Duber,

With all due respect, I don't see how you can group Tool and QOSTA with the likes of Megadeth and Metallica.   First of all, most of time Tool has a punk/grunge edge, and I wouldn't consider them a metal band. QOSTA are clearly in the prog rock vein, but again, not all prog is metal, and they don't fall into the metal genre unless your definition of "metal" is very broad.  Aside from that, your review of the various bands' musicality is helpful.  I don't listen to very much of those bands listed, but have heard most of them.

I do find some of the QOSTA stuff interesting, because it's pretty creative, though a tad noisy.  Great guitar grooves and some downright Zep takeoffs(ripoffs to some degree)...definitely migraine material after about 3 tracks, but again..interesting.

Correct me if you think I'm way off base here, but METAL to me always conjures up a picture of guys who look like cavemen with long straggly hair, various panoramic tattoos on their arms (at least, sometimes elsewhere..), and who just about always celebrate these ridiculously fast guitar passages, which are very classical sounding, kinda like Bach all speeded up.  All that, and with plenty of crunch; songs with cheery themes of death, dying and armageddon.  Amp of choice, noneother than Mesa Boogie....

My fav though is those guys who take it one step further into Death Metal, Dirge etc...with the speeded up polyrythmic drum tempos, and the very slowed-down demonic vocals.  I think they tune their guitars down a half-step also...make it deeper, more serious sounding.  I do appreciate their musicianship, but sometimes I gotta laugh after hearing that stuff.  Ever heard a band called...(I'm not kidding..)..Ass-Suck?   They are actually quite good, Death Metal vein...and, I was surprised that those undecipherable slowed-demonic vocals, when translated, came out to be some very intelligent, articulate lyrics that were thoughtful and political. 

I suppose the dilemma, if there is one (or I've just got too much time on my hands), is...maybe all prog is metal (to some degree), but the converse just doesn't seem to be true.

Gene