1998 in heavy metal music

This is a timeline documenting the events of heavy metal in the year 1998.

Newly Formed bands

• 8 Foot Sativa
• Atreyu
• Betzefer
• Breaking Benjamin
• Bullet for my Valentine (Then known as Jeff Killed John)
• Chimaira
• Cog
• Crucified Barbara
• Freedom Call
• Odd Crew (Then known as Kaskadiori)
• Peccatum
• Ram-Zet
• Rebaelliun
• Rob Zombie
• The Project Hate MCMXCIX
• Týr
• Underoath
• Unearth
• Winds

Disbanded bands

• 24-7 Spyz
• Vulcain

Albums

• Alabama Thunderpussy - Rise Again
• Anathema - Alternative 4
• Apocalyptica - Inquisition Symphony
• Arch Enemy - Stigmata
• Atreyu - Visions (EP)
• Ayreon - Into the Electric Castle
• Blind Guardian - Nightfall in Middle-Earth
• Bolt Thrower - Mercenary
• Bruce Dickinson - The Chemical Wedding
• Cannibal Corpse - Gallery of Suicide
• Cradle of Filth - Cruelty and the Beast
• Death - The Sound of Perseverance
• Deep Purple - Abandon
• Devin Townsend - Christeen +4 Demos
• Devin Townsend - Infinity
• The Dillinger Escape Plan - Under the Running Board
• Dimmu Borgir - Godless Savage Garden
• Dream Theater - Once in a LIVEtime (live)
• Edguy - Vain Glory Opera
• Eldritch - El Niño
• Fear Factory - Obsolete
• Freak Kitchen - Freak Kitchen
• Godsmack - Godsmack
• HammerFall - Legacy of Kings
• Helloween - Better Than Raw
• Iced Earth - Something Wicked This Way Comes
• Iron Maiden - Virtual XI
• Kamelot - Siége Perilous
• Katatonia - Discouraged Ones
• KISS - Psycho Circus
• Korn - Follow the Leader
• Yngwie J. Malmsteen - Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra in Em, Opus 1, Double Live!
• Mercenary - First Breath
• Metal Church - Live
• Metallica - Garage Inc.
• Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals
• Monster Magnet - Powertrip
• Moonspell - Sin/Pecado
• Morbid Angel - Formulas Fatal to the Flesh
• Mötley Crüe - Greatest Hits
• Motörhead - Snake Bite Love
• My Dying Bride - 34.788%... Complete
• Nightwish - Oceanborn
• Nile - Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka
• Oomph! - Unrein
• Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse
• Pig Destroyer - Explosions In Ward 6
• Pitchshifter - www.pitchshifter.com
• Queens of the Stone Age - Queens of the Stone Age
• Rage - XIII
• Rhapsody of Fire - Symphony of Enchanted Lands
• Savatage - The Wake of Magellan
• Sentenced - Frozen
• Sepultura - Against
• Skid Row - Forty Seasons: The best...
• Slayer - Diabolus In Musica
• Strapping Young Lad - No Sleep 'till Bedtime - Live in Australia
• Stratovarius - Visions of Europe (live)
• Stratovarius - Destiny
• Symphony X - Twilight in Olympus
• System of a Down - System of a Down
• Tankard - Disco Destroyer
• Van Halen - Van Halen III
• Virgin Black - Trance EP

Disbandments

• 24-7 Spyz
• Faith No More (reformed in 2009)

Events

• Aerosmith becomes the first rock band to debut at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the single "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"
• Mustis joins Dimmu Borgir on keyboards.
• Rob Halford of Judas Priest announces his homosexuality in an MTV interview.
• Hideto "hide" Matsumoto, guitarist of the Japanese heavy metal band X Japan, dies at an age of 33 years old on May 2, 1998.