30 heavy albums turning 30 in 2024

It's pretty amazing that Melvins were on a major label, and it seems absolutely impossible that they lasted on Atantic for three albums. Truthfully, Atlantic cared so little about Melvins, they continues releasing singles, an album, and a box set on other labels... and none of it was archival, it was new material. Stoner Witch is front loaded with fast and heavy songs, and then capped off with three bizarre instrumentals. This band has always subverted expectations.

What do you do when you're the sideman for arguably the world's biggest metal singer and he "retires"? Why, you turn your thoughts to southern swamp rock, of course! Zakk Wylde's sudden shift to Allman Brothers style jams in 1994 was a mild shock to fans, but the fans found they liked his new direction. The trio was rounded out by bassist James LoMenzo (White Lion) and drummer Brian Tichy. However, by October 1994, Pride & Glory were finished. But fear not — Ozzy Osbourne un-retired in 1995, and Wylde rejoined him in 2001.

It's easy to look back and ask what should've been done differently. Should Megadeth have cut their hair? Should they have waited another year or two for their next album? On Youthanasia, we're seeing the last gasp of the Rust In Peace lineup of Megadeth, they had one more album in them, but it didn't really work out for them. In its time, Youthanasia didn't sell well when compared to their breakthrough Countdown To Extinction, but today a lot of fans consider it one of their most intelligent and listenable records. Unfortunately, the popular music landscape had already largely moved on and couldn't be bothered.

Whether you blame Faith No More, The Judgment Night Soundtrack, or Blondie ("Rapture" is a jam), Nu Metal was a big deal and has been going through a re-evaluation as of late. Korn's self-titled debut album is often called "the first nu metal album." That descriptor ignores Rage Against the Machine's self-titled debut from two years earlier, but I digress. No matter who you blame, or who came first, Korn mixes hip-hop inspired beats with down-tuned guitars (and bagpipes!) syncopated to feel like a punch in the throat.

North Carolina's Corrosion of Conformity began life as a hardcore band, then crossover thrash, then metal, then stoner rock (before it was cool). 1991's Blind started to get them greater attention, but 1994's Deliverance was the major label debut that put them on the map. The album is an amazing slab of Sabbath worship that the band has been trying to replicate ever since.

When the musical landscape changes, you can adapt, or you can do what Slayer did and dig in deep and stay the course. A lot had changed in the four years from 1990's Seasons In the Abyss to 1994's Divine Intervention. The only thing Slayer changed was drummers, swapping out Dave Lombardo for Paul Bostaph. At the time, the album has a mixed reception, but the nice thing about staying the same through cultural changes — it's less embarrassing when you look back.

Helmet hit big in 1992 with "Unsung" from their major label debut, Meantime. The band had a lot riding on their followup, 1994's Betty. The band's unique fusion of alt-metal, post-hardcore, and noise rock was present, but they started to add flourishes of jazz and blues. Some fans had trouble following the plot. At the time it was released, reception for Betty was lukewarm, but over the years its legacy has only grown and is regarded as fairly influential.

Pantera's Far Beyond Driven is one of the few heavy music triumphs of 1994. While not as critically well-received as Vulgar Display of Power, Driven debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and was their fastest-selling album. It was certified Platinum in the United States, Australia, and Canada, and certified Gold in Japan and the United Kingdom. While the album meanders a little bit, it does close with a fantastic, faithful, and unexpected cover of Black Sabbath's "Planet Caravan".

Prong's trajectory through their first three albums includes hardcore, crossover thrash, and groove metal. On their fourth album, Cleansing, they were exploring industrial sounds with new bass player Paul Raven (ex-Killing Joke) and keyboardist John Bechdel (Ministry). The result was what is often referred to as the band's best album. The biggest single, "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck" has been covered by several bands who see Prong as an influence.

Killing Joke has always been a hard band to pin down. With Pandemonium, we got to see the band on their third reunion, and a return to post-punk mixed with some industrial sounds. Guitarist Geordie Walker's guitar (R.I.P., 1958-2023) was as incendiary as ever, and Jaz Coleman's vocals and lyrics were as insane and thought provoking as you would expect.

Former Vio-kence guitarist Robb Flynn formed Machine Head in 1991. The band released their debut Burn My Eyes in 1994, and they were immediately granted goodwill from the metal community... which they immediately squandered and re-earned over and over again through the last three decades. Despite what you think about Machine Head's scattershot discography or Flynn and his rotating cast of musicians, Burn My Eyes is a classic.

Canada's Front Line Assembly is probably one of the last artists you'd think of when thinking of heavy album releases. The band's then-label Third Mind was bought out by Roadrunner, and it's hard to say if it was label pressure or a natural progression, but Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber went all in on industrial metal. Sampling Metallica, Pantera, and Sepultura, as well as featuring live guitars by a then-unknown Devin Townsend, the result is a slab of heavy, and sometimes unsettling, music.

Sepultura's Max Cavalera and Fudge Tunnel's Alex Newport were just hanging out and showing each other riffs, when Max's wife Gloria said they should make a band out of it. It wasn't supposed to be a real project, just some messing around, but naturally Roadrunner Records was interested. Their sole album, Point Blank, still looms large in metal circles with its mix of thrash, drum machines, and distorted (and uncleared!) samples. The group played one show before calling it quits — for good — in 1995.

NYHC went mainstream (kind of) when Sick of It All signed with Warner Bros. imprint East West Records in 1993. When Scratch the Surface was released in 1994, it may not have been the breakthrough the label was hoping for, but it did allow the band to reach middle America and all the other rural areas where they were unknown prior. This allowed Sick of It All to have the longevity most hardcore bands can't manage.

While a lot of established acts were faltering in the face of the changing musical landscape, the next decade's headliners were putting out their first albums. Salem, Massachusett's Converge released their self-funded debut, Halo in a Haystack, only in 1,000 copies of black vinyl. The album has never been reissued in any format, although nine of the album ten tracks have appeared on other compilation albums.

Even if you count the time before Kyuss was Kyuss, they only existed for eight years in their first run, before splintering into a mess of different projects. While the different members have been fighting over the last three decades, the slab of stoner rock contained in Welcome To Sky Valley remains a favorite of their rabid fan base. Will they reunite to play this album in its entirety? No, probably not, but stranger reunions have happened.

Of course, sometimes there are bands that should have a bigger following. Toronto's Monster Voodoo Machine released Suffersystem in 1994 on RCA Records, and it haunted used CD bins for the rest of the decade. Not surprising a major label wouldn't know what to do with them, but don't be fooled, the album is an industrial-metal rocket ride, with guest appearances from Leslie Rankine (Silverfish, Ruby), Roddy Bottum (Faith No More), and Wesley Willis (!).

San Diego's Drive Like Jehu signed with Interscope for their second (and final) album. Yank Crime exists at a crossroad where math-rock meets post hardcore, and the result is an abrasive yet listenable outing. While the album never took off in the mainstream, Yank Crime was heavily influential in the post-hardcore and emo scenes.

In 1993, Danzig had found great success on MTV with the live version of "Mother". The band used that goodwill to attempt to broaden their sound, however slightly, by adding wind chimes, recorders, and harmoniums. These really amped up the atmosphere with their songs about sex with demons and black masses. Danzig 4 (or sometimes, Danzig 4P) would be the last album from the original lineup, as drummer Chuck Biscuits was fired, while guitarist John Christ and bassist Eerie Von quit after the supporting tour.

Some bands, whether by accident or by design, were able to use the reduced spotlight to broaden their sound. Testament lost guitarist Alex Skolnik and drummer Louie Clemente, and then lost their replacements before they even entered the studio to record Low. The resulting album used the bedrock of thrash, and then explored death metal, hard rock, and groove metal to create an album that was critically well-received, despite having no charting singles.

After Biohazard's Urban Discipline broke through in 1992 ("Punishment" was the most played video on Headbanger's Ball at the time), they were poised for a huge followup. After the diversions of remixing Onyx's "Slam" and appearing with them on the Judgment Night Soundtrack, it seemed natural to have Cypress Hill's Sen Dog and House of Pain's DJ Lethal on the lead single. The gambit paid off them, and reviews for State of the World Address were strong for the band as they were seen as "forward thinking". It wouldn't last however, as this would be the last album from the original lineup until 2012.

Today, tribute albums are mostly handled by smaller, niche labels. In the '90s, however, they were big business for major labels. It helps that people actually bought albums 30 years ago. Columbia Records assembled a collection of (mostly) new covers, and some new one-off "supergroups" for the project, featuring legends Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford, as well as original Sabbath members Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Ward, and Geezer Butler. If nothing else, we received outstanding covers by Type O Negative, Sepultura, and Corrosion of Conformity, among others.

(You can call it entry 22.5 if you like — Priority Records released their own Sabbath tribute in 1994 titled Eternal Masters, which is a more extreme take on the Sabbath catalog featuring Sacred Reich, Cannibal Corpse, Exhorder, and more.)

Starting in 1989 as Social Justice, the group self-released an album and EP under this name before rebranding as downset. in 1992. With a foundation of hardcore, downset. fused elements of funk and politically charged rap, which gained the attention of Mercury Records. downset. was their major label debut, featuring their lead single "Anger" (with the offending Rage Against the Machine diss removed). downset. is a fiery album that not only makes the body move, but engages the mind as well.

You'd be forgiven for dismissing Circle of Dust as a "Christian" rock band, that is, if you had never heard them. Klayton (Circle of Dust's sole member) takes a page from industrial metallers Ministry, KMFDM, and their ilk. The band was originally called Brainchild and the album Mindwarp was released in 1992. However, Klayton was unhappy with the result and re-recorded the entire album as Circle of Dust in 1994. Brainchild is a frantic and aggressive blast, and don't worry about being radicalized, the lyrics are indecipherable anyway.

While most of the world was looking backward, sole remaining original Black Sabbath member Tony Iommi was looking forward. After 1992's semi-disastrous reunion with Ronnie James Dio, Iommi brought back singer Tony Martin and enlisted new drummer Bobby Rondinelli (Rainbow, Quiet Riot). Sabbath signed with I.R.S. Records, which was more known for alternative and college rock at that time. While Cross Purposes isn't regarded today as a great album, it is definitely higher regarded than their final I.R.S. album, 1995's Forbidden.

After the controversy of "Cop Killer", the world at large just assumed the band would go away. Not so. After getting dropped from Warner Bros., Body Count signed with Virgin Records and released their second album, Born Dead. While the album suffers from the sophomore slump, it does have a surprisngly good cover of "Hey Joe", based on the Jimi Hendrix rendition (which was also featured on Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix).

When Bruce Dickinson left Iron Maiden in 1993, he apparently needed something to do other than fly commercial Boeing 747s and write books. Dickinson recorded an entire album with British band Skin, and then scrapped it, deciding that it wasn't strong enough. He assembled a band from scratch and Balls to Picasso was the result. When the original artwork was deemed not cost effective, he simply drew two squares on a public bathroom wall, and the rest, as they say, was history. Well, maybe not history, exactly, but it made for an interesting story. The album was generally well-received (better received than Iron Maiden's The X-Factor, anyway), and saw Dickinson go in a more hard rock direction.

Would you ever expect a band like Napalm Death to be on a major label? No one else expected it, but Fear, Emptiness, Despair was released by Columbia Records... through a partnership with Earache, of course. Naturally, Columbia had their influence in the mix, and more elements of groove metal were present. In the end, however, Napalm Death is Napalm Death. While some members of the band were unhappy with the final product, the album was generally well received.

New Jersey's Overkill released their seventh album in 1994, which would be their last for Atlantic Records. The fact that they were able to release five albums on Atlantic is a minor miracle. W.F.O. sees the band adding elements of doom and stoner to their unique brand of thrash metal. Although W.F.O. was critically loved, sales were not there to support the album. This would be their final album with guitarists Rob Cannavino and Merritt Gant.

In 1992, everyone's favorite Danish heavy metal band reunited! Mercyful Fate's 1993 album, In the Shadows was well-regarded, and 1994's Time continued that tradition. The album was another 47 minutes of horror-themed metal (heavy of the H.P. Lovecraft). The great thing about Mercyful Fate (and King Diamond) is that they are never afraid to be overly theatric, even if that makes them seem a little silly.