10 Greatest Debut Albums In Metal

At the start of the '80s, metal was still starting to find its feet. While the old guard of metal had briefly hinted at something heavy coming around the corner, it wasn't until the New Wave of British Heavy Metal that we got a real taste as to what that heaviness really sounded like. Even though Britain may have had you covered, there was something even more interesting going on in Denmark.

Hitting the ground running, Mercyful Fate's debut on Melissa was everything you could have possibly wanted in a metal release. Being a straightforward rock affair, this record introduced the world to King Diamond, whose impressive vocal range was enough to give Rob Halford a run for his money at the best of times. That's before you even saw them live, with him looking like a demon crawling out of the crypt to front a heavy metal band.

However, you're only as good as the songs, and these are about as essential as they come. From the menace of Evil to the amazing journey of Curse of the Pharoahs, this is a masterclass on how to make great metal riffs, complete with a backbeat that has the power to shake the rafters. For as many thrash bands claim to bring the heaviness up a notch, the arrival of that kind of metallic bite actually happened a few years earlier.