Technical metal is a sub-genre of metal that takes the compositional structures of progressive metal to its furthest extremes, resulting in extremely complex and often experimental music. Songs also sometimes exhibit a fast, shred-like playing style. The earliest bands to develop this sound were Meshuggah and Cynic, while some current bands include Spiral Architect and Aghora.

Although related, this genre is distinct from technical death metal. Technical metal may stray into death metal at points, but it has less of a focus on heaviness and high tempos, instead focusing more on abnormal rhythmic structures and experimental styles.