Heavy Metal 1990s Albums - Page 2

True Obsessions centers on Marty Friedman’s singing lead voice and his distinctive use of Eastern and Middle Eastern scale colors.

Load finds Metallica looking for new kinds of weight through thick groove, bluesy riffs and more reflective vocals rather than relying only on thrash speed.

Written in the Sand is built carefully around Michael Schenker’s fluid, singing guitar voice and a melodic hard-rock framework.

Released on 15 October 1996, Overnight Sensation is the first album made by the three-piece of Lemmy, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee, after Würzel's departure.

End of All Days keeps the symphonic imagination opened up by its predecessor in the background while returning Rage’s speed and riff-driven momentum to the front.

Lingua Mortis places Rage’s heavy metal directly against orchestral force and greatly expands the music’s dramatic scope.

Pure Instinct places Scorpions’ melodic strength inside a more restrained, adult atmosphere.

A mid-1990s album from the period when SINNER toured with Mr. Big and Savatage. Japan had its own edition through Zero Corporation.

Undisputed Attitude releases Slayer’s love of punk and hardcore at relentless speed.

X Japan's fifth album, out on 4 November 1996. It is the last before the band broke up, and the last to carry new work by hide.

Inspiration revisits songs that shaped Yngwie Malmsteen and shows him playing not only for virtuoso display, but for melody and vocal expression.

Stomp 442 keeps Anthrax’s thrash energy but shifts the emphasis toward lower-slung riffs and heavier groove.

Forbidden centers on Tony Iommi’s heavy riffs while bringing together the melodic side of the Tony Martin era and a harder mid-1990s edge.

Dysfunctional reunites Don Dokken, George Lynch, Jeff Pilson and Mick Brown, bringing Dokken’s tense melodic metal back with a more contemporary weight.

The X Factor opens a new Iron Maiden chapter with Blaze Bayley, pursuing darker air, heavier weight and longer song structures than before.

The eight soundtrack and tribute tracks Megadeth never put on a studio album, gathered onto one 1995 Capitol EP.

Sacrifice, released on 27 March 1995, began the band's long association with SPV / Steamhammer of Germany and is the last album to feature Würzel, who had played guitar since 1984.

Outrage's sixth album, out on 25 May 1995. Megalomania, which opens it, is still played live today.

Ozzmosis pairs Zakk Wylde’s thick guitar work with Ozzy Osbourne’s unmistakably uneasy, vulnerable voice.

Black in Mind uses Rage’s heavy riffs and intelligent shifts to create a dark, unsettling world.

Stranger in Us All revives Rainbow through Ritchie Blackmore’s hard-edged riffs and folk-tinged melodic instincts.

A live album recorded in Japan. Gallagher has since said he had laryngitis when it was taped.

The Brethren of the Long House shapes Riot’s strong riffs and rising melodies into narrative-minded power metal.

Savatage's ninth album, released in September 1995: a rock opera set in wartime Sarajevo, whose "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)" caught on with American radio.

Saxon's twelfth album, from September 1995 and the last to feature Graham Oliver. It falls in a period of change in both the sound and the line-up.

A mid-1990s record for No Bull Records; Zero Corporation issued the Japanese edition.

UFO's fourteenth album, out first in Japan on 15 April 1995, reunited Phil Mogg and Pete Way with Michael Schenker, Paul Raymond and Andy Parker.

Balance keeps Van Halen’s sense of lift while moving into a heavier, more reflective atmosphere.

Still Not Black Enough frames Blackie Lawless’ anger and isolation through the large riffs and theatrical vocal character associated with W.A.S.P.

Musically Incorrect strips Y&T back to straight-ahead hard rock centered on Dave Meniketti’s voice and guitar.

Magnum Opus gathers Yngwie Malmsteen’s baroque-minded melodies, fast rhythms and spark-throwing guitar into a large-scale design.

Death Row finds ACCEPT in a phase that takes Accept into a heavier, darker direction through down-tuned guitars and a colder overall atmosphere.

Cross Purposes finds BLACK SABBATH in a phase that lets the Tony Martin-era lineup balance Sabbath's ominous weight with unusually clear melodic definition.

Inside Out, FATES WARNING's seventh album, is mature progressive metal that lets complex meters and tight ensemble work flow quietly inside the songs.

Heavy Metal Hippies is the eleventh Loudness album, released in Japan on 21 December 1994. After Taiji Sawada and Munetaka Higuchi left, Hirotsugu Homma came in on drums and Akira Takasaki played the bass parts himself. Chris Tsangarides recorded and mixed it.

Introduction is a MARTY FRIEDMAN instrumental album that weighs exotic melody, the afterglow of tone and the use of space as much as speed.

Youthanasia finds MEGADETH in a phase that keeps Megadeth's thrash-born tension while shifting weight toward thick mid-tempo motion and denser melody.

A sixth album issued first in Japan on Epic/Sony; the European Massacre pressing followed in 1995.

Promised Land finds QUEENSRŸCHE in a phase that deliberately steps away from the broad success of Empire and explores a darker, more inward sound.

10 Years in Rage is a useful way to hear RAGE from a different angle within the 1994 catalogue.

A 1994 album, twelve tracks cut at Showplace Studios in Dover, New Jersey.

Savatage's eighth album, released in August 1994, less than a year after Criss Oliva's death, with Alex Skolnick of Testament on lead guitar.

Divine Intervention is SLAYER's sixth album and first studio record with Paul Bostaph on drums, keeping the urgency of merciless thrash intact.

Low finds TESTAMENT in a phase that keeps Testament's thrash precision while moving into lower tuning and heavier groove.

The Seventh Sign is YNGWIE MALMSTEEN's seventh album, pairing his neoclassical speed with the dramatic singing of Mike Vescera.

Objection Overruled is a reunion record on which ACCEPT, with Udo Dirkschneider back, reasserts its core of steel-edged riffs and sing-along choruses.

Sound of White Noise finds ANTHRAX in a phase that marks a transition for Anthrax, bringing heavier groove and darker vocal character into a thrash-built frame.

Dio's sixth studio album, released in Europe in October 1993 after Ronnie James Dio's Black Sabbath reunion on Dehumanizer, with Tracy G on guitar.

Hanging in the Balance, METAL CHURCH's fifth album, keeps the weight of traditional metal and builds drama on Mike Howe's powerful vocals.

Bastards was released on 11 October 1993 by ZYX of Germany. Twelve tracks, and the first album on which Mikkey Dee plays drums throughout.

Outrage's fifth album, out on 25 September 1993, from the point at which they began taking in elements from well outside thrash metal.

A fifth album that rebuilds the band's own songs, revisiting "Please Don't Leave Me" and "Savage Heart" in another form.

The Missing Link finds RAGE in a phase that layers heavy riffing, dramatic movement and introspective color onto Rage’s speed-metal sharpness.

Nightbreaker finds RIOT in a phase that introduces a new vocal presence while carrying Riot’s sharp traditional-metal riffs and large melodies into a harder modern frame.

Savatage's seventh album, released in April 1993: the first with singer Zak Stevens, and the last album Criss Oliva lived to complete.