10 Greatest Prog Rock Bands

10. Mastodon

By the time the '00s rolled around, it wasn't necessarily a new thing for the sounds of metal to blend with progressive movements. With many bands already making it their calling card, there were millions of bands trying to play the most complicated solo run they could that just happened to be distorted. Just when things felt like they could get a bit monotonous, Mastodon had all the complexity you'd need with a sound that had the force of a hurricane.

Formed when two of the members met at a High On Fire show, the band channelled that specific brand of heaviness into their sound, with the more intense soundscapes being mixed with some of the fattest guitar tones the '00s had ever seen. Many bands would see their heavy sound as an opportunity to make their playing dirty, but the guitar team of Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher are one of the tightest guitar pairs in the entire industry, going from close harmonies to leading the six-string charge on one riff.

With early albums being grand tales based around one of the elements to their current approach of making bite-sized epics, Mastodon have almost developed their own lane apart from their brethren. It's one thing to show off your technical chops, but when you can take it to an unbelievable volume, it almost feels like you can shake the Earth's core.