1996 Year in Metal
Flashback to 1996
Heavy metal took a bit of a back seat to grunge in the nineties but by the second half of the ’90s, it saw a rebound. This led to a pivotal shift of Heavy Metal pushing forward once again into a new generation. Below are some facts and my Top ten selections for 1996..
- Alice in Chains plays their last concert with Layne Staley on July 23, 1996. They later go on hiatus until April 20, 2002, in which Staley is found dead in his apartment after overdosing on a speedball.
- Body Count drummer Beatmaster V dies of leukemia.
- The first Ozzfest tour sets off, with headliners Ozzy Osbourne, Slayer and Danzig.
- The original line-up of KISS (Ace Frehley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, Paul Stanley) come back together.
- Bassist Greg Christian of Testament left the band, leaving guitarist Eric Peterson as the sole ever-present in the line-up.
- Slash leaves Guns N’ Roses, citing differences with Axl Rose
- Sammy Hagar departs Van Halen after a feud with Eddie Van Halen. Van Halen briefly reunites with David Lee Roth at a highly publicized event at the MTV Video Music Awards, but fires him shortly thereafter.
- Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens fills the void left by Rob Halford in 1993 as lead singer of Judas Priest
TOP 10 Metal albums of 1996
10. Satyricon -Nemesis Divina
9. Sepultura – Roots
8. Type O Negative – October Rust
7. Cradle Of Filth – Dusk… And Her Embrace
6. In Flames – The Jester Race
5.Rage Against The Machine – Evil Empire
4.My Dying Bride – Like Gods Of The Sun
3.Metallica – Load
2.Corrosion Of Conformity – Wiseblood
1.Pantera – The Great Southern Trendkill
The aggression, personal struggle, and emotion in this album cannot be found in any other Pantera album. The emotion exhumes and floods here. The Great Southern Trendkill is so unrelentingly dark, brutal and inviting. The lyrics of War Nerve alone are the most unrelentingly evil lyrics you can ever imagine. Floods, the album’s longest song, contains a guitar solo considered by many to be Dimebag Darrell’s finest. I’d go as far as to say this is Pantera’s most experimental album as well as their most introspective and I love it to pieces….
TRACK LIST
- The Great Southern Trendkill
- War Nerve
- Drag the Waters
- 10’s
- 13 Steps to Nowhere
- Suicide Note Pt. I
- Suicide Note Pt. II
- Living Through Me (Hells’ Wrath)
- Floods
- The Underground in America
- (Reprise) Sandblasted Skin
Lineup
Phil Anselmo – lead vocals, backing vocals, production
Dimebag Darrell – guitars, 12-string acoustic guitar on “Suicide Note Pt. I”, backing vocals, production
Rex Brown – bass, backing vocals, production
Vinnie Paul – drums, backing vocals, production, recording, mixing
Some Historical events:
- 4th February » Major snowstorm paralyzes Midwestern United States, Milwaukee e.g Milwaukee, Wisconsin and ties all-time record low temperature at −26 °F (−32.2 °C)
- 24th April » In the United States, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 is passed into law.
- 11th May » The 1996 Mount Everest disaster: on a single day eight people die during summit attempts on Mount Everest.
- 17th July » TWA Flight 800: Off the coast of Long Island or Long Island, New York, a Paris-bound TWA Boeing 747 explodes, killing all 230 on board.
- 28th August » Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales divorce.
- 1996 In Film & TV
- Feb 23 “Trainspotting” directed by Danny Boyle based on the book by Irvine Welsh, starring Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle and Jonny Lee Miller opens in cinemas in the UK and Ireland
- Mar 8 “Fargo” directed and written by Joel and Ethan Coen, starring Frances McDormand, William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi released in the US
- Mar 25 68th Academy Awards: “Braveheart”, Nicolas Cage & Susan Sarandon win
- Jan 21 53rd Golden Globes: “Sense and Sensibility”, Nicolas Cage, & Sharon Stone win
-Georgina Strilakos