# 2016 in heavy metal music

This is a timeline documenting the events of heavy metal in the year 2016.

## Bands formed

* Cellar Darling
* Invidia
* Lovebites
* Memoriam
* Nothing Left
* Pillorian
* Prophets of Rage
* Sinsaenum
* Spiritbox
* Vimic
* VUUR

## Bands disbanded

* Agalloch
* Bolt Thrower
* Crucified Barbara
* Eths
* For Today
* I, the Breather
* Kylesa (hiatus)
* Lionheart
* ReVamp
* Scar the Martyr
* Sockweb
* Twisted Sister
* Wodensthrone

## Bands reformed

* Abandon All Ships
* Akercocke
* Battlelore (hiatus from 2011 to 2016)
* Decadence
* Demolition Hammer
* Destroy the Runner
* Esprit D'Air
* Evildead
* Massacration
* Massacre
* Nasty Savage
* Nitro
* The Obsessed
* Pestilence
* Power Quest
* Ratt
* Scissorfight
* The Union Underground

## Events

* On April 28, 2015, Black Sabbath announced that they will embark on their final tour.
* On July 5, 2015, Blackmore's Night and former Deep Purple and Rainbow guitarist Ritchie Blackmore announced that he will briefly return to rock music by performing a few shows in June.
* On January 14, Lacuna Coil announced that guitarist Marco Biazzi has left the band.
* On February 10, Skeletonwitch announced Adam Clemans as their new vocalist.
* On February 20, Suicidal Tendencies announced Dave Lombardo (formerly of Slayer) as the drummer for their U.S. tour with Megadeth, which took place in February and March. Lombardo will drum for Suicidal Tendencies again on their summer European tour.
* On March 19, Underoath played their first show since disbanding in 2013 at Self Help Festival in California.
* On March 31, Martin Henriksson announced that he has quit Dark Tranquillity due to loss of passion for playing music.
* On April 16 and 23, Guns N' Roses reunited with their original guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan for this year's Coachella.
* On April 16, Overkill played a special show in Oberhausen where they played the Feel the Fire and Horrorscope albums in their entirety. The show was professionally filmed and recorded for an upcoming DVD.
* On May 5, Eluveitie announced that they parted ways with drummer Merlin Sutter, vocalist Anna Murphy and guitarist Ivo Henzi.
* On May 20, Megadeth announced that Soilwork drummer Dirk Verbeuren was joining as their touring drummer, filling in for then-drummer Chris Adler. On July 15, however, Verbeuren was announced their full-time drummer, after Adler left the band.
* On August 6 and 7, Heavy Montreal took place presented by Evenko, and headliners were Nightwish, Disturbed, Five Finger Death Punch, Volbeat and Candlemass.
* On November 15, 2016, German power metal band Helloween announced tour dubbed "Pumpkins United", celebrating 30 years of Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part I and Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II, with former members Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen joining Helloween's Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy line-up. The "Pumpkins United" line-up entered in the studio at the end of the tour and recorded what would end up being their self titled album.

## Deaths

* January 14 – Kevin Lawrence, guitarist of Rapidfire, died from multiple heart attacks at the age of 51.
* January 23 – Jimmy Bain, bassist of Rainbow and Dio, died from lung cancer at the age of 68.
* February 21 – Piotr Grudziński, guitarist of Riverside, died from sudden cardiac arrest at the age of 40.
* March 3 – John Thomas, former guitarist of Budgie, died from undisclosed reasons at the age of 63.
* March 3 – Oskar Karlsson, drummer of Gates of Ishtar, died from heart failure at the age of 39.
* March 13 – Nik Green, keyboardist of Blue Murder, died from cancer.
* April 5 – John Byrd, former guitarist of King Conquer, died from substance abuse.
* April 18 – Aleah Liane Stanbridge, vocalist of Trees of Eternity, died from cancer at the age of 39.
* May 21 – Nick Menza, former drummer of Megadeth, died from heart failure at the age of 51.
* May 31 – Brandon Ferrell, former drummer of Municipal Waste, died from undisclosed reasons.
* June 9 – Adam Young, multi-instrumentalist of Sockweb, died after committing suicide by hanging himself at the age of 28.
* August 13 – Jerry Clyde Paradis, former drummer of The Gates of Slumber and Sourvein, died from undisclosed reasons.
* August 17 – James Woolley, former keyboardist of Nine Inch Nails, died from undisclosed reasons at the age of 49.
* August 21 – Tom Searle, guitarist of Architects, died from cancer at the age of 28.
* August 25 – Norman Killeen, former drummer of Threat Signal, died from undisclosed reasons at the age of 38.
* September 10 – Pecu Cinnari, drummer of Tarot, died from a long-term illness at the age of 50.
* September 11 – Leonard Haze, former drummer of Y&T, died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the age of 61.
* September 27 – Mike Taylor, former vocalist of Quartz, died from undisclosed reasons.
* September 27 – Brodie Wheeler, former guitarist of King Conquer, died from substance abuse.
* December 5 – Adam Sagan, former drummer of Circle II Circle and Into Eternity, died from blood cancer at the age of 36.
* December 23 – Mick Zane, guitarist of Malice, died from brain cancer.

## Albums released
### January

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 7 | Autograph | Louder (EP) |
| 8 | Cauldron | In Ruin |
| 8 | Exmortus | Ride Forth |
| 8 | Jeff Hughell | Trinidad Scorpion Hallucinations |
| 15 | Aborted | Termination Redux (EP) |
| 15 | Axel Rudi Pell | Game of Sins |
| 15 | Rhapsody of Fire | Into the Legend |
| 15 | Witchcraft | Nucleus |
| 20 | Black Sabbath | The End (EP) |
| 22 | Abbath | Abbath |
| 22 | Borknagar | Winter Thrice |
| 22 | Megadeth | Dystopia |
| 22 | Rage | My Way (EP) |
| 22 | The Resistance | Coup de Grâce |
| 29 | Amoral | In Sequence |
| 29 | Avantasia | Ghostlights |
| 29 | Black Tusk | Pillars of Ash |
| 29 | Bury Tomorrow | Earthbound |
| 29 | Conan | Revengeance |
| 29 | Dream Theater | The Astonishing |
| 29 | Exumer | The Raging Tides |
| 29 | Master | An Epiphany of Hate |
| 29 | Primal Fear | Rulebreaker |
| 29 | Prong | X (No Absolutes) |
| 29 | Serenity | Codex Atlanticus |

### February

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 5 | The Cult | Hidden City |
| 5 | Drowning Pool | Hellelujah |
| 5 | Fleshgod Apocalypse | King |
| 5 | Obscura | Akróasis |
| 5 | Textures | Phenotype |
| 12 | Holy Grail | Times of Pride and Peril |
| 12 | Magrudergrind | II |
| 12 | Rotting Christ | Rituals |
| 12 | Urgehal | Aeons in Sodom |
| 19 | Adept | Sleepless |
| 19 | After the Burial | Dig Deep |
| 19 | Cirith Gorgor | Visions of Exalted Lucifer |
| 19 | Delain | Lunar Prelude (EP) |
| 19 | Hypno5e | Shores of the Abstract Line |
| 19 | Karybdis | Samsara |
| 19 | Last in Line | Heavy Crown |
| 19 | Myrath | Legacy |
| 19 | Raubtier | Bärsärkagång |
| 26 | Anthrax | For All Kings |
| 26 | Anvil | Anvil Is Anvil |
| 26 | Black Cobra | Imperium Simulacra |
| 26 | Deströyer 666 | Wildfire |
| 26 | Entombed A.D. | Dead Dawn |
| 26 | Headspace | All That You Fear Is Gone |
| 26 | Omnium Gatherum | Grey Heavens |
| 26 | Redemption | The Art of Loss |
| 26 | Sinbreed | Master Creator |
| 26 | The Unguided | Lust and Loathing |
| 26 | Voivod | Post Society (EP) |
| 26 | Wisdom | Rise of the Wise |

### March

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 4 | Hacktivist | Outside the Box |
| 4 | Reckless Love | InVader |
| 11 | Criminal | Fear Itself |
| 11 | Killswitch Engage | Incarnate |
| 11 | Van Canto | Voices of Fire |
| 15 | Pyrrhon | Running Out of Skin (EP) |
| 18 | Blaze Bayley | Infinite Entanglement |
| 18 | Circus Maximus | Havoc |
| 18 | Convulse | Cycle of Revenge |
| 18 | Human Fortress | Thieves of the Night |
| 18 | Mob Rules | Tales from Beyond |
| 18 | Mystic Prophecy | War Brigade |
| 18 | Spiritual Beggars | Sunrise to Sundown |
| 18 | The Word Alive | Dark Matter |
| 25 | American Head Charge | Tango Umbrella |
| 25 | Amon Amarth | Jomsviking |
| 25 | Artillery | Penalty by Perception |
| 25 | Asking Alexandria | The Black |
| 25 | Blood Ceremony | Lord of Misrule |
| 25 | Caliban | Gravity |
| 25 | Dayglo Abortions | Armageddon Survival Guide |
| 25 | Izegrim | The Ferryman's End |
| 25 | Lody Kong | Dreams and Visions |
| 25 | Metal Church | XI |
| 25 | Rotten Sound | Abuse to Suffer |
| 25 | Ragnarok | Psychopathology |
| 25 | Walls of Jericho | No One Can Save You from Yourself |

### April

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 1 | Babymetal | Metal Resistance |
| 1 | Bossk | Audio Noir |
| 1 | Mike & the Melvins | Three Men and a Baby |
| 1 | Moonsorrow | Jumalten aika |
| 1 | Novembre | URSA |
| 1 | Thunderstone | Apocalypse Again |
| 8 | Deftones | Gore |
| 8 | Filter | Crazy Eyes |
| 8 | Ihsahn | Arktis |
| 8 | Zakk Wylde | Book of Shadows II |
| 15 | Ace Frehley | Origins, Vol. 1 (covers album) |
| 15 | Crematory | Monument |
| 15 | Lita Ford | Time Capsule |
| 15 | Otep | Generation Doom |
| 22 | Aborted | Retrogore |
| 22 | Darkness Divided | Darkness Divided |
| 22 | Diamond Head | Diamond Head |
| 22 | Eths | Ankaa |
| 22 | The Foreshadowing | Seven Heads Ten Horns |
| 22 | Incite | Oppression |
| 22 | October Tide | Winged Waltz |
| 22 | Texas Hippie Coalition | Dark Side of Black |
| 22 | This Ending | Garden of Death |
| 25 | Darkend | The Canticle of Shadows |
| 25 | Tigertailz | Blast |
| 26 | Node | Cowards Empire |
| 29 | Darkestrah | Turan |
| 29 | Discharge | End of Days |
| 29 | Fallujah | Dreamless |
| 29 | Haken | Affinity |
| 29 | Nemesea | Uprise |
| 29 | Rob Zombie | The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser |
| 29 | Tremonti | Dust |

### May

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 6 | Vektor | Terminal Redux |
| 10 | Femme Fatale | One More for the Road |
| 13 | Avatar | Feathers & Flesh |
| 13 | Destruction | Under Attack |
| 13 | DevilDriver | Trust No One |
| 13 | Gorguts | Pleiades' Dust (EP) |
| 13 | Grand Magus | Sword Songs |
| 13 | Hatebreed | The Concrete Confessional |
| 13 | Kvelertak | Nattesferd |
| 20 | Dead by Wednesday | The Darkest of Angels |
| 20 | Flotsam and Jetsam | Flotsam and Jetsam |
| 20 | Iron Savior | Titancraft |
| 20 | Katatonia | The Fall of Hearts |
| 20 | Suidakra | Realms of Odoric |
| 20 | Vardis | Red Eye |
| 24 | Binary Code | Moonsblood |
| 27 | Architects | All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us |
| 27 | Behexen | The Poisonous Path |
| 27 | Death Angel | The Evil Divide |
| 27 | Illdisposed | Grey Sky Over Black Town |
| 27 | Katalepsy | Gravenous Hour |
| 27 | Lacuna Coil | Delirium |
| 27 | Motörhead | Clean Your Clock (live album) |
| 27 | Omen | Hammer Damage |
| 27 | Six Feet Under | Graveyard Classics IV: The Number of the Priest (covers album) |
| 27 | Suicidal Angels | Division of Blood |
| 27 | Withered | Grief Relic |

### June

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 1 | Yngwie Malmsteen | World on Fire |
| 3 | Beartooth | Aggressive |
| 3 | Candlemass | Death Thy Lover (EP) |
| 3 | Dark Funeral | Where Shadows Forever Reign |
| 3 | Dark Suns | Everchild |
| 3 | Hellyeah | Unden!able |
| 3 | Paradox | Pangea |
| 3 | Poverty's No Crime | Spiral of Fear |
| 3 | Volbeat | Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie |
| 10 | D.R.I. | But Wait... There's More! (EP) |
| 10 | Rage | The Devil Strikes Again |
| 10 | Scorpion Child | Acid Roulette |
| 10 | Sumac | What One Becomes |
| 17 | Ayreon | The Theater Equation (live album) |
| 17 | Gojira | Magma |
| 17 | Hammercult | Legends Never Die (EP) |
| 17 | Nails | You Will Never Be One of Us |
| 17 | Unlocking the Truth | Chaos |
| 24 | Be'lakor | Vessels |
| 24 | The Browning | Isolation |
| 24 | Highlord | Hic Sunt Leones |
| 24 | Kayo Dot | Plastic House on Base of Sky |
| 24 | Stuck Mojo | Here Come the Infidels |
| 24 | Whitechapel | Mark of the Blade |

### July

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 1 | Chelsea Grin | Self Inflicted |
| 1 | Fates Warning | Theories of Flight |
| 1 | Oracles | Miserycorde |
| 1 | Wolf Hoffmann | Headbangers Symphony |
| 2 | Brain Drill | Boundless Obscenity |
| 8 | Centinex | Doomsday Rituals |
| 8 | Chevelle | The North Corridor |
| 8 | Deadlock | Hybris |
| 8 | Nonpoint | The Poison Red |
| 8 | Trick or Treat | Rabbits' Hill, Pt. 2 |
| 8 | Wolverine | Machina Viva |
| 15 | 16 | Lifespan of a Moth |
| 15 | Raging Speedhorn | Lost Ritual |
| 15 | Scour | Scour (EP) |
| 22 | Black Crown Initiate | Selves We Cannot Forgive |
| 22 | Despised Icon | Beast |
| 22 | Despite | Synergi |
| 22 | Hammers of Misfortune | Dead Revolution |
| 22 | Periphery | Periphery III: Select Difficulty |
| 22 | Revocation | Great Is Our Sin |
| 22 | Twisted Sister | Metal Meltdown (live album) |
| 22 | Witherscape | The Northern Sanctuary |
| 29 | Ghoul | Dungeon Bastards |
| 29 | Infant Annihilator | The Elysian Grandeval Galèriarch |
| 29 | Ringworm | Snake Church |
| 29 | Sinsaenum | Echoes of the Tortured |

### August

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 5 | Bloody Hammers | Lovely Sort of Death |
| 5 | Carnifex | Slow Death |
| 5 | Islander | Power Under Control |
| 5 | Jackyl | Rowyco |
| 5 | Skillet | Unleashed |
| 5 | Tarja | The Shadow Self |
| 12 | The Amity Affliction | This Could Be Heartbreak |
| 12 | Equilibrium | Armageddon |
| 12 | Lacrimas Profundere | Hope Is Here |
| 19 | Blood Incantation | Starspawn |
| 19 | Gemini Syndrome | Memento Mori |
| 19 | Myrkur | Mausoleum (live album) |
| 19 | Sabaton | The Last Stand |
| 19 | Skeletonwitch | The Apothic Gloom (EP) |
| 20 | Throes of Dawn | Our Voices Shall Remain |
| 26 | Ablaze My Sorrow | Black |
| 26 | Any Given Day | Everlasting |
| 26 | Delain | Moonbathers |
| 26 | DGM | The Passage |
| 26 | Helstar | Vampiro |
| 26 | Inquisition | Bloodshed Across the Empyrean Altar Beyond the Celestial Zenith |
| 26 | Michael Sweet | One Sided War |
| 26 | Prophets of Rage | The Party's Over (EP) |
| 26 | Running Wild | Rapid Foray |
| 26 | Sodom | Decision Day |
| 26 | Solution .45 | Nightmares in the Waking State: Part II |
| 26 | Twelve Foot Ninja | Outlier |
| 26 | Vicious Rumors | Concussion Protocol |

### September

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 2 | A Day to Remember | Bad Vibrations |
| 2 | Art of Dying | Nevermore (EP) |
| 2 | Goblin Cock | Necronomidonkeykongimicon |
| 9 |
| 9 | Devin Townsend Project | Transcendence |
| 9 | Evergrey | The Storm Within |
| 9 | KMFDM | Rocks – Milestones Reloaded |
| 9 | Norma Jean | Polar Similar |
| 9 | Of Mice & Men | Cold World |
| 9 | Pain | Coming Home |
| 9 | Power Quest | Face the Raven (EP) |
| 9 | Rev Theory | The Revelation |
| 16 | Ancient | Back to the Land of the Dead |
| 16 | Brujeria | Pocho Aztlan |
| 16 | Finsterforst | #Yølø (EP) |
| 16 | Ghost | Popestar (EP) |
| 16 | Heaven Shall Burn | Wanderer |
| 16 | In the Woods... | Pure |
| 16 | Iron Fire | Among the Dead |
| 16 | King 810 | La Petite Mort or a Conversation with God |
| 16 | Lordi | Monstereophonic (Theaterror vs. Demonarchy) |
| 16 | Narnia | Narnia |
| 16 | Temperance | The Earth Embraces Us All |
| 16 | Thy Catafalque | Meta |
| 23 | Allegaeon | Proponent for Sentience |
| 23 | Almah | E.V.O |
| 23 | Charred Walls of the Damned | Creatures Watching Over the Dead |
| 23 | Dysrhythmia | The Veil of Control |
| 23 | Every Time I Die | Low Teens |
| 23 | Grim Reaper | Walking in the Shadows |
| 23 | Insomnium | Winter's Gate |
| 23 | Iron Mask | Diabolica |
| 23 | Monte Pittman | Inverted Grasp of Balance |
| 23 | Neurosis | Fires Within Fires |
| 23 | Operation: Mindcrime | Resurrection |
| 23 | Saint Vitus | Live Vol. 2 (live album) |
| 23 | Trap Them | Crown Feral |
| 30 | The Agonist | Five |
| 30 | Alcest | Kodama |
| 30 | Asphyx | Incoming Death |
| 30 | Epica | The Holographic Principle |
| 30 | Negură Bunget | ZI |
| 30 | Oathbreaker | Rheia |
| 30 | Opeth | Sorceress |
| 30 | Seven Kingdoms | In the Walls (EP) |
| 30 | Skálmöld | Vögguvísur Yggdrasils |
| 30 | Skiltron | Legacy of Blood |
| 30 | Suicidal Tendencies | World Gone Mad |
| 30 | Truckfighters | V |
| 30 | Winterfylleth | The Dark Hereafter |

### October

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 7 | Alter Bridge | The Last Hero |
| 7 | Candiria | While They Were Sleeping |
| 7 | The Devil Wears Prada | Transit Blues |
| 7 | Fit for a King | Deathgrip |
| 7 | Kyng | Breathe in the Water |
| 7 | Leaves' Eyes | Fires in the North (EP) |
| 7 | Meshuggah | The Violent Sleep of Reason |
| 7 | Mouth of the Architect | Path of Eight |
| 7 | Slaves on Dope | Horse |
| 7 | Sonata Arctica | The Ninth Hour |
| 7 | Watchtower | Concepts of Math: Book One (EP) |
| 14 | Anciients | Voice of the Void |
| 14 | Darkthrone | Arctic Thunder |
| 14 | The Dillinger Escape Plan | Dissociation |
| 14 | Hardline | Human Nature |
| 14 | Heaven Below | Good Morning Apocalypse |
| 14 | Hobbs' Angel of Death | Heaven Bled |
| 14 | Red Fang | Only Ghosts |
| 14 | Sacred Steel | Heavy Metal Sacrifice |
| 14 | Secret Sphere | One Night in Tokyo (live album) |
| 14 | Sonic Syndicate | Confessions |
| 14 | Theatres des Vampires | Candyland |
| 14 | Wormrot | Voices |
| 21 | Amaranthe | Maximalism |
| 21 | Bon Jovi | This House Is Not for Sale |
| 21 | Destrage | A Means to No End |
| 21 | I Declare War | Songs for the Sick |
| 21 | Korn | The Serenity of Suffering |
| 21 | Thrown into Exile | Safe Inside |
| 21 | Tygers of Pan Tang | Tygers of Pan Tang |
| 21 | Wovenwar | Honor Is Dead |
| 25 | Wardrum | Awakening |
| 28 | Anaal Nathrakh | The Whole of the Law |
| 28 | Avenged Sevenfold | The Stage |
| 28 | Car Bomb | Meta |
| 28 | Crowbar | The Serpent Only Lies |
| 28 | Deranged | Struck by a Murderous Siege |
| 28 | Dope | Blood Money, Part 1 |
| 28 | Helmet | Dead to the World |
| 28 | Krypts | Remnants of Expansion |
| 28 | Madder Mortem | Red in Tooth and Claw |
| 28 | Memphis May Fire | This Light I Hold |
| 28 | Painted in Exile | The Ordeal |
| 28 | Serpentine Dominion | Serpentine Dominion |
| 28 | Testament | Brotherhood of the Snake |
| 28 | Theocracy | Ghost Ship |
| 28 | Ulcerate | Shrines of Paralysis |
| 28 | Upon a Burning Body | Straight from the Barrio |
| 28 | Whores | Gold |

### November

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 4 | Civil War | The Last Full Measure |
| 4 | Dark Tranquillity | Atoma |
| 4 | HammerFall | Built to Last |
| 4 | Pretty Maids | Kingmaker |
| 4 | Sick of It All | When the Smoke Clears (EP) |
| 4 | Starkill | Shadow Sleep |
| 4 | Vader | The Empire |
| 8 | Deathspell Omega | The Synarchy of Molten Bones (EP) |
| 11 | Animals as Leaders | The Madness of Many |
| 11 | In Flames | Battles |
| 11 | Sirenia | Dim Days of Dolor |
| 11 | Superjoint | Caught Up in the Gears of Application |
| 11 | Trees of Eternity | Hour of the Nightingale |
| 14 | Furia | Księżyc Milczy Luty |
| 18 | De La Tierra | II |
| 18 | Devilment | II – The Mephisto Waltzes |
| 18 | Diabulus in Musica | Dirge for the Archons |
| 18 | Freedom Call | Master of Light |
| 18 | Herman Frank | The Devil Rides Out |
| 18 | Ion Dissonance | Cast the First Stone |
| 18 | Lamb of God | The Duke (EP) |
| 18 | Metallica | Hardwired... to Self-Destruct |
| 18 | Protest the Hero | Pacific Myth (EP) |
| 18 | Soulburn | Earthless Pagan Spirit |
| 21 | Paul Wardingham | Spiritual Machines |
| 25 | Nightmare | Dead Sun |
| 25 | Witchery | In His Infernal Majesty's Service |

### December

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 2 | Enuff Z'Nuff | Clowns Lounge |
| 9 | Babymetal | Live at Wembley (live album) |
| 9 | Destroy the Runner | Void (EP) |
| 9 | Those Who Fear | State of Mind |
| 9 | Zao | The Well-Intentioned Virus |
| 16 | Machinae Supremacy | Into the Night World |
| 17 | Rudra | Enemy of Duality |
| 23 | Nine Inch Nails | Not the Actual Events (EP) |
| 30 | Sister | Stand Up, Forward, March!< |