Year in Metal: 1987

Let's keep this going, shall we?

ANTHRAX: AMONG THE LIVING
I have never been a big Anthrax fan. In fact, of the Big 4 of American thrash, Anthrax is my least favorite. However, this is undeniably a great album from the band. Anthrax has always been lighter-hearted than their more serious brethren and this album definitely demonstrates this. This is a fun, catchy album that is essential for any thrash metal fans. That's not to say that it is not a heavy album, Anthrax shows off some great riffs and has always had a gift for speed. If you only get one Anthrax album, this is the one I would recommend.

BATHORY: UNDER THE SIGN OF THE BLACK MARK
Here we have what is quite possibly the first fully-formed black metal album. Bathory had been pushing the boundaries for a little while, but this is one album that can be heard today and easily identified as black metal. Bathory took thrash metal riffs and made something unholy out of them. Many black metal bands that emerged from Norway in the late 1980's/early 1990's modeled their sound after this album. Kind of odd, considering Bathory was Swedish and there was such a backlash among Norwegian artists against Swedish artists.

DEATH: SCREAM BLOODY GORE
From the first black metal album to one of the first death metal albums. This is the debut album from Death. Even at this early stage in the band's career, it was clear that Chuck Schuldiner was calling all the shots as he played guitar, bass, and provided the vocals. This album took thrash and played it with more distortion and it clearly defined what death metal was to sound like. Bands in previous years had come close, but this album was the breakthrough. This is the band that truly kickstarted the genre.

HOLY MOSES: FINISHED WITH THE DOGS
Holy Moses is a massively underrated thrash metal band. Coming from Germany around the same time as Kreator, Sodom, and Destruction, somehow Holy Moses got lost in the shuffle. It is possible that they were not taken seriously due to their vocalist, Sabina Classen. It's not a gimmick, Classen is a terrific frontwoman and one of the very first women in extreme metal. Her snarling vocals really matched with the razor-sharp riffs and blazing solos. Holy Moses is one of the best bands from the German thrash scene but have unfairly not been given the attention they deserve.

KING DIAMOND: ABIGAIL
Wow, I keep managing to get King Diamond/Mercyful Fate in here. That's how massively important that the man, King Diamond, was to the metal scene in the 1980's. This is the solo band's second album and the measuring stick against which all other albums from the band would be compared. This is King's greatest horror story, a story about the evil spirit of a child planning to be reborn again. The music is terrific once again, marked by more melody than Mercyful Fate previously had. King's vocals are once again the focus and they remain incredible.

Honorable Mentions: Death Angel: The Ultra Violence, Dio: Dream Evil, Exodus: Pleasures of the Flesh, Helloween: Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt. 1, Kreator: Terrible Certainty, Savatage: Hall of the Mountain King, Suicidal Tendencies: Join the Army, Testament: The Legacy, Voivod: Killing Technology.

Bands that formed in 1987: Alice in Chains, Asphyx, Autopsy, Burzum, Cynic, Danzig. Darkthrone, Deicide, Entombed, Meshuggah, Nitro, Primordial, Therion.