2009 in heavy metal music

This is a timeline documenting the events of heavy metal in the year 2009.

Reformed bands

 * Accept
 * Arcturus
 * Ark
 * Autopsy
 * Beherit
 * Beneath the Sky
 * Creed
 * The Crown
 * Decapitated
 * Faith No More
 * Gorguts
 * Saint Vitus (few shows only)
 * Steel Attack
 * To/Die/For
 * Unanimated
 * Year of Desolation

Disbandments

 * After Forever
 * Angelcorpse
 * Animosity
 * Battle of Mice
 * Burnt by the Sun
 * Burst
 * Divinity Destroyed
 * Falchion
 * God Seed
 * Gorefest
 * Grief
 * Lock Up
 * Lord Belial
 * Metal Church
 * Nothingface
 * The Old Dead Tree
 * Opiate for the Masses
 * Running Wild
 * Subzero
 * To/Die/For
 * Twilightning
 * xDEATHSTARx

Events

 * Iron Maiden complete their globe-trotting Somewhere Back in Time World Tour, playing 90 shows in 38 countries.
 * Iron Maiden become the first heavy metal band to win a Brit Award, winning the Best Live Act at the awards ceremony.
 * Former Arsis guitarist Ryan Knight joins The Black Dahlia Murder in late January, replacing John Kempainen.
 * Guitarist Doug Weber leaves Terror in January and is replaced by former No Warning guitarist Jordan Posner.
 * Metallica is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 4 April.
 * Metallica's 2008 album Death Magnetic is nominated for four Grammy categories, winning Best Recording Package and Best Metal Performance for "My Apocalypse".
 * Cannibal Corpse wins "Greatest Death Metal Song" with "Hammer Smashed Face" in a poll on the Metal Hammer website. Arch Enemy places second with "We Will Rise", Death third with "Crystal Mountain".
 * Finnish metal band Norther parts ways with longtime singer/guitarist Petri Lindroos and announces Aleksi Sihvonen (Medicated, ex-Imperanon) as the replacement vocalist.
 * Varg Vikernes is released from prison after 16 years of incarceration for the murder of Øystein Aarseth (aka Euronymous).
 * The Gorgoroth name dispute concludes with a court verdict recognising Gorgoroth founding member Infernus as the legitimate user of the band name. Contestants Gaahl and King ov Hell form God Seed, but Gaahl retires from metal within a few months and King forms Ov Hell with Shagrath.
 * Susperia vocalist Athera suffers a heart attack, and is diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder that requires a triple heart bypass. Athera successfully undergoes open heart surgery at Rikshospitalet University Hospital in Oslo on 16 March 2009.
 * Dimmu Borgir's Dariusz "Daray" Brzozowski ranks No. 1 drummer in Poland's "Top Drummer" magazine.
 * Shadows Fall announces the formation of its own label in conjunction with Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group and Ferret Music.
 * Sonic Syndicate vocalist Roland Johansson quits the band.
 * Original Arsis drummer Michael VanDyne returns to the band full-time.
 * God Forbid confirms the departure of rhythm guitarist Dallas Coyle and announces former Darkest Hour guitarist Kris Norris as his replacement.
 * Former Sentenced guitarist Miika Tenkula is found dead in his home from a heart attack due to a genetic condition. His overall health was presumably worsened by his heavy drinking problem.
 * Satyricon bassist Victor Brandt quits the band in April.
 * Venom drummer Antton leaves the band to focus on his other musical projects.
 * Megadeth and Slayer co-headline "Canadian Carnage" with Machine Head and Suicide Silence.
 * Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom breaks arm on tour.
 * Rigor Mortis guitarist Mike Scaccia is set to undergo emergency neck surgery. The MRI scan noticed Scaccia has a Cervical Herniated Disc in his lower neck, which could make him paralyzed without immediate surgery.
 * Dead to Fall announces farewell show.
 * Carpathian Forest guitarist/bassist Tchort leaves the band in May.
 * Kataklysm guitarist Jean-Francois Dagenais is detained and arrested under the presumption of being on the FBI international most wanted list.
 * Every Time I Die parts ways with drummer Mike "Ratboy" Novak, who had been with the band for 11 years.
 * Deep Purple are issued a fine in Russia for "illegally" playing their own songs in Rostov-on-Don in October 2008.
 * Brainstorm sign with AFM Records.
 * Founding member and original Crimson Glory frontman Midnight dies on 8 July 2009.
 * Jørn Lande returns to Masterplan.
 * Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine undergoes neck surgery.
 * The Bled signs to Rise Records.
 * Sonic Syndicate announces new vocalist Nathan James Biggs.
 * ICS Vortex and Mustis leaves Dimmu Borgir.
 * Destruction guitarist Mike Sifringer breaks his ring finger in Belgium.
 * Former 3 Inches of Blood bassist Brian Redman dies on Saturday 27 September in a car crash near his home in Tacoma, Washington.
 * Evile bassist Mike Alexander falls ill and dies at the age of 32 on 5 October in Luleå, Sweden.
 * In a partnership between Earache Records and RapidShare, Irish thrash metal band Gama Bomb makes its third studio album, Tales from the Grave in Space, available for free download on 5 November 2009.
 * Steven Tyler is laid off from Aerosmith on 14 November 2009. The lay-off was due to multiple factors, namely redundancies in the singing-songwriting division and rising rehab fees that have cost the group millions.
 * Mercenary parts ways with drummer Mike Park, vocalist Mikke Sandager and keyboardist Morten Sandager.
 * Former Death and Control Denied guitarist Shannon Hamm suffers a heart attack at home on 1 October.
 * Ronnie James Dio is diagnosed with stomach cancer and is being treated at the Mayo Clinic.
 * The Rev, drummer of Avenged Sevenfold, is found dead at his home in Huntington Beach on 28 December.

Books

 * ECW Press will release a book looking at the work of producer Rick Rubin, entitled Rick Rubin: In the Studio, written by biographer Jake Brown on 11 August,.
 * Former Stratovarius member Timo Tolkki is to publish his autobiography, Hymn to Life – Entr'acte on 2 November, through Goldenworks Ltd./Blacksmith Ltd.
 * At the End of the Day, a book charting the career of Blaze Bayley is to be released on 25 September,.
 * All That Matters, a Metallica biography written by Paul Stenning is to be released in October via Plexus Publishing.
 * Led Zeppelin: Good Times, Bad Times: A Visual Biography, a book examining the public and private lives of the members of Led Zeppelin, is to be released on 1 October, via Abrams Publishing.
 * Rock photographer Neil Zlozower releases Mötley Crüe: A Visual History, 1983–2005 via Chronicle Books.
 * A limited-edition book, Vintage Kiss Photos: 1974–1981 compiled by Marc Scallatino, is releaded, charting Kiss's early days.
 * Cradle of Filth frontman Dani Filth and Gavin Baddeley are to release The Gospel of Filth, a book exploring the history of the band and more general topics of the dark side of humanity, on 31 October,.
 * New book announced on the history of metal titled Louder Than Hell: The Unflinching Oral History of Metal.
 * Rudolf Schenker of the Scorpions will release his autobiography, entitled Rock Your Life in Germany on 14 October,.
 * Heavy metal magazine Decibel will release Precious Metal: The Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces in July. The book pays tribute to the 25 most influential extreme metal albums of all time. Some of the albums listed include: Slayer's Reign in Blood, Cannibal Corpse's Tomb of the Mutilated, Converge's Jane Doe and Meshuggah's Destroy Erase Improve.
 * All Pens Blazing, a heavy metal writer's handbook containing interviews and a history of heavy metal publications, is released on 16 August,.
 * Ozzy Osbourne is to release his autobiography, "I Am Ozzy" on 1 October,.
 * Bazillion Points Books are to release Only Death is Real: An Illustrated History of Hellhammer and Early Celtic Frost, a book exploring the bands Hellhammer and Celtic Frost written by band members Tom Fischer and Martin Eric Ain, in November 2009.
 * Two books came from author Joel McIver, the first called The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists with a foreword by Glen Benton of Deicide and the second titled To Live Is To Die: The Life And Death of Metallica's Cliff Burton, with a foreword by Kirk Hammett.

Films
On 8 December, Bill Zebub will release Pagan Metal: A Documentary, the first documentary about pagan and folk metal.