Heavy Metal: A Year in Brief – 2000
The Year 2000 may have been the turn of the century and millennium but in music it appears to have just been another year with very few bands officially starting their career and a phenomenal amount of (then) current bands marking the date with new albums, some of which went on the be seen as modern day classics in the modern era.
2000 really wasn’t a particularly big year in terms of band formation with only a handful of bands officially announcing their career. Not many of this collection are bands I actually consider myself to be a fan of although i am sure they all have plenty of fans in their own right. Some of the bigger names among those that started in this year include As I Lay Dying who is currently, unfortunately, as famous for their frontman’s trial for solicitation of murder which has seen the band cease to exist. 2000 also saw the start of the bands Otep and Shaman as well as the Australian rockers, Wolfmother. It was also the year that Living Colour reformed as a band.
Despite the pretty weak, in comparison to some years, arrivals of the year 2000, heavy metallers were more than happy as they were treated to a huge amount of album releases from some of the biggest bands around. 2000 saw the release of AC/DC’s Stiff Upper Lip, an album that has since gone platinum in the states. It also saw the 21st studio release by Alice Cooper, with one of his heaviest albums ever in Brutal Planet. Alice in Chains also released a live album, imaginatively titled, Live and Deftones released White Pony.
It was also the year that Behemoth released Thelema.6 and Devin Townsend released Physicist. Dio released Magica and Disturbed released their debut album, introducing the world to some crazy piercings and crazier sounds. Soulfly released their second album, Primitive and Mudvayne released L.D.50 while showing people the true meaning of nuts.
Not bad so far right? Well that only scratches the surface…………………
Nightwish released their third studio album in Wishmaster and even Motely Crue got in on the act releasing new Tattoo. Marilyn Manson released Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) and Lamb of God released New American Gospel.
To summarise just how strong a year this was for album releases, there were also new albums from Nile, Monster Magnet, Chimaira, Motorhead, Deicide, Static X, Black Label Society and In Flames to name just some.
Finally, 2000 was also saw the release of Iron Maiden’s Brave New World, Pantera’s Reinventing the Steel and Cradle of Filth’s Midian.
Such a strong year for releases inevitably brings along some epic and memorable tracks for everyone to hear for the first time.
Songs like Mudvayne’s Dig, Soulfly’s Pain, Pantera’s We’ll Grind that Axe for a Long Time and Marilyn Manson’s Disposable Teens were all heard for the first time in this year. The same goes for Iron Maiden’s The Wicker Man and Disturbed’s Down With The Sickness.
It was also the year we all first go to hear the awesome Tearing the Veil from Grace by Cradle of Filth, still one of my favourite tracks of theirs to this day and another personal favourite, Pink Maggit, which included the little “Back to School” section by Deftones.
Outside of album releases, after announcing the arrival of Marty Friedman as new Megadeth guitarist in 1990, he was now being replaced by Al Pitrelli in 2000.
Angela Gossow became the new vocalist for Arch Enemy.
Metallica released the video and song, I Disappear as part of the sound track for the Tom Cruise movie, Mission: Impossible 2 which also happens to be the song at the helm of the “Napster Controversy”.
A quiet year really, in terms of events and newly forming bands but more than made up for by the plethora of new releases from already existing artists. The new millennium started with an absolute explosion albeit from the bands of old.
