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Fifty-five albums and forty-seven videos from the year power metal came back, Nightwish and Within Temptation released their debuts, Children of Bodom made the album of the year and Metallica went to No. 1 again. Open any record for its story, the facts, the best tracks and a video.
The full 1997 Vault – every album with its story, facts, best tracks and official video – is part of Premium Membership. €44.99 one-time, no subscription.
Become a Premium MemberAlready a member? Log inIn 1997 power metal came back: Gothenburg death metal musicians took old-school heavy metal into the German chart, and bands from Finland, Germany and Italy made it faster and grander. Finland and the Netherlands gave symphonic metal two female-fronted debuts, a band of Finnish teenagers made the year's boldest record, Metallica went to No. 1 again with Reload, and Ozzy, Iommi and Butler shared a stage as Black Sabbath again.
Facts checked against at least two independent sources. Videos are official uploads from the bands' and labels' channels and load only when you press play.
Every metalhead has a year that changed everything. Tell us what 1997 meant to you – three quick questions about the year and two about this journey. One tap each, and you see the results straight away.
Researched, compiled and written by Erki Laurits for WeMetalheads, with help and suggestions from WeMetalheads members. AI tools were used to assist with research, drafting and fact-checking; every fact was checked against at least two independent sources and reviewed by the author.
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Wikipedia, Discogs, Metal Music Archives, Spirit of Metal, Louder (Metal Hammer, Classic Rock), Ultimate Classic Rock, Metal Injection, Metallian, Loudwire, AllMusic, Prog Archives, This Day in Metal, Metal Storm, IMVDb, Metal Reviews, uDiscover Music, Blabbermouth, Sputnikmusic, and other music publications, label and band websites.
Album, demo and EP covers: artwork © the respective artists, labels and designers, shown for identification and commentary (images via Spotify and Discogs).
Band photos: Wikimedia Commons, used under the licence named in each caption (Creative Commons or public domain), with the photographer credited.
Videos: official uploads by the artists, their labels or YouTube's auto-generated artist channels, embedded in YouTube's privacy-enhanced mode and loaded only when you press play.
© 2026 Erki Laurits / WeMetalheads. Text may not be republished without permission.