1993 in heavy metal music

This is a timeline documenting the events of heavy metal in the year 1993.

Newly formed bands

• Abigor
• Children of Bodom
• Dark Funeral
• Demoniac
• Destruction (With new vocalist Thomas Rosenmerkell)
• Diabolical Masquerade
• Dimmu Borgir
• Electric Wizard
• HammerFall
• Korn
• Limbonic Art
• Melechesh
• Mournful Congregation
• Mushroomhead
• Nile
• Quo Vadis
• Rhapsody of Fire
• Symphony X
• Theatre of Tragedy
• Ulver
• Virgin Black

Reformed bands

• Atheist
• Cream- for a few shows
• Dio
• Dokken

Albums

• Accept - Objection Overruled
• Altered State (Band) - Dos (album)
• Aggressor - Procreate the Petrifactions
• Anacrusis - Screams and Whispers
• Annihilator - Set the World on Fire
• Anthrax - Sound of White Noise
• Atheist - Elements
• Believer - Dimensions
• Beowülf - Un-Sentimental
• Burzum - Aske (EP)
• Burzum - Det som engang var
• Cannibal Corpse - Hammer Smashed Face (EP)
• Carcass - Heartwork
• Conception - Parallel Minds
• Crowbar - Crowbar
• Cynic - Focus
• Darkthrone - Under a Funeral Moon
• Dark Tranquillity - Skydancer
• Death - Individual Thought Patterns
• Deep Purple - The Battle Rages On
• Def Leppard - Retro Active
• Deliverance - Learn
• Disincarnate - Dreams of the Carrion Kind
• Dissection - The Somberlain
• Entombed - Wolverine Blues
• Europe - 1982–1992 (Compilation)
• Eyehategod - Take as Needed for Pain
• Fight - War of Words
• Helloween - Chameleon
• Immortal - Pure Holocaust
• Katatonia - Dance of December Souls
• Kiss - Alive III
• Living Colour - Stain
• Macabre - Sinister Slaughter
• Tony MacAlpine - Madness
• Melvins - Houdini
• Mercyful Fate - In the Shadows
• Metal Church - Hanging in the Balance
• Metallica - Live Shit: Binge & Purge (box set)
• Morbid Angel - Covenant
• Monster Magnet - Superjudge
• Motörhead - Bastards
• My Dying Bride - Turn Loose The Swans
• Necrophobic - The Nocturnal Silence
• Neurosis - Enemy of the Sun
• Overkill - I Hear Black
• Paradise Lost - Icon
• Pestilence - Spheres
• Pitch Shifter - Desensitized
• Rage - The Missing Link
• Sacred Reich - Independent
• Satyricon - Dark Medieval Times
• Savatage - Edge of Thorns
• Scorpions - Face the Heat
• Sepultura - Chaos A.D.
• Sinister - Diabolical Summoning
• Sleep - Sleep's Holy Mountain
• Steve Vai - Sex & Religion
• Tool - Undertow
• Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses
• Uncle Slam - Will Work for Food
• Unleashed - Across the Open Sea
• Van Halen - Live: Right Here, Right Now
• Vince Neil - Exposed
• Vio-lence - Nothing to Gain
• Voïvod - N° 8 • The Outer Limits
• X Japan - Art of Life

Events

• Accept reforms with Udo Dirkshneider on vocals for a new album and European/American tour
• After a brief hiatus, Atheist reform to record their final album, Elements, in order to finish their third album contract to their record label. After this, the band breaks up again a year later.
• Bruce Dickinson leaves Iron Maiden. Wolfsbane's singer Blaze Bayley is chosen to replace him.
• Rob Halford of Judas Priest leaves the band to start his own project Fight
• The band Betrayer assumes the name Belphegor
• Michael Kiske of Helloween leaves the band due to personal reasons. He was replaced by Andi Deris.
• Alex Skolnick and Louie Clemente of Testament are out of the band and replaced by James Murphy on guitar and John Tempesta on drums. Skolnick later joins Savatage to replace the late Criss Oliva.
• Euronymous - guitarist and mainman of Norwegian black metal band Mayhem as well as founder and manager of record label Deathlike Silence Productions and Oslo store Helvete - was murdered on August 10, by fellow black metal musician Varg Vikernes (aka Count Grishnackh) of one-man band Burzum as well as bassist of Mayhem.
• Criss Oliva of Savatage was killed in a car crash on October 17 by a drunk driver.
• Japanese power metal band X changes their name to "X Japan".

Preceded by 1992

Heavy Metal Timeline 1993

Succeeded by 1994