1994 was a really good year for heavy metal. It saw the rise of Norwegian black metal along with the continued success of American groups like Pantera and Megadeth. The Norwegians have a strong presence on this year's list, including the top three spots. CDs that just missed making the list include Cradle Of Filth, Enslaved and Slayer. Here's my choice for the best heavy metal releases of 1994. What do you think were the best metal CDs of 1994? Post your comments below.

Best Heavy Metal Albums Of 1994

Here are my other lists of the Best Heavy Metal CDs of the 1990s:

• Best Heavy Metal Albums Of 1990
• Best Heavy Metal Albums Of 1991
• Best Heavy Metal Albums Of 1992
• Best Heavy Metal Albums Of 1993
• Best Heavy Metal Albums Of 1995
• Best Heavy Metal Albums Of 1996
• Best Heavy Metal Albums Of 1997
• Best Heavy Metal Albums Of 1998
• Best Heavy Metal Albums Of 1999

The British power metal band Dragonforce is searching for a new lead singer after the departure of vocalist ZP Theart. The band issued the following statement:

"It is with great regret that Dragonforce announce a parting of the ways with singer ZP Theart. This is due to insurmountable differences of musical opinion, but the rest of the band sincerely wishes ZP great success with his future projects."

While the band members have begun writing their fifth album, they have also started a worldwide search for a new vocalist. "We are looking for a powerful, melodic singer to write a new chapter of Dragonforce with us." said guitarist Herman Li.

If you'd like to try out to be Dragonforce's next singer, application instructions can be found at the band's official web site.

(photo courtesy Roadrunner Records)

Dark Tranquillity has had a remarkably consistent track record, which they continue with We Are The Void. Consistency doesn't mean they are repeating the same album over and over. While they do have a well-defined template, they inject enough differences and the songs are constructed well enough to avoid musical deja vu.

This CD delivers everything you'd expect from a Dark Tranquillity effort: catchy guitar riffs, a lot of melody and strong vocals from Mikael Stanne. Harsh vocals dominate the album, but Stanne's periodic baritone melodic vocals help add a gothic vibe to songs like "The Grandest Accusation" and "Her Silent Language."

Read the complete Dark Tranquillity - We Are The Void Review

(CD cover courtesy Century Media Records)

Sirenia mainmain Morten Veland's latest project is Mortemia. He wrote the music, played all the instruments, produced, mixed and mastered Misere Mortem. He gives us the background on the Mortemia project, Sirenia's upcoming plans, his top 5 Norwegian metal bands and more.

Chad Bowar: What was the inspiration to start this project?
Morten Veland: Some years ago I decided to take Sirenia in a more melodic direction. However, I still composed a lot of music in different genres and I ended up with a great amount of ideas that basically didn't fit in Sirenia's musical concept anymore.

So I was faced with two options, either to throw these ideas away or create a new project where I could bring these ideas to life. I thought that a lot of these compositions were way too good to be left uncompleted, so I decided to form Mortemia. I began working with all the ideas that I had and that could not fit into Sirenia's music, because they where either too complex, too hard or did not have the right expression, musically speaking. So this is basically how the idea of forming Mortemia came together.

Read the complete Mortemia/Sirenia Interview

(photo courtesy Napalm Records)