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Type of site | Music database, reviews |
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Owner | Morrigan, Hellblazer |
Created by | Morrigan, Hellblazer |
URL | metal-archives |
Commercial | No |
Registration | Optional |
Launched | July 2002 |
Current status | Active |
Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives (commonly known as Metal Archives per the URL or abbreviated as MA) is an online encyclopedia based upon musical artists who predominantly perform heavy metal music along with its various sub-genres. [1] Encyclopaedia Metallum was described by Matt Sullivan of Nashville Scene as "the Internet's central database for all that is 'tr00' in the metal world." [2] Terrorizer described the site as "a fully-exhaustive list of pretty much every metal band ever, with full discographies, an active forum and an interlinking members list that shows the ever-incestuous beauty of the metal scene". [3] Nevertheless, there are exceptions for bands which fall under disputed genres not accepted by the website.
Encyclopaedia Metallum attempts to provide comprehensive information on each band, such as a discography, logos, pictures, lyrics, line-ups, biography, trivia and user-submitted reviews. The site also provides a system for submitting bands to the archives. The website is free of advertisements and is run completely independently.
The Encyclopaedia Metallum was launched in July 2002 by a Canadian couple from Montreal using the pseudonyms HellBlazer and Morrigan. A couple of years prior, HellBlazer had the idea of an encyclopedia for heavy metal and attempted to create an HTML page for every metal band by hand. Although he gave up on that initial attempt, a fully automated site with contributions from its users was in the works. [4] The site initially went live early in July 2002 and the first band (Amorphis) was added on July 7, 2002. [5] In just over a year the site had amassed a database of over 10,000 bands. [6] The site continues to grow at a rate of about 500 bands per month. [7] On November 13, 2014, the number of bands listed in the database reached 100,000. [8]
On January 1, 2013, the site announced that bands with entirely digital discographies could now be submitted to the Archives, changing the site's decade-long policy of physical releases only. [9] Digital releases must have a fixed track listing, album art, professional or finished production and be available in a high-quality or lossless format through official distribution sources (such as Bandcamp and/or iTunes).
A 2018 study of Encyclopaedia Metallum's database of approximately 350,000 musicians active between 1964 and 2015 found that 97% of metal musicians were male and only 3% were female, though the latter figure has increased slightly since the 1970s. [10] [11] In January 2022, Stereogum reported that death metal bands made up most of Encyclopaedia Metallum's database with approximately 51,000 bands listed, but noted that the highest number of active bands was within black metal (approx. 26,000). [12]
Encyclopaedia Metallum maintains a system where a user with a registered account is free to submit a band to the database that they deem to be within a heavy metal genre, but once the band page gets submitted it goes through an approval process where a moderator (or in some cases, multiple moderators) will review the band's music to determine if it's suitable for the website's classification of metal. Traditional heavy metal genres and era (such as the NWOBHM) have stringent rulings; users are warned in the rules section to consider bands submitted under these classifications as "ambiguous", in the sense that if a band is submitted with these terms as their genre, the music will be extensively reviewed by the moderators before they decide whether or not to accept the band onto the website. [13] This is because, in the past, some submissions labeled with those genres have turned out not to be metal according to the site's guidelines. Bands or artists commonly associated with either hard rock or glam metal will only be accepted if the moderators consider their material to be at least "fully, unambiguously metal", examples being Deep Purple, Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, Scorpions, Skid Row and Stryper, while the site will not accept certain rock- or hard rock-based acts like AC/DC, Guns N' Roses, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Queen or Poison. [14]
Additionally, there are some rare cases of non-metal bands featured on the site that are considered to be part of the metal scene despite not being metal themselves (usually dark ambient and folk bands that are side projects of already well-known established metal artists), examples being Mortiis, Elend, Nest, Of the Wand & the Moon, Autumn Tears, Stille Volk, etc. These bands were selected by the moderators "in an admittedly arbitrary fashion", and their submission by normal users was discouraged. [14] In 2021 the staff collectively decided that they will not be adding any more of these "exception bands" to the database. [15]
Certain genres related to metal that the site does not accept are djent and nu metal, although some bands who are on the site have released albums in the latter genre, such as Machine Head and Chimaira, who both released nu metal material in the early 2000s, but are mostly recognized as groove metal bands. Metalcore and deathcore are only allowed on the site if the moderators consider at least one album "clearly more metal than core", examples being Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, After the Burial, Carnifex, All Shall Perish, The Red Chord, and Despised Icon, while other bands such as Bring Me the Horizon, Converge, Atreyu, Born of Osiris, Between the Buried and Me, and Oceano are not allowed on the site. [14]
Amorphis is a Finnish heavy metal band founded by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other genres, including progressive metal and folk metal. They frequently use the Kalevala, the epic poem of Finland, as a source for their lyrics.
The music of Cyprus includes a variety of traditional, Western classical and Western popular genres. Cypriot traditional music is similar to the traditional music of Greece with Turkish and Arab influences, and includes dances like sousta, syrtos, ballos, tatsia, antikristos, arabiye, karotseris, sinalik, chiftetteli, zeimbekiko and the mandra dance.
Pagan metal is a genre of heavy metal music which fuses extreme metal with "the pre-Christian traditions of a specific culture or region" through thematic concept, rustic melodies, unusual instruments or archaic languages, usually referring to folk metal or black metal. The Norwegian band In the Woods... was one of the first bands commonly viewed as pagan metal. Metal Hammer author Marc Halupczok wrote that Primordial's song "To Enter Pagan" from the band's demo "Dark Romanticism" contributed to defining the genre.
Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt is a Swedish musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of progressive metal band Opeth. A former vocalist of death metal supergroup Bloodbath, he was also guitarist for the "one-off" band Steel, and part of the collaboration Storm Corrosion with Steven Wilson.
Warlock was a German heavy metal band founded in 1982 in Düsseldorf by members of the underground bands Snakebite and Beast. The band gained popularity and some commercial success in Europe in the mid-1980s, due to the personality and stage presence of lead vocalist Doro Pesch. Warlock supported successful heavy metal bands on tour, such as W.A.S.P., Judas Priest, Dio and Megadeth.
G.I.S.M. was a Japanese punk metal band formed in Tokyo in 1981. Although the guitar style resembled heavy metal in many aspects, GISM was one of the first Japanese hardcore bands, while at the same time drawing influence from the early industrial/avant-garde music scene—something uncommon in punk bands at that time. The acronym GISM has many different variations; they include: "Guerrilla Incendiary Sabotage Mutineer" (original), "God In the Schizoid Mind", "Grand Imperialism Social Murder", "Genocide Infanticide Suicide Menticide", "Gay Individual Social Mean", "Gothic Incest Sex Machine", "Grubby Incest Stripper Mastitis", "Gravity Impel Slaying Machine", "Get Incinerated Sorrow Mass", "Gore Impromptu Suicide Mine", "Grim Iconic Sadistic Mantra" and "Gnostic Idiosyncrasy Sonic Militant".
Enslaved is a Norwegian extreme metal band formed by Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson in Haugesund in 1991. They are currently based in Bergen. The band's lineup has changed many times over the years, and Bjørnson and Kjellson have been the sole constant members. The current lineup also includes lead guitarist Arve Isdal, keyboardist/singer Håkon Vinje, and drummer Iver Sandøy.
Rate Your Music is an online encyclopedia of music releases and films. Users can catalog items from their personal collection, review them, and assign ratings in a five-star rating system. The site also features community-based charts that track highest-rated releases.
Anonymus is a Canadian thrash metal band from Montreal, Quebec, founded in 1989. Its members are Carlos Araya (drums), Oscar Souto, Daniel Souto (guitar) and Jef Fortin (guitar).
Angel Dust is a German heavy metal band from Dortmund. Initially active from 1984 to 1990 as a speed and thrash metal band, they moved towards a power/progressive metal sound upon reforming in 1998.
Live Eschaton is the first video album by Polish extreme metal band Behemoth. While originally released on VHS in 2000, a reissue was released on DVD as Live Eschaton: The Art of Rebellion in 2002. Metal Mind Productions (MMP) also released a limited edition box set of Live Eschaton: The Art of Rebellion in 2009, which contains the concert on DVD with extras and a bonus CD containing the concert's audio.
Dark Heresy was an English death metal band from south-west London, and active during the years 1990–1997, a period during which the London underground metal scene peaked. They played over fifty concerts across England during this period, often as headliners as well as supporting bands like Ancient Rites, Cradle of Filth and Dissection.
Metal Storm is a webzine specializing in various forms of heavy metal music. It is based in Tallinn, Estonia, but caters to an international audience, symbolically recognized by the acquisition of an EU domain in 2008. The site features a database of over 5,000 bands, alongside album reviews, news and interviews.
Iron Mask is a power metal band formed in 2002 by Belgian guitarist Dushan Petrossi, also known from Magic Kingdom.
Hevisaurus are a Finnish heavy metal band that formed in 2009 with music aimed at children. The band members are known for performing in dinosaur costumes. Hevisaurus's debut concert was at the Elämä Lapselle charity concert on 9 September 2009. Their first tour started at the Tavastia Club in Helsinki on 22 November 2009.
Poltergeist, originally Carrion, is a Swiss thrash metal band that played from 1985 to 1993, then again from 2013 to the present. Carrion produced two demos and one full-length album under SriLanca Records. Poltergeist released two full-length albums and three demos under Century Media Records. They also released a single and a full-length album under Haunted House Records. Poltergeist is now signed to Massacre Records and released the album Feather of Truth in 2020. The band is working on a new album as of August 2023.
The discography of Amorphis, a Finnish heavy metal band, consists of fourteen studio albums, three live albums, fifteen singles, three extended plays, and five compilation albums.
Women in rock describes the role of women singers, instrumentalists, record producers and other music professionals in rock music and popular music and the many subgenres and hybrid genres that have emerged from these genres. Women have a high prominence in many popular music styles as singers. However, professional women instrumentalists are uncommon in popular music, especially in rock genres such as heavy metal. "[P]laying in a band is largely a male homosocial activity, that is, learning to play in a band is largely a peer-based... experience, shaped by existing sex-segregated friendship networks. As well, rock music "...is often defined as a form of male rebellion vis-à-vis female bedroom culture."
Bulgarian Rock Archives is the first online encyclopedia dedicated to rock music in Bulgaria. Launched online on 2 August 2013 and includes more than 350 bands and performers from the mid-1960s. The articles are divided in alphabetical order, year of creation, style, location. Profiles of the groups include a short biography, discography, composition, links to videos, and links to official sites and profiles.