Year in Metal: 1992

Here's where we start to see traditional and thrash metal fading and death and black metal rising.

ALICE IN CHAINS: DIRT
I am a huge fan of Alice in Chains. One of the earliest groups that got me interested in metal. Alice in Chains is wrongfully lumped in with grunge because it came from the same geographical area. By the Seattle connection, it's surprising that groups like Metal Church, Nevermore, and Queensryche were never called grunge. Alice in Chains owes a massive debt to groups like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple in their music, definitely metal.

CANNIBAL CORPSE: TOMB OF THE MUTILATED
I've been debating about Cannibal Corpse albums to put in here for a couple of posts now. This one gets the call because it includes the famous song "Hammer Smashed Face" which was featured in a scene in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. This was a very early exposure to death metal for me. Cannibal Corpse essentially laid out the framework for death metal for years to come: heavy riffs, pounding drums, deep guttural vocals, and gory lyrics. Bands have been copying the formula ever since.

DANZIG: III-HOW THE GODS KILL
Another band I have been trying to get into these posts for awhile. Danzig is an enigma. His musical roots lay in punk (The Misfits are still the only punk band I listen to) and 1950's rock and roll. Yet he puts out very good gothic, doomy metal albums such as this one. Yes, he still reverts back to his other roots, but the metal is undeniable. "Dirty Black Summer" is a great song, and the H.R. Giger art adds to the mystique of the album.

DEICIDE: LEGION
This is occult death metal kicked up to an insane speed. No one is quite sure just what the hell Glen Benton is roaring about, but with these songs, these riffs, and this dark, unholy atmosphere, who the hell cares? This is Deicide's second album and it set the early high mark for this band's releases. They descended into mediocrity for a long time immediately after this album, so this is still the early favorite. Still, like Cannibal Corpse, Deicide is often imitated and never really surpassed. Truly evil death metal.

FEAR FACTORY: SOUL OF A NEW MACHINE
Fear Factory quite possibly originated the clean/harsh vocal style mix. They also brought industrial influences into death metal. All that and this is one absolutely kickass album. It does tend to drag near the end, but the beginning is mindblowing. It's hard to imagine now, but this album created major waves when it was released. No one had heard anything quite like Fear Factory. Death metal with clean vocals and industrial influences, what a concept.

Honorable Mentions: Black Sabbath: Dehumanizer, Blind Guardian: Somewhere Far Beyond, Bolt Thrower: The IVth Crusade, Dream Theater: Images and Words, Faith No More: Angel Dust, Iced Earth: Night of the Stormrider, Immortal: Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism, Iron Maiden: Fear of the Dark, Megadeth: Countdown to Extinction, Pantera: Vulgar Display of Power, Testament: The Ritual, W.A.S.P.: The Crimson Idol

Bands that formed in 1992: Cruachan, Edguy, Gorgoroth, Graveworm, Machine Head, Mourning Beloveth, Moonspell, Necrophagist.