1996 in heavy metal music
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This is a timeline documenting the events of heavy metal in the year 1996.
Newly formed bands
- Alabama Thunderpussy
- American Head Charge
- Arch Enemy
- Cold
- Control Denied
- Decapitated
- Disturbed (As Brawl)
- Evergrey
- Flaw (As F.law)
- God Forbid
- Gojira
- Hibria
- Lordi
- Nightwish
- Orgy
- Samsas Traum
- Sonata Arctica
- The Crest
- The Haunted
- Within Temptation
Albums
- 24-7 Spyz - 6 (alternate version released in America as Heavy Metal Soul by the Pound)
- 24-7 Spyz - Heavy Metal Soul by the Pound (alternate version released in Europe as 6)
- Accept – Predator
- Acid Bath - Paegan Terrorism Tactics
- Alice in Chains - Unplugged
- Amorphis - Elegy
- Anathema – Eternity
- Angra - Holy Land
- Antidote - Mind Alive
- Apocalyptica - Plays Metallica by Four Cellos
- Arch Enemy - Black Earth
- Ayreon - Actual Fantasy
- Bathory - Blood on Ice
- Behemoth - Grom
- Biohazard - Mata Leão
- Bruce Dickinson - Skunkworks
- Cannibal Corpse - Vile
- Cathedral - Supernatural Birth Machine
- Converge - Petitioning the Empty Sky
- Corrosion of Conformity - Wiseblood
- Cradle of Filth - Vempire
- Cradle of Filth - Dusk And Her Embrace
- Crowbar - Broken Glass
- Cryptopsy - None So Vile
- Deep Purple - Purpendicular
- Def Leppard - Slang
- Dimmu Borgir - Stormblåst
- Dio - Angry Machines
- Downset. - Do We Speak a Dead Language?
- Earth Crisis - Gomorrah's Season Ends
- Edge of Sanity - Crimson
- Eyehategod - Dopesick
- Forbidden - Green
- Freak Kitchen - Spanking Hour
- Fu Manchu - In Search Of...
- Godflesh - Songs of Love and Hate
- Helloween - The Time Of The Oath
- Hypocrisy - Abducted
- In Flames - The Jester Race
- Iced Earth - The Dark Saga
- King Diamond – The Graveyard
- Katatonia - Brave Murder Day
- Korn - Life is Peachy
- Tony MacAlpine - Violent Machine
- Madball - Demonstrating My Style
- Manowar - Louder Than Hell
- Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar
- Metallica - Load
- Ministry - Filth Pig
- Monstrosity – Millennium
- Moonspell - Irreligious
- Motörhead - Overnight Sensation
- My Dying Bride - Like Gods of the Sun
- Napalm Death - Diatribes
- Nevermore - The Politics of Ecstasy
- Neurosis - Through Silver in Blood
- Nothingface - Pacifier
- Orange 9mm - Tragic
- Oomph! - Wunschkind
- Opeth - Morningrise
- Overkill – The Killing Kind
- Pantera - The Great Southern Trendkill
- Pitchshifter - Infotainment?
- P.O.D. - Brown
- Poison - Greatest Hits 1986-1996
- Prong - Rude Awakening
- Rage - Lingua Mortis
- Rage - End of All Days
- Rage Against the Machine - Evil Empire
- Rotting Christ - Triarchy of the Lost Lovers
- Rush - Test for Echo
- Satyricon - Nemesis Divina
- Scorpions – Pure Instinct
- Sepultura - Roots
- Sentenced - Down
- Soundgarden - Down on the Upside
- Slayer – Undisputed Attitude
- Slipknot - Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.
- Staind - Tormented
- Stratovarius - Episode
- Stuck Mojo - Pigwalk
- Summoning - Dol Guldur
- Theatre of Tragedy - Velvet Darkness They Fear
- The 3rd and the Mortal - Painting on Glass
- Therion - Theli
- Tool - Ænima
- Type O Negative - October Rust
- Steve Vai - Fire Garden
- Van Halen - Best Of – Volume I
- Warrant - Belly to Belly
- Warrant - Live 86 - 96
- Xentrix - Scourge
Disbandments
Events
- Alice in Chains plays their last ever concert with Layne Staley on July 23, 1996. They later go on hiatus until April 20, 2002 in which Staley is found dead in his apartment after overdosing on a Speedball (drug).
- Body Count drummer Beatmaster V dies of leukemia.
- The first Ozzfest tour sets off, with headliners Ozzy Osbourne, Slayer and Danzig.
- The original line-up of KISS (Ace Frehley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, Paul Stanley) come back together.
- Bassist Greg Christian of Testament is out of the band, leaving guitarist Eric Peterson as the sole ever-present in the line-up.
- Slash leaves Guns N' Roses, citing differences with Axl Rose
- Sammy Hagar departs Van Halen, after a feud with Eddie Van Halen. Van Halen briefly reunites with David Lee Roth at a highly publicized event at the MTV Video Music Awards, but fires him shortly thereafter.
- Tim 'Ripper' Owens fills the void left by Rob Halford in 1993 as lead singer of Judas Priest.