A debut album usually acts as a foundation for an act to build upon, but sometimes a band’s first attempt is innovative enough to launch them into the stratosphere of legends. Musicians will often say that you’ve got your whole life to write your first album, and acts such as Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Death, Metallica and more took that sentiment to its highest level.
There are few impacts more exciting than when a metal band gets it right on their first try, becoming overnight sensations who stick around for decades as their introductory work doesn’t age a day. This is a tribute to the 25 metal bands who made the most significant impacts with their debut full-length album.
Check out our picks for the 25 Best Debut Metal Albums by clicking the button below:
NO. 25: ANTHRAX, ‘FISTFUL OF METAL’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
Anthrax‘s debut album, ‘Fistful of Metal,’ isn’t only the first piece of the band’s legendary career, it’s the album which birthed the term “thrash metal.”
Some of thrash’s greatest masterpieces (which you’ll see later in this list) had already been recorded and released, but the first song to ever be called “thrash metal” was Anthrax’s ‘Metal Thrashing Mad.’ The massively influential ‘Fistful of Metal’ is the act’s only full-length with Neil Turbin on vocals, and the 10-track record even contains a thrashed-out cover of Alice Cooper‘s ‘I’m Eighteen.’
There is perhaps no debut album that influenced all types of extreme metal more monumentally thanVenom‘s ‘Welcome to Hell.’ The British act’s first record helped spark the metal sub-genres of thrash metal, death metal and black metal all at once and completely by accident.
The gritty and unpolished production featured in ‘Welcome to Hell’ can be attributed to the path Venom took while recording the album — the band originally planned to simply create a demo instead of a full-length debut.
NO. 23: MEGADETH, ‘KILLING IS MY BUSINESS… AND BUSINESS IS GOOD!’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
“After getting fired from Metallica, all I remember is that I wanted blood. Theirs. I wanted to be faster and heavier than them,” Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine recently confessed to PopMatters.
The downtrodden musician quickly picked himself up and began recording ‘Killing is My Business… and Business is Good!’ during the 1984 holiday season. Dave Mustaine used the foundation of Metallica to one-up the band with pure velocity, cranking out full-speed-ahead tracks such as ‘Rattlehead’ and ‘Mechanix,’ along with the record’s title track.
NO. 22: SYSTEM OF A DOWN, ‘SYSTEM OF A DOWN’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
In the modern era of metal, few bands have pulled off mainstream success and pure weirdness simultaneously. System of a Down released their self-titled debut in 1998 to widespread critical acclaim.
The Armenian-American alternative metal act contains the essential cuts ‘Sugar,’ ‘Suite-Pee,’ ‘Know’ and ‘Spiders.’ System of a Down would reach even bigger heights with ‘Toxicity’ in 2001, the success of which introduced the band’s self-titled masterwork to an even wider audience, allowing ‘System of a Down’ to attain platinum status in the U.S.
NO. 21: MOTORHEAD, ‘MOTORHEAD’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
What a sad world this would be if Motorhead did not exist. In fact, that almost happened, but Ted Carroll of Chiswick Records signed the band shortly after attending what was supposed to be Motorhead’s final show in 1977.
Motorhead’s self-titled debut brought us the band’s powerful title track, ‘Keep Us on the Road,’ ‘The Watcher’ and many others. The album stabilized the shaky band and readied them for an iconic career, and In true Motorhead fashion, advertisements for the band’s debut read, “Achtung! This Band Takes No Prisoners.”
NO. 20: DEICIDE, ‘DEICIDE’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
As the famous story goes, Deicide‘s Glenn Benton reportedly marched in the office of Roadrunner Records’ A&R man Monte Connors, slammed a demo onto his desk and decreed, “Sign us, you f—ing a–hole!”
The next day, Deicide were offered contracts and their self-titled debut came shortly after. The death metal album delves deeply into Satanism and blasphemy, cult leaders Charles Manson and Jim Jones, and the cult horror film ‘The Evil Dead.’ Tracks such as ‘Dead by Dawn’ and ‘Crucifixion’ are fairly simple in structure, but they get straight to the point with no B.S. included.
NO. 19: SLIPKNOT, ‘SLIPKNOT’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
It may be hard to believe, but Slipknot were once a relatively unknown band. Slipknot purists may consider ‘Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.’ to be the act’s first album, but Slipknot themselves have credited their 1999 self-titled effort as their official debut.
Slipknot’s self-titled album proved as perhaps the most significant launching point for any band in the past 15 years, the disc containing fan favorites ‘Eyeless,’ ‘Wait and Bleed,’ ‘Spit it Out’ and ‘Surfacing.’ The debut has gone on to sell over two million copies in the U.S. alone.
NO. 18: EMPEROR, ‘IN THE NIGHTSIDE ECLIPSE’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
Although it is Emperor’s fourth overall release, ‘In the Nightside Eclipse’ is officially the band’s first full-length album. This record covers the listener like cold, frost-covered blanket, inviting its willing prey in for a truly unique black metal experience.
The 1994 album is strangely accessible, and is on the receiving end of much praise from curious extreme metal newcomers all the way to black metal elitists. Emperor’s full-length snowstorm is relentless in both sharp attack and eerie comfort, bookended by tracks ‘Into the Infinity of Thoughts’ and ‘Inno a Satana.’
NO. 17: MASTODON, ‘REMISSION’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
Before Mastodon went on to hunt down the white whale, the Georgia crunch-sludge quartet released their debut masterpiece, ‘Remission,’ in 2002.
The album helped solidify Mastodon as one of the 21st century’s most important metal acts, boasting multiple opus’ such as ‘March of the Fire Ants,’ ‘Mother Puncher,’ ‘Where Strides the Behemoth’ and ‘Crusher Destroyer.’ To this day, no other band sounds quite like Mastodon, although interest in underground Southern metal is now at a peak, thanks in part to ‘Remission.’
NO. 16: MAYHEM, ‘DE MYSTERIIS DOM SATHANAS’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
Mayhem‘s ‘De Mysteriis Dom Sanathas’ may be the most sonically terrifying black metal record ever released.
Unfortunately, vocalist Per ‘Dead’ Ohlin committed suicide before he was able to enter the studio for ‘De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas,’ but his lyrical work lives on in the black metal masterwork.
Never has a more iconic group of black metal musicians shared a studio space. Guitarist Euronymous and bassist Varg Vikernes would both lend their talents to the album (Varg later murdered Euronymous), as did legendary drummer Hellhamer and current Mayhem vocalist Attila Csihar.
NO. 15: EXODUS, ‘BONDED BY BLOOD’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
Thrash is a wonderful genre, isn’t it? Especially when it comes out of the San Francisco Bay Area. California birthed yet another monumental thrash act in Exodus, and the band’s debut, ‘Bonded by Blood,’ is essential for any metalhead looking for grit and speed.
‘Bonded by Blood’ gave Exodus a solid foundation to base their long, albeit on-and-off career on. If you can listen to ‘Strike of the Beast’ without breaking everything within a 10-foot radius, you’re doing it wrong.
NO. 14: SUFFOCATION, ‘EFFIGY OF THE FORGOTTEN’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
Suffocation are the most brutal live band on the planet. Exposure to Suffocation’s music is like being hit by a brick wall thrown from the top of the Grand Canyon.
Baffling enough, when performed live, the tracks from ‘Effigy of the Forgotten’ consistently remain as Suffocation’s most purely brutal offerings. The album is widely known for blueprinting low guttural vocals and integrating masterful technicality within brutal death metal, and the disc’s tracks ‘Infecting the Crypts,’ ‘Liege of Inveracity’ and ‘Jesus Wept’ could compete with any modern death metal song in a competition of pure heaviness.
NO. 13: TESTAMENT, ‘THE LEGACY’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
We love us some Testament, and so do you! The thrash titans began their illustrious career with a little album called ‘The Legacy,’ which hit fans in 1987.
The album opens with the longtime fan favorite ‘Over the Wall’ and continues with ‘The Haunting,’ ‘Burnt Offerings’ and six other thrash-terpieces. ‘The Legacy’ introduced the world to the duel guitar attack of Alex Skolnick and Eric Peterson, along with the roaring voice of Chuck Billy. Even thrash legend Steve ‘Zetro’ Souza contributed lyrics to ‘The Legacy’ … how could you go wrong?
NO. 12: TOOL, ‘UNDERTOW’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
Tool are practically their own genre, but the act based its debut album, ‘Undertow,’ heavily on progressive and gritty alt-metal.
Tool had gained many followers with their ‘Opiate’ EP, but it was ‘Undertow’ that proved that the religious devotion of Tool’s underground fans could be spread to the mainstream. The brilliant tracks ‘Prison Sex,’ ‘Intolerance,’ ‘Bottom’ and ‘Sober’ can be found within ‘Undertow,’ along with many other prime cuts which proved to be more addictive than injecting crystal meth into your eyeball.
NO. 11: SLAYER, ‘SHOW NO MERCY’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
SLAAAYYYYYEEEERRRRRRRR!!! Damn, this album is raw. The divine thrash act has written some of the greatest tracks in metal history, but it all started with ‘Show No Mercy’ in 1983.
Guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King had a tremendous amount to prove for their first studio album, and they succeeded exponentially by creating a unique style. Massive riffs mixed in with frantic soloing in tracks like ‘Black Magic,’ ‘Die by the Sword’ and ‘Fight Till Death’ brought in a legion of fans to Slayer’s doorstep, and ‘Show No Mercy’ remains a phenomenal album to this day.
NO. 10: THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, ‘CALCULATING INFINITY’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
It’s the album that changed everything without changing a damn thing. The Dillinger Escape Plan‘s debut album, ‘Calculating Infinity,’ still remains as the most spastic, mathematical, chaotic and contradicting metal album ever released.
The theoretical precision of ‘Calculating Infinity’ feels like it was thrown into a particle accelerator and launched to near light speed as the instrumental section of Dillinger enters technical territories which boggle the mind. The Dillinger Escape Plan are one of the few acts in extreme music who have never been ripped off, not because nobody tried, but simply because nobody else has been able to do it.
NO. 9: CYNIC, ‘FOCUS’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
Cynic may be the most underrated technical death metal band since the genre’s inception. The balance showcased throughout the band’s 1993 debut, ‘Focus,’ has influenced countless bands, but no act has quite been able to replicate Cynic’s sophistication.
Throwing in jazz-fusion and progressive rock elements in with their Florida death metal roots, Cynic presented an album that is fundamentally perfect. 20 years later, ‘Focus’ hasn’t aged a day, and if you were to play the album for someone who had never heard Cynic, you could easily convince them that ‘Focus’ was released last week.
NO. 8: OPETH, ‘ORCHID’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
Nearly 20 years since the release of ‘Orchid,’Opeth‘s debut album still retains its individuality along with its overall quality.
In many ways, ‘Orchid’ introduced the metal world to frontman Mikael Akerfeldt, who would later develop one of metal’s most beautiful voices along with the most demonic guttural of all time. Opeth have stuck to their complex formula ever since ‘Orchid,’ mixing opposite dynamics and writing long, progressive tracks, damning what popular music deemed to be normal and acceptable.
NO. 7: OZZY OSBOURNE, ‘BLIZZARD OF OZZ’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
When then-former Black Sabbath vocalist Ozzy Osbourne met Quiet Riot guitarist Randy Rhoads, we can only imagine that the clouds parted as a beam of white light illuminated the duo.
Rhoads was already respected as a guitarist, but his iconic riffs and masterful shredding within ‘Blizzard of Ozz’ turned him into a living legend. Tracks such as ‘Crazy Train,’ ‘Mr. Crowley’ and ‘Suicide Solution’ solidified as one of, if not the best, metal guitarist of his time … oh, and Ozzy’s vocals are pretty awesome too.
NO. 6: DIO, ‘HOLY DIVER’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
After lending his vocal talents to Rainbow and Black Sabbath, Ronnie James Dio began his own heavy metal project, Dio.
The singer had hit it out of the park time and time again with his past projects, and he brought his magic into the studio once again to record the ‘Holy Diver’ album. ‘Holy Diver’ is an album filled with metal anthems, with ‘Rainbow in the Dark,’ ‘Don’t Talk to Strangers,’ ‘Stand Up and Shout’ and the record’s title track spearheading ‘Holy Diver.’ Much like Ozzy Osbourne found Randy Rhoads, Dio teamed up with guitarist Vivian Campbell, who further brought ‘Holy Diver’ to legendary status with his monstrous shredding.
NO. 5: DEATH, ‘SCREAM BLOODY GORE’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
The rise of death metal’s all-time greatest musician, Chuck Schuldiner, came in the form of Death‘s first full-length, ‘Scream Bloody Gore.’
To many, the 1987 album acted as the blueprint for death metal while setting the bar for speed, technicality and disturbing atmosphere. Housing Death cornerstones ‘Zombie Ritual,’ ‘Evil Dead,’ ‘Infernal Death’ and many more, ‘Scream Bloody Gore’ hits the mark again and again throughout the near hour-long debut. Schuldiner expresses an undeniable prominence of character on each ‘Scream Bloody Gore’ track, a trend which would continue for his entire career.
NO. 4: MORBID ANGEL, ‘ALTARS OF MADNESS’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
Morbid Angel‘s ‘Altars of Madness’ is one of the most celebrated death metal albums of all time, and in our opinion, is death metal’s greatest debut.
From the death metal mecca of Tampa, Fla., Morbid Angel swept the metal world in 1989 with a record that tested the barriers of heaviness. Showcasing a mass of monstrous riffs from Trey Azagthoth, phenomenal songwriting and frantic Jeff Hanneman-esque solos, ‘Altars of Madness’ redefined what it meant to be heavy while influencing an upcoming class of brutal death metal.
NO. 3: IRON MAIDEN, ‘IRON MAIDEN’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
Iron Maiden didn’t release their first studio album until five years after the band’s initial formation, but once the self-titled record was unleashed in 1980, the Irons were official up!
Bassist Steve Harris penned the majority of ‘Iron Maiden,’ including staple tracks ‘Phantom of the Opera’ and the album’s title track — not to ignore vocalist Paul Di’Anno‘s contributions to ‘Remember Tomorrow’ and ‘Running Free.’ U.S. audiences were treated to a little extra when ‘Iron Maiden’ was finally released overseas, including the Di’Anno / Harris / Dave Murray power hit ‘Sanctuary.’
NO. 2: METALLICA, ‘KILL ‘EM ALL’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
The masters of thrash metal, Metallica, introduced themselves to the world in 1983 with the landmark debut, ‘Kill ‘Em All.’
Much like the record’s album art, ‘Kill ‘Em All’ hammers 10 classic tracks into the brain of the listener, boggling the senses with ‘Seek & Destroy,’ ‘Whiplash,’ ‘Jump in the Fire,’ ‘Hit the Lights’ and many more. The team of James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Cliff Burton and Kirk Hammett are listed as the quartet who recorded ‘Kill ‘Em All,’ although former member and current Megadeth frontmanDave Mustaine was given due credit for his various contributions.
NO. 1: BLACK SABBATH, ‘BLACK SABBATH’ – BEST DEBUT METAL ALBUMS
…And metal was born. Black Sabbath‘s self-titled debut harnessed the heavy undertones of acts such as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Blue Cheer and brought it to the forefront to create metal’s most important debut of all-time.
Along with the immortal hits ‘N.I.B.,’ ‘Evil Woman’ and ‘The Wizard,’ Sabbath’s debut contains the eponymous masterpiece, ‘Black Sabbath.’ No music since the classical and romantic eras had been able to capture the essence of pure evil like ‘Black Sabbath,’ led by guitarist Tony Iommi and his use of the demonic diminished fifth chord. Ozzy Osbourne‘s haunting vocals radiate the feeling of panic and terror throughout the title track, setting the benchmark for all heavy music since.
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