Analysing the Progressive in Progressive Metal

In this chapter, we investigate progressive metal as a hybrid genre with origins in1960s/1970s progressive rock and 1980s heavy metal. We provide a brief historical accountof how the label “progressive” has been applied to metal and consider how the term is used toalign instances of music with highbrow and modernist cultural values. Through a taxonomyof music styles – among them progressive metal, math metal, djent, and symphonic metal –we identify key features of how progressive metal is defined and delineated. Notable bandsand pertinent examples are provided for given styles, indicating the breadth of progressivemetal as a meta-genre which hierarchically subsumes other categories, similar in function tothe label extreme metal.1 Our investigation culminates in a large-scale track analysis ofDream Theater’s “Octavarium” (2005) which demonstrates the archetypal features andprogressive qualities that progressive metal draws from canonic progressive rock