2008 in heavy metal music

This is a timeline documenting the events of heavy metal in the year 2008.

Bands formed

• A Sound of Thunder
• A Storm of Light
• Aeon Zen
• Allegaeon
• Amaranthe
• Arkaea
• Austrian Death Machine
• Betraying the Martyrs
• Bölzer
• Bombus
• Cain's Offering
• Chickenfoot
• Christian Mistress
• City of Fire
• Clown Core
• Code Orange
• Ex Deo
• From Fall to Spring
• God Seed
• Hamferð
• Heldmaschine
• Holy Grail
• Imagine Dragons
• King of Asgard
• Krypts
• Lustre
• Pallbearer
• Power Trip
• Revolution Renaissance
• Solution .45
• The Empire Shall Fall
• Triptykon
• Uneven Structure

Reformed bands

• At the Gates (for a few shows)
• Carcass (for touring)
• Einherjer (for touring)
• Exhorder (for a few tours and some new material)
• Forbidden (for a few shows)
• Krokus
• Living Sacrifice
• Spineshank

Disbandments

• Alabama Thunderpussy
• Beneath the Sky
• Byzantine
• Celtic Frost
• Dead to Fall
• Demigod
• The Duskfall
• Flactorophia (sole member died)
• From Autumn to Ashes
• Himsa
• Knorkator
• Ministry
• Sieges Even
• Sikth
• Still Remains
• The Red Death
• The Agony Scene
• Remove the Veil
• Vomitorial Corpulence

Events

• Twiggy Ramirez rejoins Marilyn Manson in early January.
• Mikael Åkerfeldt rejoins Bloodbath in late January.
• Ola Frenning leaves Soilwork in February.
• Chris Broderick joins Megadeth in February.
• Timo Tolkki leaves Stratovarius after some internal troubles in March.
• Thomas Gabriel Fischer leaves Celtic Frost in April.
• Singer Lisa Middelhauve leaves Xandria in April.
• On April 19, during a gothic rock and culture celebration, the Factory nightclub fire in Quito kills 19 and injures at least 24.
• On May 11, original Rush drummer John Rutsey died in his sleep from an apparent heart attack.
• Blasphemer leaves Mayhem in May.
• Mike Kimball leaves Dying Fetus in May.
• On July 27, former White Spirit and Tank drummer Graeme Crallan died after a fall in a London street.
• Wes Borland joins Marilyn Manson's lineup in mid-August.
• D.R.I. guitarist Spike Cassidy makes a full recovery from cancer.
• Snot reforms with ex-Divine Heresy vocalist Tommy Vext.
• Michael Nicklasson leaves Dark Tranquillity in August.
• Jeff Singer leaves Paradise Lost in August.
• Christian "Witchhunter" Dudek, ex-drummer of Sodom, dies of liver failure on September 7.
• Christian Älvestam leaves Scar Symmetry in September.
• Peter Wichers rejoins Soilwork in September.
• Tormentor rejoins Gorgoroth in September, as does Pest in December.
• Denny Axelsson, vocalist of Blinded Colony, leaves the band.
• Former Marilyn Manson bassist Gidget Gein dies of a heroin overdose.
• Josh Freese plans to depart from Nine Inch Nails by the end of 2008.
• John Kempainen leaves The Black Dahlia Murder in December.
• Job For A Cowboy founding member and guitarist Ravi Bhadriraju leaves the band in late 2008.
• Al Glassman leaves Despised Icon to join Job For A Cowboy.
• Gaahl (ex-Gorgoroth) reveals his homosexuality.

Albums released

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

References

External links

• About.com: Heavy Metal