It’s hard to believe that 1993 was 30 years ago. With grunge becoming a mainstay on MTV and Top 40 radio over the previous couple of years, the mainstream was starting to favor a harder edge to their music. The year saw highly praised debuts from Tool, Cynic and Life Of Agony and breakthrough releases from the likes of Type O Negative, Sepultura, Morbid Angel and Death.

Here are 10 metal and hard rock albums that broke through and helped define the genre in 1993.

01) Type O Negative, Bloody Kisses (Roadrunner):

Named by Loudwire as the best metal album of 1993, Type O Negative’s third studio effort was a breakthrough for both the goth and metal genres. Described as a blending of Black Sabbath and The Beatles, it was a new sound for the band that really resonated with listeners. The album went gold within two years (a first for a Roadrunner Records band), platinum in seven, and started a run of releases that charted higher and higher on the Billboard 200.

02) Tool, Undertow (Zoo):

Tool’s full-length debut was a massive hit right out of the gate. A couple of months after the release, it hit #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart. In just over a year it would attain platinum status in the US. For heavy music, Undertow was accessible, pulling from some of the same places as the currently popular grunge movement but with more aggression. According to AllMusic, the album “proved that metal could be simultaneously intelligent, emotional, and brutal.”

03) Sepultura, Chaos A.D. (Roadrunner/Epic):

The band’s fifth studio album, Chaos A.D. saw the band come into their own. According to Rolling Stone, who included it at #29 on their list of Greatest Metal Albums of All Time, the album found the band breaking through their death metal/thrash shell and exploring their hardcore influences and native Brazilian culture/politics. AllMusic pegged the album’s focus on “texture and dissonance” to be a sign of a “new metal underground” taking shape, perhaps referring to the burgeoning groove metal scene on the horizon. 

04) My Dying Bride, Turn Loose The Swans (Peaceville):

There aren’t many bands that include violin in their death/doom metal sound, but My Dying Bride did it to high acclaim. Turn Loose The Swans’ symphonic elements and scream/spoken lyrics set it apart and helped set the tone for the British wave of doom metal to come.

05) Melvins, Houdini (Atlantic):

After years in the underground, 1993 saw Melvins get their chance in the mainstream. Their major label debut Houdini became their most successful, landing them at #29 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and more than 110,000 units in album sales. What’s more, they did it without compromising their sludgy sound.