Heavy metal in 1998 was pulled in several directions at once. Nu metal and alternative metal were beginning to attract a massive younger audience, while death metal, progressive metal and black metal were becoming increasingly complex. Traditional heavy metal remained outside the mainstream, but important albums proved that its creative fire was nowhere near extinguished.

Death released its seventh and final studio album, The Sound of Perseverance. Chuck Schuldiner continued moving beyond the style he had helped create, emphasizing progressive structures, technical musicianship and philosophical lyrics. Guitarist Shannon Hamm, bassist Scott Clendenin and drummer Richard Christy formed a remarkable final Death lineup. “Spirit Crusher,” “Flesh and the Power It Holds,” “Scavenger of Human Sorrow” and the instrumental “Voice of the Soul” demonstrated how far Schuldiner’s writing had travelled since the primitive aggression of Scream Bloody Gore.

Canada’s Gorguts pushed technical death metal into even stranger territory with Obscura. Luc Lemay and guitarist Steeve Hurdle built the album around clashing chords, unpredictable rhythms and deliberately disorienting arrangements. Its influence was not immediate, but the record eventually became a foundation for dissonant death metal. It sounded less like a conventional collection of songs and more like a musical structure collapsing and rebuilding itself in real time.

Bruce Dickinson continued the comeback begun by Accident of Birth with the darker and heavier The Chemical Wedding. Working again with Roy Z and former Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith, Dickinson drew inspiration from the poetry and artwork of William Blake. “King in Crimson,” “The Tower,” “Killing Floor” and the title track surrounded his voice with enormous riffs and apocalyptic atmosphere. The album is now regarded as one of the strongest releases of Dickinson’s career.

Two European bands helped redefine progressive extreme metal. Opeth’s My Arms, Your Hearse was a more focused and aggressive album than its lengthy predecessor. It also introduced drummer Martin Lopez, whose rhythmic versatility became central to the band’s developing sound. Meshuggah’s Chaosphere used mechanical grooves, unusual time signatures and tightly controlled repetition to create something cold, futuristic and punishing. Its influence would spread throughout progressive and extreme metal during the following decade.

At the other end of the commercial spectrum, Korn turned nu metal into a mainstream force with Follow the Leader. “Got the Life” and “Freak on a Leash” brought down-tuned guitars and Jonathan Davis’s wounded vocal style to MTV and radio. The album’s enormous success opened doors for numerous alternative-metal bands as the decade approached its end.

System of a Down’s self-titled debut offered a far less predictable version of alternative metal. Produced by Rick Rubin, the album mixed metal, punk, eccentric rhythmic changes, political commentary and elements of the members’ Armenian heritage. “Sugar,” “Suite-Pee,” “Spiders” and “P.L.U.C.K.” introduced a band that sounded unlike anyone else in the growing nu-metal movement.

Traditional and power metal continued beneath the mainstream. Iced Earth’s Something Wicked This Way Comes mixed Jon Schaffer’s thrash-influenced rhythm guitar with Matt Barlow’s dramatic vocals. Its closing trilogy introduced the Something Wicked saga that would become an important part of the band’s mythology.

Cradle of Filth expanded its gothic extreme-metal world with Cruelty and the Beast, a concept album inspired by Elizabeth Báthory and featuring narration by actress Ingrid Pitt. Incantation moved in the opposite direction on Diabolical Conquest, creating suffocating death metal built from cavernous production, crushing doom passages and relentless aggression.

Beyond the Top 10, Fear Factory released Obsolete, Blind Guardian delivered Nightfall in Middle-Earth, and Nile debuted with Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka. Soulfly, Rob Zombie, Amon Amarth, Helloween, Therion and Devin Townsend all contributed notable records. Metallica’s Garage Inc. revisited the band’s influences through covers of Diamond Head, Motörhead, Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath and others. By the end of 1998, metal’s past remained important—but its future was becoming increasingly difficult to predict.