroner, and gave preference to Annihilator. - Metal_Treasure

12 Decrepit Birth (Brutal Death Metal.)

Decrepit Birth is an American technical death metal band from Santa Cruz, California. They have released two studio albums through Unique Leader Records and one through Nuclear Blast, and a demo independently.

As the lead guitarist is influenced by chuck their riffs and solos are the best I love this band

A quite technical band, not as fast as many of these others but extremely complex.

Their older songs were A lot faster and more "technical" than their newer material but lacked melody and had almost no leads. - technicalbrutaldeath

13 Spawn of Possession (Technical Death Metal)

Spawn of Possession was a technical death metal band from Kalmar, Sweden, founded in 1997. In 2017, the band announced their split up via their Facebook page.

A very good band. - Metal_Treasure

I know I said I wasn't going to add many technical death metal bands but the reason I chose this one is because they are NOT an "ultra-technicaldeathwankery" band. - technicalbrutaldeath

14 Oblivion (Technical Thrash/Heavy Metal)

While somewhat obscure, their album "From This Day Forward" is the epitome of technical metal.

15 Cryptopsy (Technical Death Metal)

Cryptopsy is a Canadian technical death metal band from Montreal, Quebec, formed in 1988. The band has sold over 300,000 records.

They deserve to be on here. Very skillful and technical, and fast and brutal. They are like a licensed surgeon gone serial killer. - Metal_Treasure

16 Iron Maiden (Heavy Metal)

Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. The most critically acclaimed period for the band was from 1983-1989. With vocalist Bruce Dickinson, bassist Steve Harris, lead guitarist Dave Murray, rhythm guitarist Adrian ...read more.

They aren't the most technical but they are very technical. Maiden rule so that's why I vote for them.

17 Between the Buried and Me (Technical Death Metal)

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.

18 Megadeth (Thrash Metal / Technical Thrash / Speed Metal)

Megadeth is an American thrash metal band from Los Angeles, California. Megadeth was formed in 1983 by guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassist David Ellefson, shortly after Mustaine was fired from Metallica. They have released 15 studio albums to date, and have gone through many lineup changes, with Dave ...read more.

19 Rings of Saturn (Technical Death Metal)

Rings of Saturn is an American extreme metal band from the Bay Area, California. The band was formed in 2009 and was originally just a studio project.

definitely

20 Beyond Creation (Technical Death Metal)

Check out the lists:
Top 10 Songs on Beyond Creation's the Aura
Top 10 Songs on Beyond Creation's Earthborn Evolution - Metal_Treasure

21 Bitter Frost (Melodic Black Metal)

These guys by the end of this will probably be somewhere near the bottom but they do truly have some ridiculously technical stuff. Probably 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 done by - Christopher A. Erikson) Just look through the entire album, there's some technical master pieces within it. - technicalbrutaldeath

22 At Vance (Metal/Neo-Classical)

At Vance is a German neoclassical/power metal band. They were formed by vocalist Oliver Hartmann and guitarist Olaf Lenk in 1998.

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. - Metal_Treasure

23 Behold... The Arctopus (Technical Progressive Death Metal)

Very unique sound, and while not akin to other bands on this list it's this variety that allows them to be technical

24 Origin (Technical Death Metal)

Origin is an American death metal band from Topeka, Kansas, founded in 1998. They have been recognized by music critics and metal fans alike for combining a harsh sound with a high level of technical skill.

25 Gorguts (Technical Death Metal)

Gorguts is a Canadian technical death metal band from Sherbrooke, Quebec. The band was formed in 1989; its only constant member has been Luc Lemay.

26 Martyr (Death Metal)

Martyr is a Canadian death metal band from Trois-Rivières, Québec, founded in 1994 by brothers Daniel and François Mongrain.

A now inactive band from Trois-Rivieres, Canada. One of a kind.

27 Puya (Progressive/Latin Metal)

They are the most underrated metal band Puya is a progressive metal / experimental metal / latin metal band from Puerto Rico they mix thrash metal, groove metal, death metal, rap metal, funk, alternative metal, rapcore, nu metal, jazz, neoclassical metal, salsa and traditional puertorican music (bomba,danza and plena).

28 Mastodon (Sludge/Stoner/Progressive Metal)

29 Periphery (Progressive Metal/Djent)

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.

30 Atheist (Progressive/Technical Death Metal)

31 Vektor (Progressive/Technical Thrash Metal)

32 Animals as Leaders (Progressive Metal/Djent)

Animals as Leaders is an American progressive metal band from Washington, D.C. It is composed of guitarists Tosin Abasi and Javier Reyes along with drummer Matt Garstka, having been formed by Abasi in 2007. Their musical style has also been described as djent.

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List Stats

300 votes
32 listings
5 years, 291 days old

Top Remixes (4)

1. Blotted Science (Technical Progressive Death Metal)
2. Obscura (Technical Death Metal)
3. Brain Drill (Technical Brutal Death Metal)

Metal_Treasure

1. Death (Death Metal/Technical Death Metal/Progressive Death Metal)
2. Dream Theater (Progressive Metal)
3. Annihilator (Technical Thrash and Speed Metal)

ryanrimmel

1. Brain Drill (Technical Brutal Death Metal)
2. Nile (Brutal Death Metal)
3. Jason Becker (Neo-classical Metal)

technicalbrutaldeath