2002 in heavy metal music

This is a timeline documenting the events of heavy metal in 2002.

Newly formed bands

• DevilDriver
• Eluveitie
• Massacration
• Probot
• Sturmgeist
• Symphony in Peril
• Theocracy
• Teräsbetoni
• Iron Mask
• All Shall Perish
• Suicide Silence
• Welicoruss

Reformed bands

• Down
• Prong
• Trouble

Albums

• 3 Inches of Blood - Battlecry Under a Winter Sun
• The Acacia Strain - ...And Life Is Very Long
• Agalloch - The Mantle
• Atreyu - Suicide Notes And Butterfly Kisses
• Behemoth - Zos Kia Cultus (Here and Beyond)
• Beseech - Souls Highway
• Black Label Society - 1919 Eternal
• Black Sabbath - Past Lives
• Blind Guardian - A Night at the Opera
• Bloodbath - Resurrection Through Carnage
• Bon Jovi - Bounce
• Cannibal Corpse - Gore Obsessed
• Cog - Just Visiting Part One
• Cog - Just Visiting Part Two
• Def Leppard - X
• The Dillinger Escape Plan - Irony Is a Dead Scene (EP)
• Dio - Killing the Dragon
• Down - A Bustle in Your Hedgerow
• Dream Theater - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
• Fear Factory - Concrete (originally recorded in 1991, but not released until 2002)
• Freak Kitchen - Move
• HammerFall - Crimson Thunder
• Hardline - II
• Immortal - Sons of Northern Darkness
• In Flames - Reroute to Remain
• Iron Savior - Condition Red
• Isis - "Oceanic"
• Kataklysm - Shadows & Dust
• Killswitch Engage - Alive or Just Breathing
• Lacuna Coil - Comalies
• Lordi - Get Heavy
• Korn - Untouchables
• Manowar - Warriors of the World
• Mastodon - Remission
• Megadeth - Rude Awakening (live)
• Megadeth - Still Alive... and Well?
• Mercenary - Everblack
• Motörhead - Hammered
• Nightwish - Century Child
• Nine Inch Nails - And All That Could Have Been (live)
• Norma Jean - Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child
• Opeth - Deliverance
• Otep - Sevas Tra
• Pagan's Mind - Celestial Entrance
• Pitchshifter - PSI
• Protest The Hero - A Calculated Use of Sound
• QueenAdreena - Drink Me
• Raunchy - Velvet Noise
• Rhapsody of Fire - Power of the Dragonflame
• Rush - Vapor Trails
• Saxon - Heavy Metal Thunder
• Sentenced - The Cold White Light
• Shadows Fall - The Art of Balance
• Slechtvalk - The War That Plagues the Lands
• Soilwork - Natural Born Chaos
• Sonata Arctica - Songs of Silence
• Soulfly - 3
• Stone Sour - Stone Sour
• Symphony X - The Odyssey
• System of a Down - Steal This Album!
• Threshold - Critical Mass
• Týr - How Far To Asgaard
• Týr - Ólavur Riddararós
• Vanden Plas - Beyond Daylight
• Vintersorg - Visions From The Spiral Generator
• Visions of Atlantis - Eternal Endless Infinity
• WarCry - WarCry, El Sello De Los Tiempos
• Winds - Reflections of the I

Disbandments

• Alice in Chains
• Fear Factory
• Godflesh
• Megadeth

Events

• Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley is found dead from an overdose of heroin.
• HIV-stricken former Ratt guitarist Robbin Crosby dies from a heroin overdose.
• Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine disbands the band after severely injuring his arm leaving him unable to play.
• Ex-Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
• Drowning Pool singer Dave Williams dies on Wednesday August 14, 2002. He was found inside his tour bus, dead of cardiomyopathy.
• Dave Lombardo rejoins Slayer.
• Tarot bassist Marco Hietala leaves Sinergy and joins Nightwish as their new bassist.
• Guitarist Jeff Phillips joins Kittie as a session member, replacing Fallon Bowman. Bassist Talena Atfield quits and is replaced by Jennifer Arroyo.
• Mötley Crüe drummer Randy Castillo dies of cancer.