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| Type of site | Music, news and media |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Owner | Islander |
| Created by |
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| URL | nocleansinging |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | November 2009; 15 years ago (2009-11) |
No Clean Singing is an American heavy metal news and media website based in Seattle. The website primarily covers extreme music, and "bands with vocalists who exclusively scream, growl, or otherwise avoid melodic, 'traditional' singing". Islander is the site's owner.
No Clean Singing features news, album reviews, interviews, and event calendars. Unlike most heavy metal websites, it does not publish negative reviews. Islander has said that when he launched the website, he vowed that he would "write about music I liked and wanted to recommend, rather than pretend to be some kind of critic to support music I enjoyed rather than tell people what they shouldn't listen to or make fun of bands."
History
No Clean Singing was founded in November 2009 by Islander, Alexis, and IntoTheDarkness. The site was named in reference to Islander's dislike of Myke Terry, then-vocalist of Bury Your Dead, feeling his use of clean vocals (in contrast to previous vocalist Mat Bruso) was part of "an awful trend". By 2012, the site had regular writers based in three US cities, and some based in Japan and the United Kingdom.
In a May 2016 interview, Islander reported that No Clean Singing had received 1.1 million page views and about 260,000 users in the previous six months, with 40% of its internet traffic coming from the United States. At that point, the site's most popular post was their 2014 review of Babymetal's 2014 debut album (21,000+ views), followed by a post about Gojira (20,000) and a review of Devin Townsend's Deconstruction (2011) by writer Andy Synn (16,000+). Although the site itself does not feature any advertising, Islander has had to pay to promote the site on Facebook; he has publicly criticized the platform's EdgeRank algorithm for limiting the site's (and other blogs) reach unless they paid for promotion.
In 2017, No Clean Singing collaborated with Invisible Oranges and Southwest Terrorfest to launch the Northwest Terrorfest. The website continues to sponsor the festival.
References
- ^ "Blog jam: No Clean Singing". The Guardian. June 26, 2012. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on May 27, 2024. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- ^ Archer-Capuzzo, Sonia; Capuzzo, Guy (2021). Metaldata: A Bibliography of Heavy Metal Resources. Music Library Association & A-R Editions, Inc. p. 24. ISBN 9780895798923.
- Roche, Jason (March 21, 2013). "Our Top Ten Online Resources for Metal Knowledge". LA Weekly. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
- ^ Choksi, Kunal (May 12, 2016). "Interview with No Clean Singing owner Islander". Transcending Obscurity. Archived from the original on January 28, 2023. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- Guard, Old (April 2, 2014). "Mainstreaming Metal - Part 3: Fraud (The Home Team)". Last Rites. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- Islander. "About". No Clean Singing. Archived from the original on May 11, 2024. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- Neilstein, Vince (March 26, 2014). "Is Facebook Trying to Extort Bands and Brands?". MetalSucks. Archived from the original on March 5, 2024. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- Islander (March 22, 2014). "The Latest Extortion From Facebook". No Clean Singing. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- Cory, Ian (February 6, 2017). "Northwest Terrorfest adds Warning, Young And In The Way". Invisible Oranges - The Metal Blog. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- Injection, Metal (February 6, 2017). "Bringing Warning To America: An Interview With Terrorfest Founder David Rodgers". Metal Injection. Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- "Northwest Terror Fest announced full 2023 lineup ft AUTOPSY, MISERY INDEX, GHOUL, & more". lambgoat.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- Macmillan, Paul (December 21, 2023). "Northwest Terror Fest with Repulsion, Amenra, Forbidden, Primitive Man, MVTANT, and More, Opening Next Batch of Tickets". Ghost Cult Magazine. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- Diers, Kevin (April 18, 2023). "Northwest Terror Fest Returns for Three Days of Brutal Riffs". The Stranger. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved May 27, 2024.