1990 in heavy metal music

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

Newly formed bands

• Anathema
• At the Gates
• Body Count (by rapper Ice-T)
• Cathedral
• Converge
• Dark Tranquility (then Septic Broiler)
• Fear Factory
• In Flames
• Infectious Grooves
• Krisiun
• Kyuss
• Lamb of God (not yet known as LOG but known as Burn the Priest)
• Lost Horizon (then known as Highlander)
• My Dying Bride
• Opeth
• Osvajači
• Satyricon
• Seance
• Tool
• Type O Negative

Albums

• 24-7 Spyz - Gumbo Millennium
• AC/DC - The Razors Edge
• Alice in Chains - Facelift
• Aggressor - Indestructible (Demo)
• Anacrusis - Reason
• Annihilator - Never, Neverland
• Anthrax - Persistence of Time
• Atrocity - Hallucinations
• Atrophy - Violent by Nature
• Bathory - Hammerheart
• Believer - Sanity Obscure
• Black Sabbath - Tyr
• Blind Guardian - Tales from the Twilight World
• Blue Cheer - Highlights and Lowlives
• Bruce Dickinson - Tattooed Millionaire
• Cancer - To the Gory End
• Cannibal Corpse - Eaten Back to Life
• Carnage - Dark Recollections
• Celtic Frost - Vanity/Nemesis
• Cinderella - Heartbreak Station
• Damn Yankees - Damn Yankees
• Danzig - Danzig II: Lucifuge
• Deliverance - Weapons of Our Warfare
• Demolition Hammer - Tortured Existence
• Death - Spiritual Healing
• Death Angel - Act III
• Deicide - Deicide
• Destruction - Cracked Brain
• Dio - Lock up the Wolves
• Entombed - Left Hand Path
• Exhorder - Slaughter in the Vatican
• Extreme - Pornograffitti
• Exodus - Impact is Imminent
• Flotsam and Jetsam - When the Storm Comes Down
• Forbidden - Twisted into Form
• FireHouse - FireHouse
• Gamma Ray - Heading For Tomorrow
• Harter Attack - Human Hell
• Hericane Alice - Tear The House Down
• Iced Earth - Iced Earth
• Iron Maiden - No Prayer for the Dying
• Judas Priest - Painkiller
• Jon Bon Jovi - Blaze of Glory
• King Diamond - The Eye
• King's X - Faith Hope Love
• Kreator - Coma of Souls
• Kyuss - Sons of Kyuss EP
• Living Colour - Time's Up
• Tony MacAlpine - Eyes of the World
• Master (American band) - Master
• Yngwie J. Malmsteen - Eclipse
• Megadeth - Rust in Peace
• Meliah Rage - Solitary Solitude
• Monster Magnet - Monster Magnet
• Napalm Death - Harmony Corruption
• Nocturnus - The Key
• Obituary - Cause of Death
• Opprobrium - Beyond the Unknown
• Paradise Lost - Lost Paradise
• Pantera - Cowboys from Hell
• Poison - Flesh & Blood
• Primus - Frizzle Fry
• Prong - Beg to Differ
• Queensrÿche - Empire
• Quireboys - A Bit of What You Fancy
• Rage - Reflections of a Shadow
• Ratt - Detonator
• Realm - Suiciety
• Reverend - World Won't Miss You
• Sacred Reich - The American Way
• Sacrifice - Soldiers of Misfortune
• Sadus - Swallowed in Black
• Sanctuary - Into The Mirror Black
• Saxon - Solid Ball of Rock
• Scatterbrain - Here Comes Trouble
• Scorpions - Crazy World
• Slaughter - Stick It to Ya
• Slaughter - Stick It Live
• Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss
• Sodom - Better Off Dead
• Steelheart - Steelheart (album)
• Steve Vai - Passion and Warfare
• Stone - Colours
• Stryper - Against the Law
• Suicidal Tendencies - Lights...Camera...Revolution!
• Tankard - The Meaning of Life
• Tesla - Five Man Acoustical Jam
• The Black Crowes - Shake Your Money Maker
• Tigertailz - Bezerk (album)
• Testament - Souls of Black
• Tourniquet - Stop the Bleeding
• Trixter - Trixter
• Trouble - Trouble
• U.D.O. -Faceless World
• Vader - "Morbid Reich" (demo)
• Vicious Rumors - Vicious Rumors
• Vio-lence - Oppressing the Masses
• Warrant - Cherry Pie
• Winger - In the Heart of the Young
• Xysma - Yeah

Disbandments

• atrophy

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.