1988 95 dated entries
Genres held to have emerged
- Alternative metal metal
- Goregrind metal
- Grunge rock
- Industrial metal metal
- Math rock rock
- Progressive metal metal
- Ska punk rock
- Technical thrash metal
A genre's date is an approximation historians argue about, unlike the events above it — the same distinction the timeline draws.
Bands formed
- Cannibal Corpse
- Chain of Strength
- Crowbar
- Deftones
- Dismember
- Eyehategod
- Godflesh
- Integrity
- Los Straitjackets
- Madball
- Mazzy Star
- Mudhoney
- Nine Inch Nails
- Paradise Lost
- Pennywise
- Ride
- Suffocation
- The Field Mice
- Therion
- Winter
Bands that ended
Scenes that began
- 1988 New Orleans New Orleans · 1988–2005
- 1988 Stockholm death metal Stockholm · 1988–1993