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Progressive metal has it's origins in Prog rock from the 60's and 70's with bands such as Yes, Queen, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Genesis and Rush. Prog metal wasn't fully a genre until the mid 80's. Although bands such as Rainbow possess many qualities of progressive metal and had experimented with the fusion of metal and classical styles, the genre was not a defined one at the time, and such bands prior to the breakout of the genre are generally classified as heavy metal. Acts such as Fates Warning, 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 characteristics attributed to bands like Metallica, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Death, Megadeth, Voivod and Iron Maiden. The result could be described as a progressive rock mentality with heavy metal sounds. Though they began as blues-based heavy-metal, the progressive elements they created have carried on to these other, more well-known bands. Judas Priest, although not a progressive metal band, is credited on the liner notes of their The Essential Judas Priest compilation album as having created the first example of progressive metal with the song "Victim Of Changes."
The genre received mainstream exposure in the early 1990s when Queensrÿche's "Silent Lucidity" (from 1990's Empire) became a radio and MTV hit. It was not a typical progressive metal song, but nonetheless it opened Queensrÿche's music to a whole new legion of fans, which in turn had an effect on the popularity of other progressive metal bands of the time. In 1993, Dream Theater's Pull Me Under (from 1992's Images and Words) became popular on radio and MTV. It is a more typical progressive metal song than "Silent Lucidity", but still more accurately described as straight heavy metal.

Bands who emerged in the 1990s, such as Pain of Salvation, Opeth, Ayreon, Tool, and Symphony X each inadverently re-invented the wheel with their styles, straying from the traditional sounds of Dream Theater and Fates Warning into their own signature sound. Pain of Salvation and Opeth drew heavily on more obscure 70s prog acts for their influence, Tool took elements from bands like King Crimson and mixing it with alternative rock influences, Ayreon stayed with the traditional Prog Metal themes, but mixing with Rock Opera influences to make a unique result, while Symphony X married progressive elements to Power metal, bridging the gap between the two subgenres.

Also important to the development of progressive metal was a greater emphasis on the technical aspects metal that arose almost simultaneously in the 80's,. At the forefront were bands like Watchtower, Atheist and Cynic, all of three of whom displayed incredible complexity in their song structures and virtuosity in their instrumental work. These bands by and large stood apart from the standard definition of progressive metal. Atheist and Cynic, despite their role in incorporating jazz elements were invariably placed amidst the death metal camp, due to their usage of growled vocals.

Currently progressive metal stands on the principle of using all the past traits associated with it. While many bands still look back to other rock bands for inspiration, progressive metal's pioneer bands are now often cited as influences amongst this newest generation. Bands like Sun Caged and Circus Maximus showcase a heavy influence derived from both traditional progressive metal and several of the first wave of 1990s bands. Bands like Dark Suns or Conscience look to the influences of Opeth, Pain of Salvation, Tiamat and Anathema to find their own interesting sound. Tiamat can more considered be Progressive metal band and organitors of "modern progressive metal" sound.
Diversity:
Progressive metal can be broken down into countless sub-genres corresponding to certain other styles of music that have influenced progressive metal groups. For example, two bands that are commonly identified as progressive metal, King's X and Opeth, are at opposite ends of the sonic spectrum to one another. King's X are greatly influenced by softer mainstream rock and, in fact contributed to the growth of grunge influencing bands like Pearl Jam, whose bassist Jeff Ament once said, "King's X invented grunge". Opeth's growling vocals and heavy guitars (liberally intermixed with gothic-evocative acoustic passages) often see them cited as death metal, yet Mikael Åkerfeldt refers to Yes and Camel as major influences in the style of their music.

Classical and symphonic music have also had a significant impact on sections of the progressive metal genre, with bands such as Devin Townsend, Symphony X and Shadow Gallery fusing traditional progressive metal with a complexity and grandeur usually found in classical compositions. Similarly, bands such as Liquid Tension Experiment and Planet X have a jazz influence, with extended solo sections that often feature "trading solos". Cynic and Pestilence also blended jazz/fusion with death metal. Devin Townsend has a more Ambient inflences in the atmosphere of his music. Similarly, Tool exhibits a dark, haunting atmosphere that has its roots in bands like King Crimson and Black Sabbath. Progressive metal is also often linked with power metal, hence the ProgPower music festival. Prog metal has also overlapped thrash metal. Most famously perhaps with Dark Angel's swansong album Time Does Not Heal, which was famous for its sticker that said "9 Songs, 68 Minutes, 246 Riffs".

There's frequently a common mistake about progressive metal being confused with avant-garde metal. And people often intermix them. But they are both distinct stylistic tendencies though: While progressive metal, like avant-garde metal, is also a genre which favours experimentation and non-standard ideas, there are rather large differences between the two forms (although, confusingly, there is also quite a bit of overlap between the two genres). One of the most striking differences is that the experimentation of progressive metal lies mostly in complex rhythms and song structures, while the genre usually sticks to a more traditional instrumentation, whereas in avant-garde metal the usage of unusual sounds plays usually a fundamental role. Progressive metal puts a larger emphasis on technicity and theoretical considerations whereas Avant-garde metal is more unorthodox and tends to question many of the musical conventions. Also the latter rather puts emphasis on unusal sounds and often tries to ignore or challenge theoretical considerations.

Note: The above is mostly copied from wikipedia, and therefore, belongs to them. Full site: Wikipedia

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Does this mean we're restricted only to that definition of Prog? sad