A subgenre of heavy metal music which blends the powerful, guitar-driven sound of metal with the complex compositional structures, odd time signatures and intricate instrumental playing of progressive rock. Some progressive metal bands are also influenced by jazz fusion music. Like progressive rock songs, progressive metal songs are usually much longer than standard rock songs, and songs are often thematically linked in concept albums. As a result, progressive metal is rarely heard on mainstream radio programmes.

The origins of progressive metal can be traced back to progressive rock bands from the late 1960s and early to mid-1970s, such as Yes, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Genesis and Rush.

However, progressive metal did not develop into a genre of its own until the mid-1980s. Bands such as Rainbow had many qualities of progressive metal. Bands such as Queensrÿche and Dream Theater took elements of these progressive rock groups - primarily the instrumentation and compositional structure of songs - and merged them with heavy metal styles associated with Metallica and Megadeth. The result could be described as a progressive rock mentality with heavy metal sounds.

Progressive metal started to get some mainstream exposure in the early 1990s and bands such as Opeth, Tool and Symphony X achieved some success. Symphony X married progressive elements to power metal, bridging the gap between the two subgenres, while Opeth combined their prog influence with death metal.