Progressive metal, from the outside in. Each step is a genre and the single record this encyclopedia would put on first. Play them in this order and the last one should sound like a next step rather than a wall.
- 1 The way in
Heavy metal 1970
It split off from hard rock and blues rock when Black Sabbath tuned down and wrote riffs on the tritone. Volume, riff and a code of its own - every branch below starts here.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Black Sabbath - the song Black Sabbath. The first thirty seconds are the genre's birth certificate.
Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath (1970) - 2 What you asked about
Progressive metal 1988
Prog rock ambition with metal weight: odd meters, concept albums and instrumental virtuosity.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Opeth - Blackwater Park. Growls and acoustic guitar in one song, and nothing forced about it.
Opeth, Blackwater Park (2001) - 3 Where to go next
Instrumental prog metal 1995
No vocals: the melody is carried by guitar or keyboard, and the structure can be as complex as it likes.
Instrumental. Usually no vocals at all.
Put on
Animals as Leaders - the debut. Tosin Abasi plays eight strings as if it were normal.
Animals as Leaders, Animals as Leaders (2009)
Assembled from the tree: every genre Progressive metal descends from, in order. The last step is the gentlest of Progressive metal's 3 subgenres - least harsh vocals first, then least heavy.