1990 in heavy metal music

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This is a timeline documenting the events of heavy metal in the year 1990.

Newly formed bands

Albums & EPs

24-7 Spyz – Gumbo Millennium
AC/DC – The Razors Edge
Agony Column – Comes Alive (EP) (live)
Alice in Chains – Facelift
Aggressor – Indestructible (demo)
Anacrusis – Reason
Angkor Wat – Corpus Christi
Annihilator – Never, Neverland
Anthem – No Smoke Without Fire
Anthrax – Persistence of Time
Apocrypha – Area 54
Artillery – By Inheritance
Asphalt Ballet – Asphalt Ballet (album)
Atrocity – Hallucinations
Atrophy – Violent by Nature
Cronos - Dancing In the Fire
The Bang Gang – Love Sells...
Barren Cross – Hotter Than Hell Live! (live)
Bathory – Hammerheart
Baton Rouge – Shake Your Soul
Believer – Sanity Obscure
Benediction - Subconscious Terror
Biohazard – Biohazard
Bitter End – Harsh Realities
The Black Crowes – Shake Your Money Maker
Black Sabbath – Tyr
Blasphemy - Fallen Angel of Doom
Blind Guardian – Tales from the Twilight World
Blue Cheer – Highlights and Lowlives
Adam Bomb – Pure S.E.X
Jon Bon Jovi – Blaze of Glory
Cancer – To the Gory End
Cannibal Corpse – Eaten Back to Life
Carnage – Dark Recollections
Celtic Frost – Vanity/Nemesis
Chastain – For Those Who Dare
Child'ƨ Play – Rat Race
Cinderella – Heartbreak Station
Cold Sweat – Break Out
Cry Wolf – Crunch
Damn Yankees – Damn Yankees
Danzig – Danzig II: Lucifuge
Deliverance – Weapons of Our Warfare
Death – Spiritual Healing
Death Angel – Act III
Deicide – Deicide
Destruction – Cracked Brain
Bruce Dickinson – Tattooed Millionaire
Dio – Lock Up the Wolves
Don Dokken – Up from the Ashes
Earthshaker – Pretty Good!
Electric Angels – Electric Angels
Electric Boys – Funk-O-Metal Carpet Ride
Entombed – Left Hand Path
Exhorder – Slaughter in the Vatican
Extreme – Pornograffitti
Exodus – Impact Is Imminent
Eyehategod – In the Name of Suffering
Fastway – Bad Bad Girls
Flotsam and Jetsam – When the Storm Comes Down
Forbidden – Twisted into Form
FireHouse – FireHouse
Michael Lee Firkins – Michael Lee Firkins
Gamma Ray – Heading for Tomorrow
Grinder – The 1st EP (EP)
Gwar – Scumdogs of the Universe
Harter Attack – Human Hell
Heavens Edge – Heavens Edge
Heavens Gate – Open the Gate and Watch! (EP)
Hellion – The Black Book
Helmet – Strap It On
Hericane Alice – Tear the House Down
Hexx – Watery Graves (EP)
Holy Moses – World Chaos
Holy Soldier – Holy Soldier
House of Lords – Sahara
Iced Earth – Iced Earth
Impetigo - Ultimo Mondo Cannibale
Iron Maiden – No Prayer for the Dying
Intrinsic – Distortion of Perspective (EP)
Janes Addiction – Ritual de lo Habitual
Jersey Dogs – Thrash Ranch
Jetboy – Damned Nation
Judas Priest – Painkiller
Killer Dwarfs - Dirty Weapons
Killing Joke – Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions
Kill For Thrills – Dynamite from Nightmareland
King Diamond – The Eye
King's X – Faith Hope Love
Krokus - Stampede
Jeffrey Kollman – Schizoid
Richie Kotzen – Fever Dream
Kreator – Coma of Souls
Krokus – Stampede
Kyuss – Sons of Kyuss (EP)
Laos – We Want It
Legs Diamond – Town Bad Girl
Little Caesar – Little Caesar
Living Colour – Time's Up
London – Playa Del Rock
Lostboys – Lost and Found
Love/Hate – Blackout in the Red Room
Lynch Mob – Wicked Sensation
Tony MacAlpine – Eyes of the World
Frank Marino – From the Hip
Master – Master
Yngwie Malmsteen – Eclipse
Manilla Road - The Courts of Chaos
Manitoba's Wild Kingdom – ...And You?
Alex Masi – Vertical Invader
Megadeth – Rust in Peace
Meliah Rage – Solitary Solitude
Monster Magnet – Monster Magnet (EP)
Morbid Saint – Spectrum of Death
Mortician - Brutally Mutilated
Morgana Lefay – Symphony of the Damned
Morgoth - The Eternal Fall (EP)
Mystic-Force – Take Command - The Demo Years (compilation)
Napalm Death – Harmony Corruption
Neurosis – The Word as Law
9.0 – Too Far Gone
Nocturnus – The Key
Non-Fiction – Non-Fiction (EP)
John Norum – Live in Stockholm (live EP)
Obituary – Cause of Death
Opprobrium – Beyond the Unknown (as Incubus)
Pantera – Cowboys from Hell
Paradise Lost – Lost Paradise
Poison – Flesh & Blood
Chris Poland – Return to Metalopolis
Praying Mantis & Paul Di'Anno, Dennis Stratton – Live at Last (live)
Pretty Maids – Jump the Gun
Primus – Frizzle Fry
Prong – Beg to Differ
Psychotic Waltz – A Social Grace
Pungent Stench - For God Your Soul... For Me Your Flesh
Queensrÿche – Empire
Quicksand – Quicksand (EP)
Quiet Riot – Winners Take All
Quireboys – A Bit of What You Fancy
Rage – Reflections of a Shadow
Ratt – Detonator
Realm – Suiciety
Razor - Shotgun Justice
Recon – Behind Enemy Lines
Reverend – World Won't Miss You
Rhino Bucket – Rhino Bucket
Riot – The Privilege of Power
Riverdogs – Riverdogs
Sacred Reich – The American Way
Sacred Warrior – Wicked Generation
Sacrifice – Soldiers of Misfortune
Sadus – Swallowed in Black
Saint Vitus - V
Salty Dog – Every Dog Has Its Day
Sanctuary – Into the Mirror Black
Scatterbrain – Here Comes Trouble
Scorpions – Crazy World
Slaughter – Stick It to Ya
Slaughter – Stick It Live (live EP)
Slayer – Seasons in the Abyss
Sleeze Beez – Screwed Blued and Tattooed
Sodom - Better Off Dead
Sons of Angels – Sons of Angels
Soundgarden – Screaming Life/Fopp
Spread Eagle – Spread Eagle
Steelheart – Steelheart
Steve Vai – Passion and Warfare
Stone – Colours
Stryper – Against the Law
Suicidal Tendencies – Lights...Camera...Revolution!
Sweet F.A. – Stick To Your Guns
Talisman – Talisman
Tankard – The Meaning of Life
Tesla – Five Man Acoustical Jam (live)
Thunder – Backstreet Symphony
Tiamat - Sumerian Cry
Tigertailz – Bezerk
Testament – Souls of Black
Tourniquet – Stop the Bleeding
Trixter – Trixter
Trouble – Trouble
U.D.O. – Faceless World
V2 – Out to Launch
Vader – Morbid Reich (demo)
Vengeance Rising – Once Dead
Vicious Rumors – Vicious Rumors
Vio-lence – Oppressing the Masses
Vow Wow – Mountain Top
Bill Ward - Ward One: Along the Way
Warfare – Hammer Horror
Warrant – Cherry Pie
Warrior Soul – Last Decade Dead Century
Winger – In the Heart of the Young
Winter - Into Darkness
WWIII – World War III
Xentrix – For Whose Advantage?
Xysma – Above the Mind of Morbidity
Y&T – Ten
Zebra – Live (live)

Disbandments

Atrophy (reformed in 2015)

Events

Adrian Smith, Iron Maiden's lead guitarist, leaves the band to pursue a solo career. Janick Gers is hired to replace him.
Metallica wins the first ever Grammy award in the category of Best Metal Performance for the song "One."
The infamous Clash of the Titans tour is this year, headlined by bands such as Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Testament, Suicidal Tendencies, and others.
August 7: Extreme release their second album Pornograffitti. The album peaked at number 10 on the Billboard 200 album chart and sold very well, due to the success of its single "More Than Words", which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart a year later.
Judas Priest was involved in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit involving two Nevada teenager suicides allegedly caused by the song "Better by You, Better than Me". The band won the case.
Faith No More's The Real Thing, carried by the single "Epic", also cracks the Billboard Top 10.
Marty Friedman joins Megadeth replacing Jeff Young on guitar.
Possessed frontman, Jeff Becerra is paralyzed from the waist down after being shot in a mugging on his way home from work.
Lȧȧz Rockit, Death Angel, Sacred Reich and others are featured on the soundtrack of Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III.

Preceded by 1989	Heavy Metal Timeline 1990	Succeeded by 1991