2001 Metal & Hard Rock Albums

Lacuna Coil's second album and their first as a six-piece, recorded with Waldemar Sorychta in late 2000 and released in January 2001.

Cathedral's sixth album, released in February 2001. Produced by Billy Anderson, it strips the band back to the dark, heavy doom of their early days.

Savatage's eleventh album, released in 2001: their first after leaving Atlantic, with Jon Oliva singing every lead vocal for the first time since Streets.

Paradise Lost's eighth album, released by EMI Electrola on 26 February 2001 and produced by John Fryer; the band remixed and remastered it in 2018.

Sepultura's eighth studio album, from 2001, their last for Roadrunner and the one with the most guests.

Fear Factory's fourth studio album, from April 2001, and the record that closes the trilogy begun with Demanufacture.

Kreator's tenth studio album, from 2001, the record on which they returned to the thrash metal of the 1980s.

HIM's third album, from August 2001. It came out of an eleven-month production that went badly, and it is the first HIM album with the keyboard player Janne Puurtinen on it.

Saxon's fifteenth album, released in 2001. It includes a King Crimson cover and reached twenty-six in Germany.

Tool's third album, released on 15 May 2001 after their dispute with Volcano was settled: their first Billboard 200 number one.

System of a Down's second album, out on 4 September 2001. It brings in sitar and banjo and leans far more on melody and singing than the debut did.

Converge's fourth album, issued by Equal Vision on 4 September 2001. It is the first record with bassist Nate Newton and drummer Ben Koller.

Sigh's fifth album, from 2001. It was their first for Century Media, taking the experiments of the previous record further and adding a psychedelic streak.

Opeth's fifth album, out on 12 March 2001. It is the first record Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree produced for them.

Rammstein's third album, out on 2 April 2001. The sleeve is a photograph of a dead foetus, and it yielded six singles, more than any other Rammstein record.

Moonsorrow's second album, out on 26 November 2001. The title means "of strength and honour", and the record holds six pieces.

Ensiferum's debut album, issued by Spinefarm in July 2001. It is the first record by a band that calls its own music melodic folk metal.

Neurosis's seventh album, from 2001. It turns towards clean singing and acoustic instruments, and Decibel placed it eighteenth in its metal albums of the decade.

Andrew W.K.'s debut album, issued by Island Records in November 2001. "Party Hard" and "She Is Beautiful" were taken from it as singles.

DRAGONLAND's 2001 debut album and the opening chapter of the band's self-produced fantasy saga, The Dragonland Chronicles. Released by the Greek label Black Lotus Records and engineered by Andy LaRocque, it is symphonic power metal in the classic Swedish mould.

The seventh L.A. Guns studio album, released by Spitfire Records on 24 April 2001 — the first with Phil Lewis back on vocals. Ten songs.

Seven Hills is Anthem's eighth studio album, released on 22 August 2001. It is the first record of the band's second era, restarted by Naoto Shibata nine years after the 1992 split on the condition that it be a band living in the present rather than a nostalgia act.

Pandemonium is the sixteenth Loudness album, released on 21 November 2001, just eight months after the reunited line-up's first record. All the music is credited to Loudness and all the lyrics to Minoru Niihara.

Spiritual Canoe is the first album by the reunited original line-up, released on 7 March 2001. It was the first time Takasaki, Niihara, Yamashita and Higuchi had recorded together since Jealousy in 1988.

A live album from the band's 1999 performance at Wacken Open Air, issued by Spitfire Records in 2001. The band's own discography lists it as Live At Wacken, Germany '99.

A live album from the band's 1981 concert at Rock City in Nottingham, issued by Spitfire Records in 2001. It documents the Spellbound-era line-up, with John Sykes on guitar, and was reissued in 2018 as Hellbound Spellbound Live 1981. It is on no streaming service, so this page leads with the sleeve.

The studio album that broke the long silence after the 1980s split, released by Z Records in 2001. It is the first record of the band Robb Weir restarted.

Just Push Play brings digital textures and pop-minded hooks into Aerosmith’s blues-rooted framework.

Am Universum expands Amorphis beyond a heavy-guitar base with keyboards, saxophone and clean vocals.

Rebirth presents Angra’s renewed lineup through Brazilian rhythmic color and grand power metal.

Carnival Diablos centers on Jeff Waters’s sharp riffs and technical guitar work while expanding thrash momentum through varied arrangements.

Wages of Sin by ARCH ENEMY: track list, Spotify player and English liner notes on METAL BOOST.

Aura refines the John Payne-era Asia sound through polished melodies and expansive keyboard textures.

The Metal Opera begins Tobias Sammet’s large-scale story with a cast of guest vocalists passing the narrative from voice to voice.

Sounding the Seventh Trumpet is Avenged Sevenfold’s debut, mixing hardcore urgency, melodic-death-metal guitar and classic-metal ambition.

Eyes of Darkness adds darker shades and stronger drama to Axxis’s clear melodic-hard-rock foundation.

Making Enemies Is Good brings Backyard Babies’ street-rock roughness and punk speed into sharp riff-led songs.

Beautiful Creatures is a debut that blends L.A. hard-rock flash with punk roughness.

BLINDMAN combines intricate guitar phrasing with lyrical melody in a polished Japanese melodic-hard-rock record.

Time Bomb retains Buckcherry’s raw rock-and-roll charge while aiming for tighter, more urban hooks.

Cockroach finally presents songs that had remained unreleased for years, organized around two different vocal versions.

Terria uses heavy guitar, but places atmosphere, silence and scale at the center of Devin Townsend’s writing.

Here Comes the Flood is Dreamtide’s debut, built on flowing guitar lines and open, anthemic choruses.

The Truth and a Little More is Eclipse’s debut, combining strong hooks with hard, crisp guitar work.

Arcana is symphonic metal centered on Sabine Edelsbacher’s clear voice and Lanvall’s layered keyboard and guitar work.

Mandrake enlarges Edguy’s bright melodies and fast-moving rhythms without losing their playful energy.

Crystal Empire expands Freedom Call’s upbeat melodies and uplifting choruses into a broader power-metal canvas.

No World Order concentrates Gamma Ray’s speed, clear melody and forceful choruses into a highly focused power-metal record.

III marks Giant’s return after a long break, putting Dann Huff’s voice and guitar back at the center of a strong melodic-rock sound.

Terra Incognita introduces Gojira through complex rhythms, low heavy riffs and abrupt shifts in texture.

Homerun balances Gotthard’s thick guitar riffs and large-scale melodies with impressive ease.

Thank You (For Letting Us Be Ourselves) collides punk speed with glam-rock flash in classic Hardcore Superstar fashion.

Dark Assault combines Iron Savior’s mechanical riffs with a cosmic sense of scale.

Arrival by JOURNEY: track list, Spotify player and English liner notes on METAL BOOST.

Demolition uses Tim “Ripper” Owens’s wide vocal range as Judas Priest explore several shades of heaviness.

Karma by KAMELOT: track list, album artwork and English liner notes on METAL BOOST.

Supercharger channels Machine Head’s low-slung groove through more contemporary rhythms and dense impact.

The World Needs a Hero sees Megadeth move back toward hard riffs and tense songwriting after the broader melodic direction of the late 1990s.

Be Aware of Scorpions puts Michael Schenker’s melodic guitar voice at the heart of every arrangement.

Actual Size captures the Ritchie Kotzen-era balance of funk, hard rock and pop in MR.

Vengeance combines low, heavy guitars with dark melody to solidify Mystic Prophecy’s imposing power-metal profile.

Silver Side Up connects thick guitar riffs and instantly memorable melody with remarkable directness.

Down to Earth sets Ozzy’s unmistakable voice against Zakk Wylde’s thick, riff-led guitar work and a hard-edged early-2000s production.

Endangered presents Pink Cream 69’s melodic hard-rock strengths with a composed, mature touch.

Nuclear Fire places Primal Fear’s heavy riffs and Ralf Scheepers’s piercing high voice with ruthless efficiency.

Guilty Pleasures leans into the catchy choruses and brisk guitar riffs that define Quiet Riot’s hard-rock appeal.

Welcome to the Other Side adds intricate construction and shadowed melody to Rage’s hard riffs and power-metal drive.

Rain of a Thousand Flames intensifies Rhapsody of Fire’s fantasy universe through dense orchestration and choir work.

The Mission is a concept-driven Royal Hunt record that tells its story through thick keyboards and metal riffs.

Acoustica revisits familiar material through the voice, production weight and arrangement sense of its recording period.

God Hates Us All compresses Slayer’s cutting riffs and high-tension rhythms into a brutally direct statement.

Iowa by SLIPKNOT: track list, Spotify player, music videos and English liner notes on METAL BOOST.

A Predator’s Portrait adds more modern rhythm and catchy chorus writing to Soilwork’s melodic-death-metal aggression.

Silence locks Sonata Arctica’s fast rhythms, flowing keyboards and Tony Kakko’s high voice into a particularly focused whole.

First Strike Still Deadly revisits familiar material through the voice, production weight and arrangement sense of its recording period.

Beyond Good and Evil wraps Billy Duffy’s sharp riffs and Ian Astbury’s commanding voice in a dense, hard modern sound.

Epilogue layers gothic-metal darkness with accessible melody in To/Die/For’s characteristic way.

Live from Russia captures U.D.O. onstage in Russia, combining the band’s own catalog with key songs from Udo Dirkschneider’s Accept history.

Unholy Terror emphasizes W.A.S.P.’s darker sense of drama through Blackie Lawless’s theatrical voice and heavily chiseled riffs.

Under the Influence is a covers album on which WARRANT reworks rock classics of old, with Jani Lane's voice pulling each into the band's world.