11 Best Progressive Black Metal Bands of All Time

Here are the 11 best progressive black metal bands of all time!

Since its inception in the early 1980s, black metal has been known for a few key – and at times, unsavory – characteristics (such as speedy tempos, tremolo guitar picking, gravely screaming, lo-fi production, bleak atmospheres, corpse paint and church burnings in Norway).

As such, you might expect black metal to be the complete antithesis of progressive rock since that subgenre is known for its fancy arrangements, vivid textures and fantastical songwriting.

Ordinarily, you’d be 100 percent correct, but there are more than a handful of innovative and audacious groups who’ve helped such mixtures gain admiration over the past few decades.

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Specifically, the 11 artists on this list have been especially important in demonstrating how popular, enticing and wide-ranging progressive black metal can be.

As with our recent breakdown of the 11 best progressive death metal bands of all time, a few of these groups are newer than others, and there’s bound to be some overlap with other styles (including symphonic, folk, avant-garde, ambient, psychedelic and/or experimental metal).

Nevertheless, these bands clearly embody the best of what progressive black metal can be, and their work is essential for newcomers and veterans alike.

We’d love to know which bands you’d replace if you could, though, and why!