1998 in heavy metal music

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

Newly formed bands

* Atreyu
* Betzefer
* Breaking Benjamin
* Chimaira
* Cog
* Freedom Call
* Peccatum
* Rebaelliun
* Rob Zombie
* Týr
* Underoath
* Unearth
* Winds

Albums

* Arch Enemy - "Stigmata"
* Atreyu - "Visions (EP)"
* Ayreon - "Into the Electric Castle"
* Behemoth - "Pandemonic Incantations"
* 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"
* The Dillinger Escape Plan - "Under the Running Board"
* Dimmu Borgir - "Godless Savage Garden"
* Edguy - "Vain Glory Opera"
* 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"
* KISS - "Psycho Circus"
* Korn - "Follow the Leader"
* Yngwie J. Malmsteen - "Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra in Em, Opus 1", "LIVE!"
* Mercenary - "First Breath"
* Metal Church - "Live"
* Metallica - "Garage Inc."
* Marilyn Manson - "Mechanical Animals"
* Monster Magnet - "Powertrip"
* Moonspell - "Sin/Pecado"
* Motley Crue - "Greatest Hits"
* Motörhead - "Snake Bite Love"
* Nightwish - "Oceanborn"
* Nile - "Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka"
* 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"
* Rhapsody of Fire - "Symphony of Enchanted Lands"
* Savatage - "The Wake of Magellan"
* Sepultura - "Against"
* Skid Row - ""
* Slayer - "Diabolus In Musica"
* Stratovarius - "Visions of Europe" (live)
* Stratovarius - "Destiny"
* System of a Down - "System of a Down"
* Van Halen - "Van Halen III"
* Virgin Black - "Trance" EP

Disbandments

* 24-7 Spyz
* Faith No More

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.