Year in Metal: 1986

Bet you were expecting Metallica's Master of Puppets right? Wrong. I don't want to cover that one because it has been discussed to death by many people who believe it to be the greatest metal album ever. Who's to say they're wrong? But, this is my blog, and I want to do albums that are not as well-known. You won't see Slayer here either today.

CANDLEMASS: EPICUS DOOMICUS METALLICUS
Candlemass's debut album is still their strongest in my opinion, despite the fact that their most notable vocalist Messiah Marcolin had yet to join the band. Vocals on this album were handled by Johan Langqvist, who did have some solid vocals, but did not have the same emotional sound that Messiah did. The songwriting of Leif Edling is amazing and always has been. This album did feature the classic "Solitude", which is one of my all-time favorite doom metal songs.

DARK ANGEL: DARKNESS DESCENDS
Debate rages about what the greatest all-time thrash metal album is. I have heard this album mentioned many times during those discussions. While I do not believe it is the answer to the question, it is certainly in the running. Dark Angel took the brutality and speed of prior thrash metal bands and kicked it up a notch. This album is incredible, featuring some of the best thrash metal riffs ever. This album certainly deserves its place in the pantheon of legendary thrash metal albums. It's a shame the band is not better known.

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM: DOOMSDAY FOR THE DECEIVER
The debut album from Flotsam and Jetsam is also still their strongest album. This is also the only album with Jason Newsted on bass, who would later of course join Metallica to replace Cliff Burton. This album is more of a power/thrash metal album with its soaring vocals and emphasis on melody over aggression. It is still clearly a thrash metal album though, based solely on the riffing style. Newsted actually wrote most of the lyrics on the album, proving that he was vastly underused in Metallica.

KREATOR: PLEASURE TO KILL
I have mentioned it before on this blog, but I have a difficult time picking favorites in the German thrash metal scene. However, picking my favorite album is easy. It's this one obviously. I believe this is where everything came together for Kreator. Their prior material was a little uneven, and that still shows on this one, particularly with the use of two vocalists. But the songwriting and riffing tightened up considerably. This album was also instrumental in the formation of death metal with its extreme aggression and powerful riffs. A classic. If you only hear one German thrash metal album, make it this one.

SEPULTURA: MORBID VISIONS
The roots of death and black metal came up in a variety of places that would seem a little unusual given the two genres most famous scenes. Sepultura, the Brazilian thrash metal band, released their debut album in 1986, and what a debut it was. The album can arguably be considered a very early example of death metal and it helped to influence the still burgeoning black metal scene as well. This is som raw, filthy stuff here. Sepultura would tone down this sound over the next couple of albums, emerging as a more refined thrash metal band, but then would constantly change their sound over the years to fit the current trends. But on this album, they were ahead of the game.

Honorable mentions: Carnivore: Carnivore, Destruction: Eternal Devastation, Iron Maiden: Somewhere in Time, King Diamond: Fatal Portrait, Megadeth: Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?, Metal Church: The Dark, Metallica: Master of Puppets, Motorhead: Orgasmatron, Ozzy Osbourne: The Ultimate Sin, Slayer: Reign in Blood

Bands that formed in 1986: Bolt Thrower, Grave, Immolation, Prong, Vader.