My promise to myself in 2024 was to post more than I did last year. (At least more than just archived Fiendish Five episodes, of which there are still a bunch to go up.) We’ll start with one of my favorite annual exercises, in which we look back at 25 metal albums celebrating their 25th anniversary. As with our annual year-end lists, this is not a “best of” list. Instead it is, to my best recollection, a list of the 25 albums I think I spent the most time listening to (or at least the ones I remember enjoying the most).
1999 was an interesting year in metal music. You had legacy bands returning with albums of varying degrees, some of which you’ll see below. You had genres like thrash and death metal that seemed to be holding on for dear life, yet still had quality bands producing quality albums. The stoner rock thing had completely exploded while conversely it felt like way too many doom bands were trying to “modernize” their sound. And of course nu metal was inexplicably a thing…a very popular thing. It was a year that when I look back it honestly feels wholly undefined. Maybe it’s because I don’t have the same sentimental ties to the late ’90s that a lot of my fellow Gen Xers seem to? Regardless, the most telling thing to me that leaves 1999 out there as a unique year for metal is that three of my all-time favorite bands released albums that year – Testament, Paradise Lost, and My Dying Bride. And none of them are on this list…
With that said, here are 25 killer albums from 1999. Links provided for your listening pleasure.
Agalloch – Pale Folklore
Debut album from, in my mind, one of the most interesting bands to emerge from the USBM scene. I worked for a record label in 1999 that happened to have a rather large distro component and can distinctly remember this being one of the albums that people were chirping about, and for good reason. When people today think of the classic “Agalloch sound” this is the album that laid the foundation for that. While I would personally take The Mantle and The Serpent & the Sphere over this record, there is no denying how influential this record would be on the black metal scene both in the U.S. and abroad.
https://open.spotify.com/album/2lclTTeXyOfhMVl1Czu1si
Anathema – Judgement
While I didn’t spend a ton of time with albums from Paradise Lost or My Dying Bride in 1999, I did spend a lot of time with a record from the other third of the famed “Peaceville Three”. My Dying Bride was still making gothic death-doom in 1999, and actually put out a record heavier than its predecessor. (In retrospect I should have spent more time with that record 25 years ago than I did…) Paradise Lost had entered full-on mainstream rock radio mode by the end of the decade. Anathema put out something equally “un-metal” to long time followers, but something that felt like a natural progression from previous releases. This album is dark, it’s dreary, it’s depressive, and yet at certain points it’s catchy as hell. Fans of the current darkwave and dark folk movements should definitely give this album a turn if you haven’t already.
https://open.spotify.com/album/4IZVVIN1eotOJhqDihuV3H
Arch Enemy – Burning Bridges
By 1999 the Gothenburg sound, and melodic Swedish death metal in general, had already started to feel pretty watered down. Yet there were still a handful of quality releases hitting the streets from that corner of the death metal pantheon. I catch crap for this opinion in a lot of circles but I’m not afraid to voice it. I’m not only a huge fan of the first three Arch Enemy records, but in my mind the Johan Liva era is the only Arch Enemy worth listening to. There I said it. Burning Bridges was the final Liva-fronted Arch Enemy album, and although not as overly strong as the first two albums, they went out on a melodic-infused high note. If you ever wanted to hear a “feel good” death metal song check out the track “Silverwing”. One of the most uplifting metal jams this side of a power metal anthem.
https://open.spotify.com/album/0fE41yY2M1eFT1Q3xtY4Qw
Black Label Society – Sonic Brew
After his time as Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist came to an end and after his foray into country rock territory with Pride & Glory, Zakk Wylde re-emerged in 1999 with the debut album from Black Label Society. I’ll be perfectly honest and tell you that this band lost me fairly quickly over time but Sonic Brew is a fantastic mix of stoner rock and proto-metal aesthetics. Easily one of the heaviest albums they’d release, I had the chance to see these songs played in a larger club setting and they made you feel like you were getting clubbed. Still an album worth visiting if you are looking for heavy rock fix.
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nQaHcB79UOuhsYEwwmvk7DQ0zenHz1UnQ
Botch – We Are The Romans
The hardcore scene in general had a great decade in the 1990s. It was arguably the best decade for the genre, and you could make the argument that 1999 was the best year of them all. The last great hardcore album of the ’90s showed up in November 1999 and immediately made a massive impact. To this day you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t count this record as a top 10 hardcore release. While every Botch release is worth owning, in my opinion this is their crowning achievement. I had the privilege of seeing this band live on multiple occasions around the time of this release and they never disappointed in the live realm either.
https://open.spotify.com/album/3fUYIIkOg3eLsUAx6VTFFP
Cattle Decapitation – Human Jerky
If you’re more interested in the grindcore elements of Cattle Decapitation’s sound then this is the album you’re going to want to get a hold of. While they would eventually morph into a more progressive death metal style, this album is pure, unadulterated grind. Released on the tiny (but mighty) Satan’s Pimp label, the album cover alone grabbed everyone’s attention when you’d come across it through a distro or being sold at a show. The sonic grotesqueness held within was a perfect match. Another band that lost me over time, but this album is still an essential own for grindcore fans.
https://cattledecapitation.bandcamp.com/album/human-jerky-2
Circle of Dead Children – Starving The Vultures
The above bands all became, or already were, household names in the metal universe. One band that wasn’t upon the release of their debut album, nor would they become one unfortunately, was Pittsburgh grindcore/crust collective Circle of Dead Children. Mixing death metal sensibilities with the explosiveness of grind, and crusty hardcore breakdowns, Starving The Vultures was then, and remains now one of 1999’s most underrated albums in the extreme metal underground. These guys would go on to drop four more albums throughout the 2000s before calling it quits. This would remain one of their best releases.
https://circleofdeadchildren.bandcamp.com/album/starving-the-vultures
Coalesce – 0:12 Revolution in Just Listening
If you asked me who my all-time favorite hardcore band is/was I’d have a hard time answering that – Integrity, Starkweather, Deadguy/Kiss It Goodbye, Bloodlet, and early Converge would be a few that immediately spring to mind as list-worthy. But somewhere in the conversation and very near the top of the list would be Coalesce. There just weren’t many hardcore bands as heavy, as violent, and as technically proficient as Coalesce. They were torch bearers and standard setters for discordant hardcore. Call it mathcore or metalcore, or whatever you want, but Coalesce were as unique as they came. Their 1999 album was their first full-length for Relapse and arguably their best. (Although Functioning on Impatience from the year prior might be my personal favorite.) It’s a damn shame this band couldn’t stop breaking up over and over again. The inconsistencies around whether they were active or not in the time before widespread internet access was an obvious detriment. But when they were ‘on’…holy crap were they on.
https://open.spotify.com/album/6G90PRxOtnWllw66tJViPM
Darkmoon – Seas of Unrest
In 1999 the US was still thought of as a being way, way behind their European counterparts in black metal circles. While there may be some truth to that, the USBM scene was alive and kicking in ’99 and one of the most underrated bands from that scene was North Carolina’s Darkmoon. Seas of Unrest was their second and final album before a name change and an eventual breakup. Darkmoon followed in the footsteps of many of the great second wave bands in terms of their stylistic choices, and often had more in common musically with their European counterparts than their American ones. However, they added enough unique elements to separate them from the pack. Despite this album being released on Music For Nations it’s difficult to track down today. Totally worth the hunt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44qkRin9QGc
Darkthrone – Ravishing Grimness
Speaking of second wave black metal, by 1999 Darkthrone had already started to drift away from the breakneck, lo-fi version of black metal that defined their classic era at the beginning of the decade. Ravishing Grimness saw the band move towards a more mid-pace brand of black metal with riffs that were ripped right from the Celtic Frost playbook. The result was pure blackened gold. I’ve always held the belief that out of all twenty albums this band has released this one might be their most underrated. It came at a time when a lot of longtime fans were irked with their stylistic shifts, but taken on its own this album is an absolute masterclass of doom-laden black metal, with some of the first hints at their future crust/punk leanings.
https://open.spotify.com/album/3SSzoNSAbVST8uzCA6GoPg
Deeds of Flesh – Path of the Weakening
I mentioned at the start that by 1999 it felt like death metal was on life support if you were looking in from the outside. However, there were still a handful of bands releasing albums worthy of owning. One such band was California’s Deeds of Flesh. Path of the Weakening was the band’s third full length record and up to that point their most technical effort. When I say technical though don’t mistake that for a lack of brutality in any way, shape or form. Deeds of Flesh served up brutal death metal on fetid platters with the best of them and this is easily one of their best releases.
https://uniqueleaderrecords.bandcamp.com/album/path-of-the-weakening
The Dillinger Escape Plan – Calculating Infinity
If you were to make a list of the most influential heavy albums to be released in 1999 the debut full-length from New Jersey’s The Dillinger Escape Plan would undoubtedly rank towards the top. The amount of imitators this album spawned was astounding, and the number of musicians who still count it as a favorite and/or influence is immeasurable. To say that this record changed the hardcore landscape would be a massive understatement. It obliterated the landscape and reset it one random time signature, one discordant riff, and one jazzy interlude at a time. (Note: I went back to watch old videos of them performing around this time. I found footage from a 1999 show at CBGB’s in New York…and I’m clearly in the crowd at the front of the stage. Wasn’t expecting that…)
https://open.spotify.com/album/0lUmhvC9JtPpU8LEYHVdyS
Dystopia – The Aftermath
I usually like to keep these lists to full-length albums only but I’m going to cheat a little bit with this one. California’s Dystopia originally released The Aftermath on vinyl as a four song EP. Shortly after, the CD version would feature the four new tracks and nine more previously released tracks from various splits and other EPs. Being a staunch CD person in 1999 I had the 13-track version and was thankful for it culling together those other nine tracks. Dystopia were a crust punk act with distinct sludge influences that made them welcomed and respected in both the punk and metal scenes. Despite this only containing four new tracks, this album was huge in cementing this band as one of the best and heaviest crust punk acts in the world. This album remains a fantastic snapshot of their overall career.
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mA-wjGntdNNVUU1hPYf04cINUCbqZcszM
Emperor – IX Equilibrium
If I have to explain Emperor to you, you are probably on the wrong website. One of black metal’s most beloved acts released their third full length album in 1999. It amazes me how important this band is to the black metal world on the strength of only four full-length albums. But holy crap were those albums amazing. With that said, this might be my least favorite of their records, for no other reason than the other three are simply untouchable. Still, even the weakest Emperor record trumps a million other pretenders to the throne.
https://open.spotify.com/album/4ZhLDsUfs3HVK2uBrBqecA
Hate Eternal – Conquering the Throne
Due to Erik Rutan’s first stint as second guitarist in Morbid Angel in the mid-’90s I can remember there being a lot of buzz around the debut Hate Eternal record. Conquering the Throne definitely delivered the goods with a pummeling display of death metal prowess. A truly solid death metal debut. Interesting note, this album was released on the Wicked World label, which was the sub-label Earache operated in the late ’90s/early 2000s to release actual metal albums. (Dark times for Earache when the main label was too busy chasing mainstream money and seemingly pouring all their resources into Dub War.)
https://hate-eternal.bandcamp.com/album/conquering-the-throne
Immortal – At the Heart of Winter
By the end of the decade Immortal had firmly established themselves as one of the most accomplished and beloved bands of black metal’s second wave. They would end the decade with arguably their greatest release. Actually released in the heart of winter in February 1999, At the Heart of Winter was filled with genre-defining riffs and an overall atmosphere that was downright oppressive at certain turns. It was, and still is, the perfect album to throw on when the icy claws of wintry darkness are bearing down upon you. An absolute masterwork of Norwegian black metal.
https://osmoseproductions.bandcamp.com/album/at-the-heart-of-winter
Mercyful Fate – 9
Here’s a fun fact that I think even the most seasoned metalhead has a hard time processing. Mercyful Fate released more than twice as many full-length studio albums in the ’90s and they did in the ’80s. (5 to 2). Hard to believe that this band spent the decade dropping an album roughly every other year, ended the decade with a really strong effort, and here we sit 25 years later still waiting for another Mercyful Fate album. While you’ll never catch me comparing this record to their first two classic albums, this album is a worthy addition to one of the most influential discographies in metal history. Filled with killer riffs and a stellar vocal performance from King Diamond, this is an album worth revisiting.
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nAAXlllXwIcix9UOYf9ikjntcGVBpwc_c
Morgion – Solinari
I love, love, love me some gothic-infused doom metal, especially of the death/doom variety. Yet despite the Peaceville Three all releasing albums in 1999 the greatest gothic death/doom album of the year came lumbering out of…Southern California? Yup. I didn’t do this list as any type of ranking, but if I did this album would be somewhere in my top five. I was obsessed with this band and Solinari is their crowning achievement. This is truly an epic album, and honestly as I’m sitting here revisiting it while I type this I’d go even further to list it as one of the greatest U.S. doom metal releases, not just of the 1990s, but of all-time. It’s that engaging. Unfortunately the US metal scene in 1999 wasn’t ready to support this band. If they had formed in Europe or came along 5-10 years later they would have had a massive following. Instead they fizzled out shortly after this album, releasing only one more record in 2004 before calling it quits. This is a band that needs to be revisited and given their proper flowers.
https://open.spotify.com/album/5LfeI0ETJQSLz7XOg3JHD6
Nebula – To The Center
One of my favorite bands to come out of the ’90s stoner rock scene was California’s Nebula, who was born out of another one of my favorites, Fu Manchu. When guitarist Eddie Glass and drummer Ruben Romano left Fu Manchu in 1997 they joined up with bassist Mark Abshire, who had also played in Fu Manchu at one point. After dropping an absolutely brilliant EP in 1998 they would unleash their debut full-length album the following year, quickly establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the stoner rock scene. This album is chock full of killer riffs and still stands as one of the best stoner rock albums of the decade.
https://open.spotify.com/album/2oUMzuY8FqFzcOa2YqhlsZ
Neurosis – Times of Grace
Again, I didn’t put these albums in any type of ranked order, but if I did this album would be at or near the top. Neurosis is one of my all-time favorite bands and Times of Grace is one of my top three favorite albums from this legendary act. This album is the follow-up to their groundbreaking 1996 release Through Silver in Blood. It picks up where that record left off and continues to expand their post-metal blueprint that every band of that ilk since had been trying to copy (with little to no success). I had the privilege of seeing them perform off this album several times and the music here was just as, if not more captivating, in the live setting. Just an absolutely stunning release in every way, shape, and form.
https://relapsealumni.bandcamp.com/album/times-of-grace
Old Man Gloom – Meditations In B
Started as something of a side project between Isis main man Aaron Turner and drummer Santos Montano, Old Man Gloom has spent the last 25 years morphing into an almost full-time band that now features prominent members of Converge and Cave In as well. This is their debut album and it’s an interesting amalgamation of sludgy post-metal and ambient noise/drone pieces. Only half of the 14 tracks have lyrics, and the ones that do are actually the shortest songs on the record, with all of them clocking in at a minute or less. This album is really meant to be played straight through as one continuous sonic experiment and if you have the 30 or so minutes available to do so, I highly recommend it.
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_megRaNxS4B3lDfQ0D-xFo5WtZa9JSe–0
Opeth – Still Life
I’m a huge fan of the first eight Opeth records, with Still Life being the fourth in line. Want to know exactly when this band started to rely more heavily on their progressive influences before making the shift to full-on prog rock band? The argument could be made that it was this album. After three blackened releases the tone and musicality on this record made a decided shift, and this record served as the perfect bridge to releases like Blackwater Park and Deliverance/Damnation where they would fully own their progressive label. I feel like this is sort of the forgotten record of the Opeth discography because of what came before and after, but upon revisiting this record I can confirm it’s absolutely worthy of your time.
https://open.spotify.com/album/5iA9ECcGKLN2BSxikuENma
Regurgitate – Effortless Regurgitation…The Torture Sessions
I’m going to cheat here because this is essentially a reissue masquerading as a compilation album, but I really feel like for most metalheads this was their first taste of Sweden’s Regurgitate and their nasty brand of punk-infused goregrind. In 1994 they would release their debut full-length Effortless Regurgitation of Bright Red Blood, and would break up shortly thereafter. Upon their reformation in 1999 they would sign with Relapse who would re-issue that album with a handful of other demo and 7″ tracks taken from around the same time. The end result would be 63 songs in 55 terrorizing minutes, including one of the best/grossest movie samples to ever start a metal album, courtesy of Lucio Fulci’s 1980 classic City of the Living Dead.
https://regurgitate.bandcamp.com/album/effortless-regurgitation-the-torture-sessions
Spirit Caravan – Jug Fulla Sun
When Scott “Wino” Weinrich originally left The Obsessed he formed a band called Shine that would eventually morph into Spirit Caravan. Spirit Caravan would release two full-length albums and an EP before disbanding (eventually reforming only to become the new line-up of The Obsessed). Jug Fulla Sun was their debut album and picked up right where Wino left of with The Obsessed. This album is filled with herculean, Sabbath-worshiping riffs. If you’re a fan of stoner doom in any way this band and it’s brief but brilliant discography should be on your turntable.
https://open.spotify.com/album/7nn6A5kbCRjHZggpNf3FJg
Type O Negative – World Coming Down
Type O Negative would start the 1990s as a relatively unknown spin off of Carnivore, and would end the decade as one of the metal world’s biggest acts. Their fifth and final album of the decade, World Coming Down, was one of the best of their entire discography. While their previous effort, 1996’s October Rust, leaned heavy into the more gothic and radio friendly elements of their sound, this record went headfirst back into the doom and gloom that defined their first three releases. The first song on the album, “White Slavery”, would set the tone with a massively heavy 8-minute opus about cocaine addiction, while the rest of the album would continue to pile depressive track after depressive track on the listener.
https://open.spotify.com/album/19GlIEIJqujc5U5B7PETZW
