2004 in heavy metal music

This is a timeline documenting the events of heavy metal in the year 2004.

Newly formed bands

 * A Dozen Furies
 * A Hero A Fake
 * Abigail Williams
 * Adept
 * After The Burial
 * Age of Silence
 * The Agonist (as The Tempest)
 * Ahab
 * Alestorm
 * Alter Bridge
 * Amaseffer
 * Amesoeurs
 * Architects
 * Art of Dying
 * Baptized In Blood
 * Be'lakor
 * Beneath The Massacre
 * Beneath the Sky
 * Big Business
 * Binary Code
 * Black Tide
 * Black Mountain
 * Blackthorn
 * Blood Tsunami
 * Bloodbound
 * Bring Me the Horizon
 * Catalepsy
 * Celestiial
 * Cellador
 * Chrome Division
 * Claim the Throne
 * Coldseed
 * Cor Scorpii
 * Dark Empire
 * Dead Congregation
 * Devil Sold His Soul
 * Enforcer
 * Escape the Fate
 * The Faceless
 * Finsterforst
 * Genghis Tron
 * Gnaw Their Tongues
 * Havok
 * The Human Abstract
 * Intronaut
 * Kayser
 * Lich King
 * Massacration
 * myGRAIN
 * Royal Thunder
 * Russian Circles
 * Savage Circus
 * Saving Abel
 * Scale the Summit
 * Scar Symmetry
 * Skiltron
 * Sturm und Drang
 * To-Mera
 * Torche
 * Tribulation
 * Triosphere
 * Veil of Maya
 * Vreid
 * Warbringer
 * Wolfmother

Reformed bands

 * Extreme (for a few shows)
 * Glyder
 * Megadeth
 * Mötley Crüe

Albums

 * 3 Inches of Blood – Advance and Vanquish
 * 36 Crazyfists – A Snow Capped Romance
 * The Acacia Strain – 3750
 * Aerosmith – Honkin' on Bobo
 * After Forever – Invisible Circles
 * Age of Silence – Acceleration
 * Alabama Thunderpussy – Fulton Hill
 * All That Remains – This Darkened Heart
 * Alter Bridge – One Day Remains
 * Amon Amarth – Fate of Norns
 * Angra – Temple of Shadows
 * Annihilator – All for You
 * Anvil – Back to Basics
 * Atreyu – The Curse
 * Ayreon – The Human Equation
 * Behemoth – Demigod
 * Beseech – Drama
 * Black Label Society – Hangover Music Vol. VI
 * Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong (box set)
 * Breaking Benjamin – We Are Not Alone
 * Cannibal Corpse – The Wretched Spawn
 * The Chariot – Everything Is Alive, Everything Is Breathing, Nothing Is Dead, and Nothing Is Bleeding
 * Chevelle – This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In)
 * Cradle of Filth – Nymphetamine
 * Damageplan – New Found Power
 * Danzig – Circle of Snakes
 * Dead Poetic - New Medicines
 * Decapitated – The Negation
 * Def Leppard – Best of Def Leppard (compilation)
 * Deicide – Scars of the Crucifix
 * Demon Hunter – Summer of Darkness
 * The Dillinger Escape Plan – Miss Machine
 * Dio – Master of the Moon
 * Dokken – Hell to Pay
 * Downset. – Universal
 * DragonForce – Sonic Firestorm
 * Dream Evil – The Book of Heavy Metal
 * Dream Theater – Live at Budokan (live)
 * Drowning Pool – Desensitized
 * Edguy – Hellfire Club
 * Electric Wizard – We Live
 * Elis – Dark Clouds in a Perfect Sky
 * Enslaved – Isa
 * Exodus – Tempo of the Damned
 * Fall of the Leafe – Volvere
 * Fates Warning – FWX
 * Fear Factory – Archetype
 * Finntroll – Nattfödd
 * God Forbid – Gone Forever
 * Grip Inc. – Incorporated
 * Gwar – War Party
 * Haste the Day - Burning Bridges (Haste the Day album)
 * Heaven Shall Burn – Antigone
 * Helmet – Size Matters
 * Helmet – Unsung: The Best of Helmet (1991–1997) (compilation)
 * Hirax – The New Age of Terror
 * Hypocrisy – The Arrival
 * Iced Earth – The Glorious Burden
 * In Flames – Soundtrack to Your Escape
 * Isis – Panopticon
 * Jag Panzer – Casting the Stones
 * Killswitch Engage – The End of Heartache
 * Kittie – Until the End
 * Kill the Noize – Play with the Devil
 * Kronos – Colossal Titan Strife
 * Lamb of God – Ashes of the Wake
 * Lordi – The Monsterican Dream
 * Leaves Eyes – Lovelorn
 * Marilyn Manson – Lest We Forget: The Best Of (compilation)
 * Marduk – Plague Angel
 * Mastodon – Leviathan
 * Mayhem – Chimera
 * Megadeth – The System Has Failed
 * Mercenary – 11 Dreams
 * Meshuggah – I
 * Metal Church – The Weight of the World
 * Metalium – As One – Chapter Four
 * Ministry – Houses of the Molé
 * Misanthrope – Misanthro-Thérapie (15 Années d'Analyse) (compilation)
 * Mnemic – The Audio Injected Soul
 * Monster Magnet – Monolithic Baby!
 * Motörhead – Inferno
 * My Dying Bride – Songs of Darkness, Words of Light
 * Necrophagist – Epitaph
 * Neurosis – The Eye of Every Storm
 * Nightwish – Once
 * No-Big-Silence – Kuidas kuningas kuu peale kippus
 * Oomph! – Wahrheit oder Pflicht
 * Orange Goblin – Thieving from the House of God
 * Otep – House of Secrets
 * Papa Roach – Getting Away with Murder
 * Pentagram – Show 'Em How
 * Pig Destroyer – Painter of Dead Girls (compilation)
 * Pig Destroyer – Terrifyer
 * Power Quest – Neverworld
 * Primal Fear – Devil's Ground
 * Pro-Pain – Fistful of Hate
 * Probot – Probot
 * Rammstein – Reise, Reise
 * Raunchy – Confusion Bay
 * Rhapsody – Symphony of Enchanted Lands II – The Dark Secret
 * Rotting Christ – Sanctus Diavolos
 * Saxon – Lionheart
 * Senses Fail – Let It Enfold You
 * Scarve – Irradiant
 * Scorpions – Unbreakable
 * Shadows Fall – The War Within
 * Slipknot – Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)
 * Sonata Arctica – Reckoning Night
 * Soulfly – Prophecy
 * Static-X – Beneath... Between... Beyond... (compilation)
 * Stryper – 7 Weeks: Live in America, 2003 (live)
 * Suffocation – Souls to Deny
 * Terror – One with the Underdogs
 * The Crest – Vain City Chronicles
 * The Haunted – Revolver
 * Therion – Lemuria
 * Therion – Sirius B
 * U.D.O. – Thunderball
 * Underoath – They're Only Chasing Safety
 * Unearth – The Oncoming Storm
 * Vader – The Beast
 * Van Halen – The Best of Both Worlds (compilation)
 * Velvet Revolver – Contraband
 * Vintersorg – The Focusing Blur
 * Visions of Atlantis – Cast Away
 * WarCry – Alea Jacta Est
 * Winds – The Imaginary Direction of Time
 * Wintersun – Wintersun
 * Within Temptation – The Silent Force
 * Xandria – Ravenheart

Bands disbanded

 * Bathory
 * Creed
 * Damageplan
 * Nothingface (reformed in 2005)
 * Prayer for Cleansing
 * SugarComa
 * Windir

Events

 * Brian "Head" Welch announced his departure from Korn after converting to Christianity.
 * Bassist Tim Gaines announced his departure from Stryper after 10 complete years. He was replaced by Tracy Ferrie.
 * Jason Jones was announced as Drowning Pool's new lead singer and joined them on the album Desensitized.
 * Supergroup Velvet Revolver releases their debut album Contraband which debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and goes double platinum.
 * After an eight-year hiatus, Extreme briefly returns for a short tour and a few concerts in Japan.
 * Van Halen reunites with Sammy Hagar for a summer tour.
 * Anal Cunt vocalist Seth Putnam slips into a coma after consuming a large amount of drugs.
 * Aerosmith returns to a raw hard rock sound with their blues cover album Honkin' on Bobo
 * Terry Balsamo leaves Cold and joins Evanescence as their new guitarist.
 * Guitarist Lisa Marx joins Kittie as a session member, replacing Jeff Phillips.
 * Maniac leaves Mayhem and is replaced by the band's former singer, Attila Csihar.
 * Dave Mustaine reforms Megadeth with 3 session musicians, former and original Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland, bassist Jimmie Lee Sloas and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta to record The System Has Failed, then tour the album with full-time members Glen Drover on guitar, James MacDonough on bass and Shawn Drover on drums.
 * Ex-Judas Priest drummer Dave Holland is sentenced to eight years in prison for attempted rape against a then 17-year-old boy.

Deaths

 * January 14 – Terje "Valfar" Bakken, founder, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist of Windir, died from hypothermia after being caught in a snow storm. He was 25.
 * June 3 – Thomas Börje "Quorthon" Forsberg, founder, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist of Bathory, died from heart failure at the age of 38.
 * August 17 – Dennis "D-Roc" Miles, guitarist of Body Count, died from lymphoma complications at the age of 44.
 * October 20 – Flowing Tears founding members, former drummer Cristian Zimmer and former guitarist Björn Lorson, died in a car accident.
 * December 8 – "Dimebag" Darrell Lance Abbott, founding member and former guitarist of Pantera and guitarist of Damageplan, was killed on stage, along with three other people, while performing with Damageplan at a nightclub in Ohio. He was 38.
 * December 26 – Mieszko Andrzej Talarczyk, vocalist and guitarist of Nasum, died in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake at the age of 30. His body was identified on February 16, 2005.
 * Piero "Sanctis Ghoram" Gori, former Death SS vocalist, died from cancer.