There are some Metal albums that I would describe as Progressive;
Watchtower's "Energetic Disassembly" - although I fully agree this is not "Prog" per se, rather it's a collection of outrageously technically oriented thrash riffs under a sheen of Samson-esque NWoBHM which gets old pretty quickly.
It's a fascinating listen though, especially given the time of its release - you can hear why Metallica suddenly decided to take a more technically oriented route with "...And Justice For All" in the light of such fretboard fireworks.
Naked City's self-titled album from 1990 is another fascinating listen - a mixture of Napalm Death and jazz.
In the same kind of vein (but better) is John Zorn and Fred Frith's "Art of Memory" from 1995, and Fantomas' "Suspended Animation" from 2005. Prog Archives describes these as "Avant Prog" (whatever the **** that is), but it's not - it's metal at its core.
Spastic Ink are another band well worth checking out for the "real stuff" - kind of like Watchtower done properly. Guitar wizard Ron Jarzombek has done some other impressive projects, such as Blotted Science - but none really hit the mark as well as "Ink Complete".
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