1993

1993 opened with Czechoslovakia splitting into two countries on New Year's Day and Bill Clinton moving into the White House three weeks later. In February a van bomb went off beneath the World Trade Center, and in the same month the abduction of James Bulger in Bootle left Britain badly shaken.

Rock was busy sorting out what to do after grunge went mainstream. Nirvana answered with In Utero in September, a deliberately abrasive follow-up, while Pearl Jam released Vs. in October and The Smashing Pumpkins delivered Siamese Dream in July. Radiohead's Pablo Honey arrived in February, and nobody yet knew where they'd go next. Metal moved on in other directions: Tool's Undertow brought a darker, stranger alt-metal, Sepultura's Chaos A.D. pushed groove metal forward, Type O Negative's Bloody Kisses gave gothic metal a wry grin, and Anthrax tried a new sound on Sound of White Noise. Guns N' Roses put out a covers record, "The Spaghetti Incident?", and Iron Maiden fans got three live releases, A Real Live One, A Real Dead One and Live at Donington. Led Zeppelin boxed sets kept the old guard on the shelves.

The year was costly. Bruce Dickinson left Iron Maiden, with Blaze Bayley of Wolfsbane chosen to follow him. Rob Halford walked out of Judas Priest to form Fight, and Michael Kiske left Helloween, replaced by Andi Deris. Testament lost Alex Skolnick and Louie Clemente. Darker still, Euronymous of Mayhem was murdered in August by Varg Vikernes of Burzum, and Savatage's Criss Oliva died in October when a drunk driver hit his car. Accept, meanwhile, got Udo Dirkschneider back.