1985 in heavy metal music

This is a timeline documenting the events of heavy metal in the year 1985.

Newly formed bands

• Acid Reign
• Aftermath
• Agathocles
• Alvacast
• Aria
• Attitude Adjustment
• Atrocity
• Banshee
• Blood Feast
• Britny Fox
• Candlemass
• Carcass
• Chakal
• China
• Cry Wolf
• Dare
• David Lee Roth
• Defiance
• Deliverance
• Diamond Rexx
• Doom
• Dream Theater (under the name "Majesty")
• Drivin N Cryin
• Executer
• Exhorder
• Extreme
• Extreme Noise Terror
• Exumer
• Faster Pussycat
• Fate
• Forbidden
• Fu Manchu
• Goatlord
• Gore
• Guns N' Roses
• Holocausto
• Hunter
• Jane's Addiction
• Juggernaut
• King Diamond
• L7
• Loudblast
• Love/Hate
• Macabre
• Meanstreak
• Mekong Delta
• Morgoth
• Mortal Sin
• Mr. Bungle
• Mutilator
• Neurosis
• Osmi Putnik
• Pentagram Chile
• Poltergeist
• Radiohead
• Rata Blanca
• Sabbat
• Sacred Oath
• Sacred Reich
• Sadistik Exekution
• Sanctuary
• Sarcófago
• Satanic Slaughter
• Screaming Trees
• Sea Hags
• Shadow Gallery
• Shotgun Messiah
• Skin Yard
• Stone
• Stormtroopers of Death
• Tarot (under the name "Purgatory" until record deal)
• Thee Hypnotics
• Tora Tora
• Tormentor
• Toxik
• Tuff
• Vio-lence
• Viper
• White Tiger
• White Zombie
• Whitecross
• Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction

Albums & EPs

* Lee Aaron - Call of the Wild

• Abattoir - Vicious Attack
• AC/DC - Fly on the Wall
• Accept - Metal Heart
• Acid – Engine Beast
• ADX - Exécution
• Aerosmith - Done with Mirrors
• Agent Steel - Skeptics Apocalypse
• Agent Steel - Mad Locust Rising (EP)
• Alcatrazz - Disturbing the Peace
• Alien Force - Hell And High Water
• Angel Witch - Screamin' 'n' Bleedin'
• Anthem - Anthem
• Anthem - Ready to Ride (EP)
• Anthrax - Armed and Dangerous (EP)
• Anthrax - Spreading the Disease
• Anvil - Backwaxed (comp)
• April Wine - Walking Through Fire
• Aria - Mania Velichia
• Armed Force - Heavy Artillery
• Armored Saint - Delirious Nomad
• Artillery - Fear of Tomorrow
• Assassin (PA) - License to Kill
• Astaroth - The Long Loud Silence (EP)
• Atlain - G.O.E.
• Atomkraft - Future Warriors
• Attack - Return of the Evil
• Attacker - Battle at Helm's Deep
• Autograph - That's the Stuff
• Avalanche (MO) - Pray for the Sinner
• Avenger (UK) - Killer Elite
• Avenger (Ger) - Depraved to Black (EP)
• Avenger (Ger) - Prayers of Steel
• Axewitch - Hooked on High Heels
• Axis (OH) - Slightly Tilted
• Axtion – Look Out For The Night
• Bad Lizard – Power of Destruction
• Bad Steve - Killing the Night
• Barón Rojo - En un lugar de la marcha
• Battle Axe - We're on the Attack
• Bathory - The Return......
• Barren Cross - Believe (EP)
• Beast (Ger) - Like Living In A Cage
• Black Angels – Broken Spell
• Black Angels – Black and White
• Black Hole - Land of Mistery
• Black Knight - Master of Disaster (EP)
• BlackLace - Get It While It's Hot
• Blackmayne - Blackmayne
• Black 'n Blue - Without Love
• Black Rose – Nightmare (EP)
• Black Sheep - Trouble in the Streets
• Black Tears - The Slave
• Blaspheme – Désir de Vampyr
• Blessed Death - Kill or Be Killed
• Blind Fury - Out of Reach
• Blind Vengeance – Blind Vengeance
• Blitzkrieg (UK) - A Time of Changes
• Blitzkrieg (US) - Ready for Action (EP)
• Bloodlust - Guilty as Sin
• Bloody Climax - Back to the Wall
• Bloody Mary - Bloody Mary
• Blue Öyster Cult - Club Ninja
• Bon Jovi - 7800° Fahrenheit
• Brainfever – Face to Face
• Breaker - Dead Rider
• Breathless - Breathless
• Bulldozer - The Day of Wrath
• Buster Brown – Sign of Victory
• Cacumen - Longing for You (EP)
• Carnivore - Carnivore
• Castle Blak - Babes In Toyland
• Celtic Frost - Emperor's Return (EP)
• Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion
• Chastain - Mystery of Illusion
• Chateaux - Highly Strung
• Chrome Molly - You Can't Have It All...or Can You?
• Cities - Annihilation Absolute (EP)
• Cobra (UK) – Warriors of the Dead
• Coney Hatch - Friction
• Convict - Go Ahead... Make My Day!
• Corrosion of Conformity - Animosity
• Crack Jaw - Nightout
• Crisis - Kick It Out
• Crossfire - Second Attack
• Crystal Knight - Crystal Knight
• Crying Steel - Crying Steel (EP)
• The Cult - Love
• Cutty Sark - Heroes
• Dagger – Not Afraid of the Night
• Damien - Face the Danger
• Dark Angel - We Have Arrived
• Dark Lord – State of Rock (EP)
• Dark Wizard - Reign of Evil
• Darxon - Tokyo (EP)
• Ded Engine - Ded Engine
• Demon - British Standard Approved
• Demon - Heart of Our Time
• Der Kaiser – La Griffe de L'Empire
• Destiny - Beyond All Sense
• Destruction - Infernal Overkill
• Destructor - Maximum Destruction
• Devil Childe - Devil Childe
• Dio - Sacred Heart
• Dirty Looks – Dirty Looks
• Divine Rite - First Rite
• Dokken - Under Lock and Key
• Drysill - Welcome to the Show
• Dungeon - Fortress of Rock
• Earthshaker - Passion
• E.F. Band - One Night Stand
• Mark Edwards - Code of Honor (EP)
• Electric Sun - Beyond the Astral Skies
• Elysian - Blinded by Sound
• Emerald - Down Town
• Excalibur (UK) – The Bitter End (EP)
• Exciter – Feel the Knife (EP)
• Exciter - Long Live the Loud
• Exodus - Bonded by Blood
• Fact - Without Warning
• Fate - Fate
• Faithful Breath - Skol
• Faith No More - We Care a Lot
• Fastway - Waiting for the Roar
• Fates Warning - The Spectre Within
• Fierce Heart - Fierce Heart
• Fisc - Break Out
• Fist (Can) - Danger Zone
• Flames (Gre) - Made in Hell
• Flatbacker - Accident
• Foreplay - First Licks
• Fortress - Fortress
• Fortune (band) - Fortune
• Robin George - Dangerous Music
• Girlschool - Running Wild
• Glacier - Glacier (EP)
• Grave Digger - Witch Hunter
• Gravestone – Back to Attack
• Grim Reaper - Fear No Evil
• Guitar Pete's Axe Attack – Dead Soldier's Revenge
• Halloween - Don't Metal with Evil
• Hallows Eve - Tales of Terror
• Hammer - Contract with Hell
• Hammerschmitt - Hammerschmitt
• Hammers Rule - After the Bomb (EP)
• Hatrik - The Beast
• Hanover Fist - Hanover Fist
• Hanover Fist - Hungry Eyes
• Joe Hasselvander - Lady Killer
• Haven - Haven (EP)
• Hawaii - The Natives Are Restless
• Headhunter (Swi) - Headhunter
• Headpins - Head over Heels
• Headstone - Excalibur
• Heavy Pettin – Rock Ain't Dead
• Helix - Long Way to Heaven
• Helloïse - Cosmogony
• Helloween - Helloween (EP)
• Helloween - Walls of Jericho
• Herazz - Yet to Come
• High Tension - Warrior
• Highway Chile - Rockarama
• Hirax - Raging Violence
• Holland - Little Monsters
• Hurricane - Take what you want
• Horizon - Master of the Game
• Hunter (Ger) - Sign of the Hunter
• Hunter (US) - Hunter
• Icon - Night of the Crime
• Impaler - Rise of the Mutants (EP)
• Iron Angel - Hellish Crossfire
• Iron Cross - Warhead
• Iron Maiden - Live After Death
• Jack Starr's Burning Starr - Rock the American Way
• Jade – If You're Man Enough
• Jag Wire - Made in Heaven
• Joshua - Surrender
• Karrier - Way Beyond the Night
• Keel - The Right to Rock
• Keen Hue – Ogre King
• Kerber - Ratne igre
• Kick Axe - Welcome to the Club
• Killers (Fra) - Fils de la Haine
• King Kobra - Ready to Strike
• KISS - Asylum
• Kix - Midnite Dynamite
• Knightmare II - Death Do Us Part (EP)
• Kreator - Endless Pain
• Lȧȧz Rockit - No Stranger to Danger
• L.A. - L.A.
• L.A. Guns - Collector's Edition No. 1 (EP)
• Labyrinth - So Wild
• Leatherwolf - Leatherwolf, aka Endangered Species
• Leviticus - The Strob¿ngest Power
• Liege Lord - Freedom's Rise
• Living Death - Metal Revolution
• Living Death - Watch Out! (EP)
• Lions Breed - Damn the Night
• Lizzy Borden - Love You to Pieces
• London - Non-Stop Rock
• Loudness - Thunder in the East
• Luzbel - Metal Caído Del Cielo (EP)
• Lynx - Caught in the Trap
• M-80 - Maniac's Revenge
• Mace (WA) - Process of Elimination
• Mad Butcher - Metal Lightning Attack
• Mad Max - Stormchild
• Magnum - On a Storyteller's Night
• Maineeaxe - Going for Gold
• Maineeaxe - The Hour of Thunder (EP)
• Malice - In the Beginning...
• Mama's Boys - Power and Passion
• Maniac - Maniac
• Manilla Road - Open the Gates
• Martyr - For the Universe
• Mass (MA) - New Birth
• Maxx Warrior - Maxx Warrior (EP)
• Megadeth - Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!
• Mercy - Witchburner
• Metal Massacre - Metal Massacre VI (Compilation, various artists)
• Midnight Darkness - Holding the Night
• Mistreater - Mistreater
• Gary Moore - Run for Cover
• Morsüre – Acceleration Process
• Mötley Crüe - Theatre of Pain
• Mournblade - Time's Running Out
• Mox Nix - Mox Nix
• Nasty Savage - Nasty Savage
• Nation (Ger) - Ride On
• Nightmare – Power of the Universe
• Nightwing – A Night of Mystery - Alive! Alive! (live)
• Ninja - The Warriors of Rock
• Obús - Pega con fuerza
• Odin - Don't Take No... For an Answer (EP)
• Omega - The Prophet
• Omen - Warning of Danger
• Overdose - Tight Action
• Overdose - To the Top
• Overkill - Feel the Fire
• Overkill (CA) - Triumph of the Will
• Onslaught - Power from Hell
• Ostrogoth - Too Hot
• Pandemonium - Hole in the Sky
• Paganini - Weapon of Love
• Pantera - I Am the Night
• Paradoxx - Plan of Attak (EP)
• Pentagram - Pentagram, aka Relentless
• Phantom Lord - Phantom Lord
• Phasslayne - Cut It Up
• Philadelphia - Search and Destroy
• Possessed - Seven Churches
• Precious Metal - Right Here, Right Now
• Prophacy - Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare
• Prophet - Prophet
• Rail - III
• Railway - Railway II
• Ran – Burning
• Ratt - Invasion of Your Privacy
• Raven - Stay Hard
• Razor - Executioner's Song
• Razor - Evil Invaders
• Restless (Ger) - We Rock the Nation
• Kelle Rhoads - Cheap Talkin' Romance (EP)
• Rogue Male - First Visit
• Romeo - Rocks (EP)
• Rosy Vista - You Better Believe It (EP)
• David Lee Roth - Crazy from the Heat (EP)
• Rough Cutt - Rough Cutt
• Ruffians - Ruffians (EP)
• Runestaff – Runestaff
• Running Wild - Branded and Exiled
• Rush - Power Windows
• Sabre (Ger) - Keepers of the Sword
• Sabre (Can) - On the Prowl
• Sacred Few - Beyond the Iron Walls
• Sacred Rite - The Ritual
• Sacrifice (Swi) - On the Altar of Rock
• Sacrilege – Behind the Realms of Madness
• Sadwings - Lonely Hero
• Saigon - One Must Die
• Saints' Anger – Danger Metal
• Saint Vitus - Hallow's Victim
• Satanic Rites - Which Way the Wind Blows
• Savage - Hyperactive
• Savage Grace - Master of Disguise
• Savatage – The Dungeons Are Calling (EP)
• Savatage – Power of the Night
• Saxon - Innocence Is No Excuse
• Scarlet - Phantasm
• Scavenger - Battlefields
• Scorpions - World Wide Live
• Seduce - Seduce
• Seducer - Caught in the Act
• Shere Khan - Quite Enough for Love
• Sinner - Touch of Sin
• Silver Mountain - Universe
• Slauter Xstroyes - Winter Kill
• Slaven - Slave To The Heart (EP)
• Slayer - Hell Awaits
• Sodom - In the Sign of Evil (EP)
• Spectre (CA) - Lady of the Night
• Spellbound - Rockin' Reckless
• Stainless Steel (Ger) - Stainless Steel
• Stators - ...Never Too Late
• Steel Angel – ...And the Angels Were Made of Steel
• Steeler (Ger) - Rulin' the Earth
• Steel Vengeance - Call Off the Dogs
• Stormtrooper (US) - Armies of the Night (EP)
• S.O.D. - Speak English or Die
• Stormwind (Ger) - Taken by Storm
• Stormwitch - Tales of Terror
• Stranger - The Bell
• Stryker (FL) - Stryker
• Stryper - Soldiers Under Command
• Sweethard - Sweethard
• Sweet Pain - Sweet Pain
• Sweet Savage (US) – Sweet Savage (EP)
• Sye - Turn on the Fire
• Talon - Never Look Back
• Terraplane – Black and White
• Thor - Only the Strong
• Thor - Live in Detroit (live)
• Thrasher - Burning at the Speed of Light
• Titanic - Then There Was Rock
• Tokyo Blade - Black Hearts & Jaded Spades
• Tobruk (UK) - Wild on the Run
• Touchdown - Tricks of a Trade
• Trance – Victory
• Trilogy (Aus) - Life on Earth
• Tröjan - Chasing the Storm
• Trouble - The Skull
• Trouble (Swe) - Warrior
• Twisted Sister - Come Out and Play
• 220 Volt - Mind over Muscle
• Tygers of Pan Tang - The Wreck-Age
• Tyran' Pace - Long Live Metal
• Tyrant (Ger) - Fight for Your Life
• Tyrant (US) - Legions of the Dead
• Tysondog - Shoot to Kill (EP)
• Tytan - Rough Justice
• Tzar (Can) – Players of the Game
• UFO - Misdemeanor
• Universe - Universe
• Vampyr - Cry Out for Metal
• Vanadium - On Streets of Danger (live)
• Vandenberg - Alibi
• Vectom - Speed Revolution
• Venom - Possessed
• Vicious Rumors - Soldiers of the Night
• Victim (CA) - DMN
• Victory - Victory
• Virgin Steele - Noble Savage
• Vitriol - The Beginning
• Vow Wow - Cyclone
• Vulcain - La dame de fer (EP)
• Vulcain - Desperados
• Vyper - Afraid of the Dark (EP)
• W.A.S.P. - The Last Command
• Wallop - Metallic Alps
• Warchylde - Murder by Decibels
• Warfare - Metal Anarchy
• Warlock - Hellbound
• Warrant - First Strike (EP)
• Warrant - The Enforcer
• Warrior - Fighting for the Earth
• Watchtower - Energetic Disassembly
• Waysted - The Good the Bad the Waysted
• White Heat – Runnin' for Life
• White Lion - Fight to Survive
• Wild Cat - Love Attack
• Winged Messenger - Guardians of Eternity
• Witch (OH) - Salem's Rise
• Wizard - Marlin, Grog, Madman & The Bomb
• World War III (PA) – World War III
• Wrathchild (UK) - Trash Queens (comp)
• Xxaron - The Legacy
• Y&T - Open Fire (live)
• Y&T - Down for the Count
• Yngwie Malmsteen - Marching Out
• Zero Nine – White Lines
• Zoetrope - Amnesty
• Znowhite - Kick 'Em When They're Down EP

Disbandments

• Wild Strawberries (reformed in 1987)
• Mercyful Fate (reformed in 1992)
• Van Halen (Roth quits band)

Events

• Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid cofounds the Black Rock Coalition, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the creative freedom and works of black musicians interested in playing rock music.
• Twisted Sister's Dee Snider testifies at The Parents Music Resource Center Senate hearings on rock censorship at Washington, D.C., on September 19, 1985.
• David Lee Roth releases his solo debut (EP) Crazy from the Heat in January 1985. With it comes the announcement he has permanently left Van Halen.
• Black Sabbath reunites at Live Aid with Ozzy Osbourne.
• Led Zeppelin reunites at Live Aid with Phil Collins replacing deceased drummer John Bonham.
• Kam Lee leaves Death and Chuck Schuldiner becomes the vocalist.
• Uriah Heep's former lead singer, David Byron dies on February 28, due to alcohol complications.
• Welcome to Venice compilation is released, featuring Suicidal Tendencies, Beowulf, and others, showing the growing crossover trend among the Venice Beach hardcore and metal scenes.