2003 in heavy metal music

List of years in heavy metal music (table)
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This is a timeline documenting the events of heavy metal in the year 2003.

Newly formed bands

• A Day to Remember
• The Abominable Iron Sloth
• Abysmal Dawn
• Adler's Appetite
• Aina
• Airbourne
• Anagnorisis
• Anubis Gate
• As Blood Runs Black
• As They Sleep
• At All Cost
• August Burns Red
• Baroness
• Battlecross
• Blessed by a Broken Heart
• Bloody Panda
• Born of Osiris
• Carach Angren
• The Chariot
• Communic
• Conducting from the Grave
• Dååth
• Damageplan
• Darkwater
• Demonoid
• Diablo Swing Orchestra
• Eisbrecher
• Emmure
• Furia
• Head Control System
• Hypno5e
• In Vain
• Jesu
• Job for a Cowboy
• Jon Oliva's Pain
• Kayo Dot
• Kroda
• Leaves' Eyes
• Les Discrets
• Lyriel
• Myrkgrav
• Nadja
• Ne Obliviscaris
• Neaera
• Om
• Parkway Drive
• Powerwolf
• Rosetta
• The Ruins of Beverast
• Skeletonwitch
• The Sword
• Sybreed
• Tesseract
• Threat Signal
• Through the Eyes of the Dead
• Thulcandra
• Trollfest
• Turmion Kätilöt
• Wintersun
• Wolfchant
• Wolves in the Throne Room

Reformed bands

• 24-7 Spyz
• Child's Play
• Fear Factory
• Judas Priest
• Killing Joke
• MC5
• Primus
• Stryper
• Twisted Sister

Albums

• 8 Foot Sativa – Season for Assault
• Aborted – Goremageddon: The Saw and the Carnage Done
• Akercocke – Choronozon
• Alien Ant Farm – truANT
• Alice Cooper – The Eyes of Alice Cooper
• All Shall Perish – Hate, Malice, Revenge
• Anaal Nathrakh – When Fire Rains Down from the Sky, Mankind Will Reap as It Has Sown (EP)
• Anthrax – We've Come for You All
• Apocalyptica – Reflections
• Arch Enemy – Anthems of Rebellion
• As I Lay Dying – Frail Words Collapse
• Avenged Sevenfold – Waking the Fallen
• Bathory – Nordland II
• Between the Buried and Me – The Silent Circus
• Belphegor – Lucifer Incestus
• Biohazard – Kill or Be Killed
• The Black Dahlia Murder – Unhallowed
• Black Label Society – The Blessed Hellride
• Blood Stain Child – Mystic Your Heart
• Bon Jovi – This Left Feels Right (Compilation)
• Brujeria – The Mexecutioner! - The Best of Brujeria (Compilation)
• Cannibal Corpse – 15 Year Killing Spree (Box set)
• Children of Bodom – Hate Crew Deathroll
• Chimaira – The Impossibility of Reason
• Circle II Circle – Watching in Silence
• Coal Chamber – Giving the Devil His Due (Compilation)
• Concept – Reason and Truth
• Cog – "Open Up" (maxi single)
• Cradle of Filth – Damnation and a Day
• The Darkness – Permission to Land
• Deathstars – Synthetic Generation
• Decrepit Birth – ...And Time Begins
• Deep Purple – Bananas
• Default – Elocation
• Deftones – Deftones
• Deicide – The Best of Deicide (Compilation)
• Destruction – Metal Discharge
• DevilDriver – DevilDriver
• The Devin Townsend Band – Accelerated Evolution
• Dimension Zero – This Is Hell
• Dimmu Borgir – Death Cult Armageddon
• Divinity Destroyed – Divinity Destroyed (EP)
• Divinity Destroyed – Eden in Ashes
• DragonForce – Valley of the Damned
• Dream Evil – Evilized
• Dream Theater – Train of Thought
• Enslaved – Below the Lights
• Entombed – Inferno
• Epica – The Phantom Agony
• Evanescence – Fallen
• Evergrey – Recreation Day
• Every Time I Die – Hot Damn!
• Faith – Salvation Lies Within
• Fear Factory – Hatefiles (Compilation)
• Finntroll – Visor om slutet (EP)
• Fireball Ministry – The Second Great Awakening
• Firewind – Burning Earth
• From Autumn to Ashes – The Fiction We Live
• Galneryus – The Flag of Punishment
• Godhead – Evolver
• Godsmack – Faceless
• Gojira – The Link
• Gojira – Maciste All'Inferno (EP)
• Gorgoroth – Twilight of the Idols
• Graveworm – Engraved in Black
• Hatebreed – The Rise of Brutality
• Helloween – Rabbit Don't Come Easy
• Hortus Animae – Waltzing Mephisto
• Ill Nino – Confession
• Incubus – Live at Lollapalooza 2003 (Live)
• Integrity – To Die For
• Iron Maiden – Dance of Death
• Ion Dissonance – Breathing Is Irrelevant
• Jane's Addiction – Strays
• Johnny Lokke – Wrecking Ball
• Kamelot – Epica
• Katatonia – Viva Emptiness
• Kayo Dot – Choirs of the Eye
• King Diamond – The Puppet Master
• Kiss – Kiss Symphony: Alive IV (Live)
• Korn – Take a Look in the Mirror
• Kreator – Live Kreation (Live)
• Krisiun – Works of Carnage
• Lamb of God – As the Palaces Burn
• Lanfear – The Art Effect
• Limp Bizkit – Results May Vary
• Linkin Park – Meteora
• Living Colour – Collideøscope
• Lost Horizon – A Flame to the Ground Beneath
• Macabre – Murder Metal
• Marduk – World Funeral
• Masterplan – Masterplan
• Marilyn Manson – The Golden Age of Grotesque
• Machine Head – Through the Ashes of Empires
• Metallica – St. Anger
• Ministry – Animositisomina
• Misanthrope – Sadistic Sex Daemon
• Mnemic – Mechanical Spin Phenomena
• Monstrosity – Rise to Power
• Moonspell – The Antidote
• Morbid Angel – Heretic
• Motörhead – Live at Brixton Academy (Live)
• Mushroomhead – XIII
• Neil Turbin – Threatcon Delta
• Nevermore – Enemies of Reality
• Nightrage – Sweet Vengeance
• Ningen Isu – Shura bayashi
• Norther – Mirror of Madness
• Nothingface – Skeletons
• No-Big-Silence – Unreleased
• Occult – Elegy for the Weak
• Old Man's Child – In Defiance of Existence
• One Minute Silence – One Lie Fits All
• Overkill – Killbox 13
• Opeth – Damnation
• Pantera – The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits! (Compilation)
• Pitchshifter – Bootlegged, Distorted, Remixed and Uploaded (Compilation)
• Place of Skulls – With Vision
• P.O.D. – Payable on Death
• Poison the Well – You Come Before You
• Psycroptic – The Scepter of the Ancients
• Queensrÿche – Tribe
• Rage – Soundchaser
• RAMP – Nude
• Royal Hunt – Eyewitness
• Rush – Rush in Rio (live)
• Seven Witches – Passage to the Other Side
• Six Feet Under – Bringer of Blood
• Skid Row – Thickskin
• Skillet – Collide
• Sepultura – Roorback
• Sevendust – Seasons
• Slayer – Soundtrack to the Apocalypse (Box set)
• Soilwork – Figure Number Five
• Solefald – In Harmonia Universali
• Sonata Arctica – Winterheart's Guild
• Spawn of Possession – Cabinet
• Static-X – Shadow Zone
• Strapping Young Lad – Strapping Young Lad
• Stratovarius – Elements, Pt. 1
• Stratovarius – Elements, Pt. 2
• Stryper – 7: The Best of Stryper (compilation)
• Theocracy – Theocracy
• The Lord Weird Slough Feg – Traveller
• Throwdown – Haymaker
• Three Days Grace – Three Days Grace
• Tourniquet – Where Moth and Rust Destroy
• Trivium – Ember to Inferno
• Type O Negative – Life Is Killing Me
• Týr – Eric the Red
• uneXpect – _wE, Invaders (EP)
• Virgin Black – Elegant... and Dying
• Xandria – Kill the Sun

Disbandments

• Coal Chamber
• Five Pointe O
• Limbonic Art
• Immortal
• Pitchshifter
• Pantera
• Reveille
• Rollins Band (reformed in 2006)

Events

• After months of auditions, Robert Trujillo, bassist of Ozzy Osbourne and former bassist of Suicidal Tendencies, was announced as Metallica's new bassist, replacing Jason Newsted.
• After nearly a decade of the show being off the air, MTV2 announced the resurrection of Headbangers' Ball with Jamey Jasta as host.
• Vocalist Matt Barlow announced his departure from Iced Earth.
• Stryper reformed with all original members.
• Visions of Atlantis vocalist Christian Stani and keyboardist Chris Kamper parted ways with the band, being replaced by Mario Plank and Miro Holly, respectively.
• In July, Judas Priest announced the return of Rob Halford on vocals.

Deaths

• January 10 – Einar André Fredriksen, bassist, vocalist, and songwriter of Funeral, died by suicide at the age of 29.
• March 16 – Teemu "Somnium" Raimoranta, founding member and guitarist of Finntroll, guitarist of Impaled Nazarene, and former guitarist of Thy Serpent, died from injuries after falling from a bridge.
• November 18 – Michael Arnold Kamen, composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger and conductor, who collaborated with numerous artists from various genres, including Pink Floyd, Rush, Guns 'N Roses, and Metallica (S&M), died from a heart attack at the age of 55.