Back in 1985, Germany's Accept was already well known amongst head bangers world wide. Their fifth studio release in 1983 "Balls To The Wall" had become something of a calling card, complete with gold certification in the United States. Despite the popularity of "Balls To The Wall", it was their next full length and single "Metal Heart" that would captivate me as a young fan. It was the first Accept LP to be recorded digitally along side Scorpians' own Dieter Dierks, and the last record made while the band still got along. The "Metal Heart" video was probably best known for borrowing 2 well known classical themes; Tchaikovsky's Slavonic March, and and Beethoven's Für Elise. I've still never heard Beethoven sound this shredtastic since Metal Heart's release.

Back in 1995, Stuck Mojo solidified the Rap Metal sub-genre with their debut on Century Media. Despite the rap-metal genre being one of the smallest of music classifications, it's hard to ignore all the rocking collaborations between the 2 worlds we've been listening to for years. Faith No More, Suicidial Tendencies, Public Enemy/Anthrax are a few examples of rap meets metal gone right, however I have to hand it to Stuck Mojo for being one of the heaviest of it's kind. "Not Promised Tomorrow" is a track off the band's 1995 release "Snappin' Necks."

Back in 1987 listening to King Diamond was the fastest way to piss off your parents! Following the break up of Mercyful Fate, vocalist and primary song writer, King Diamond had formed a solo project that released a series of concept albums in the vein of Rock Operas. Known for his satanic imagery, stage shows and conceptual records, King Diamond (the band) has proven to out sell every other project the corpse painted vocalist had formed. "The Family Ghost" video is a selection off the 1987 release "Abigail", a story set in 1845 about an inherited mansion haunted by the spirits of it's bloody past. The video also features drummer power house Mickey Dee, whom has spent the last 16 years playing for the legendary Motorhead. Dee was asked several times by Lemmy to join Motorhead while playing for Diamond in the 80's, it took 7 years and an ego-fall out with Diamond to finally accept.

Back in 1993 England's Paradise Lost already had 3 full length records under their belt, along with a noble title as co-creator's of the sub-genre we call "Death/Doom Metal." Despite the bands unique goth-like previous releases, it wasn't until their 1993 "Icon" LP that Paradise Lost had gained widespread international acclaim.  The band, regarded as mainstream rock stars in parts of Europe, have gone through more changes in sound, than line up changes total (a near-original line up for 21 years). In a most daring move, the band chose to go "electronic" at the height of their popularity and reinvent the wheel yet again introducing themselves as an Electronic-Doom band. I promise to never play videos from their electronic era, but I highly recommend a dose of inspiring records "Shades of God", "Icon" and "Draconian Times."

Back in 1990 Seattle based Sanctuary released their 2nd and final full length record, before Nirvana would soon become the biggest band to hail from the rainy state. Sanctuary's video "Future Tense" features Nevermore front man Warrel Dane at a very young age, who would acquire guitarist Jeff Loomis on the band's last tour and later form Nevermore in 1991.

Sanctuary's albums are hard to come by these days, but I recommend the quest for any big Nevermore fan. Not only do you get to hear the early stages of a great front man like Dane, but the band's 1987 debut release "Refuge Denieo" was produced by none other than Dave Mustaine. Refuge Denieo still remains to be the only non-Megadeth album ever produced by Mustaine.

Back in 1990 Arizona based Sacred Reich released this politically rocking tune "The American Way". Although considered their second full length record, "The American Way" LP is often known as the bands debut full fledged thrash record. If you scan your memory banks hard enough you may remember this music video from the 1992 Pauly Shore film "Encino Man." You know, the only part of the movie where Brendan Faser attempts to head bang, after accidentally switching the TV on with his foot?

Back in 1994, Swedish metal band Grave put out this happy little jam titled "Soulless"
If you're anything like me, then you probably began your daily dose of head-banging and horn-giving before your fifth grade classroom assembly. It was a completely different era in metal and the terms "Bit-Torrent", "YouTube" or even "Downloading" was unheard of.

How the times have changed! None more apparent than by watching the slew of metal music videos left behind during the years Headbangers Ball was off the air, or simply not ballsy enough to air crucial bands that later shaped the sound of today's metal music. With the sudden resurgence of bands getting back together for their even grander finale (ie: ATG, Carcass, Carnivore) I figured it's time to dust off some of these old school gems and share some videos you may never knew existed, hell you may even find the next big reunite in this collection!

Check out Grave live as part of this year's Maryland Deathfest VI