sYmPhoNIes desTruCTIoN of

THE TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 1994

Cannibal Corpse

THE BLEEDING

Death metal was on the wane by ’94, but no one told Cannibal Corpse: their killer fourth album added brains to the blood and gore.

emperor

IN THE NIGHTSIDE ECLIPSE

Black metal’s leading lights grew up quickly: their debut album brought symphonic ambition to the crepuscular murk.

Korn

KORN

The album that jumpstarted the nu metal revolution sounded like nothing that had come before it. Its influence can still be heard today.

Kyuss

WELCOME TO SKY VALLEY

If Blues For The Red Sun drew the stoner rock blueprints, its expansive follow-up tore them up. The trippiest metal album of the decade.

maChine head

BURN MY EYES

As metal started to wilt, Robb Flynn’s Bay Area ’bangers arrived to give it a serious shot of adrenaline. A major new force had arrived.

mayhem DE MYSTERIIS DOM SATHANAS

BM’s boldest album was overshadowed by the death of mainman Euronymous. Sinister and menacing, this was a fitting epitaph.

megadeTh

YOUTHANASIA

Dave Mustaine’s first shameless tilt at radio airplay, but it had the ballast to back it up. Their last truly great album for more than a decade.

nine inCh nails

THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL

The point where Trent Reznor went from snotty electro-punk to industrial metal emperor. One man’s fucked-up mind has never sounded so cool.

panTera

FAR BEYOND DRIVEN

The follow-up to Vulgar Display Of Power made its predecessor sound like Mr Blobby. Still the heaviest album to reach Number One in the US.

soundgarden

SUPERUNKNOWN

The grunge pioneers’ epic fourth album finally gave them their mainstream breakthrough. Chris Cornell’s death tinges its greatness with poignancy.