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| {{Short description|Website on metal bands}} | |||
| ] | |||
| {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}{{About|the online heavy metal encyclopedia|other uses|Metallum (disambiguation)}} | |||
| '''Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives''' is a large ] which attempts to list every known ] band and provide additional information on each band, such as a discography, a short history, and user-submitted reviews. The site also provides a system for submitting bands to the archives, and users are encouraged to use it. As of August ], the site boasts +39,000 bands listed, +94,000 albums, +21,000 reviews and +56,000 active registered users. | |||
| {{multiple issues| | |||
| {{more citations needed|date=May 2021}} | |||
| {{primary sources|date=March 2023}}}} | |||
| {{Infobox website | |||
| ⚫ | | name = Encyclopaedia Metallum | ||
| | logo = Metal-archives.jpg | |||
| | logo_size = 300px | |||
| | logo_caption = Logo | |||
| | url = {{URL|https://metal-archives.com}} | |||
| | commercial = No | |||
| | type = Music database, reviews | |||
| | registration = Optional | |||
| | owner = Morrigan, Hellblazer | |||
| | author = Morrigan, Hellblazer | |||
| | launch_date = July 2002 | |||
| | current_status = Active | |||
| }} | |||
| '''Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives''' (commonly known as '''Metal Archives''' per the ] or abbreviated as '''MA''') is an ] based upon musical artists who predominantly perform ] along with its various ].<ref>{{cite web | |||
| |url = http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/gusto/story/369201.html | |||
| |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090416073546/http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/gusto/story/369201.html | |||
| |url-status = dead | |||
| |archive-date = April 16, 2009 | |||
| |title = Club Chatter | |||
| |work = ] | |||
| |access-date = 2009-05-05 | |||
| |last = Miers | |||
| |first = Jeff | |||
| |date = June 13, 2008 | |||
| }}</ref> Encyclopaedia Metallum was described by Matt Sullivan of '']'' as "the Internet's central database for all that is ']' in the metal world."<ref>{{cite news |last=Sullivan |first=Matt |date=December 22, 2009 |title=The indie-fication of metal, 2009 |url=https://www.nashvillescene.com/2009-12-24/music/the-indie-fication-of-metal-2009/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091228005625/https://www.nashvillescene.com/2009-12-24/music/the-indie-fication-of-metal-2009 |archive-date=December 28, 2009 |access-date=December 31, 2009 |work=Nashville Scene |publisher=City Press LLC}}</ref> '']'' described the site as "a {{Sic|?|hide=y|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".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Alderslade |first=Merlin |date=December 2009 |title=Cyber Metal |journal=Terrorizer's Secret History |publisher=Dark Arts Ltd |location=UK |page=62 |pages= |type=The Decade |issue=2}}</ref> Nevertheless, there are numerous 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 ] and is run completely independently. | |||
| As an incentive to get people to submit data, the site uses a "point" system, in which registered users gain points and move up ranks with the amount and value of data and information they submit. The more valuable and complete the information, the more points are awarded. | |||
| ⚫ | == History == | ||
| The website is notably completely free of advertisements, and ] is run completely independently. Some however, question whether or not this affects the quality of the website. Since the middle of 2005, frequent visitors noticed that the site was often down. The instability was due to a bug that was supposedly fixed around April 2006, yet many users still experience difficulty with the site. | |||
| The Encyclopaedia Metallum was launched in July 2002 by a Canadian couple from ] 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 ] 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Encyclopaedia Metallum - Miasma Interview |url=https://v1.metal-archives.com/miasmainterview.php |access-date=21 April 2016 |work=metal-archives.com}}</ref> The site initially went live early in July 2002 and the first band (]) was added on July 7, 2002.<ref>{{cite web |title=Amorphis |url=https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Amorphis/1 |access-date=21 April 2016 |work=metal-archives.com}}</ref> In just over a year the site had amassed a database of over 10,000 bands.<ref>{{cite web |title=10,000 bands! |url=https://www.metal-archives.com/news/view/id/80 |access-date=21 April 2016 |work=metal-archives.com}}</ref> The site continues to grow at a rate of about 500 bands per month.<ref>{{cite web |title=Band archives - By created date |url=https://www.metal-archives.com/archives/band-list/by/created |access-date=24 September 2015 |website=Encyclopaedia Metallum}}</ref> On November 13, 2014, the number of bands listed in the database reached 100,000.<ref>{{cite web |title=100,000 bands |url=https://www.metal-archives.com/news/view/id/220. |access-date=21 April 2016 |work=metal-archives.com}}</ref> | |||
| 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Happy New Year! We have a present for you |url=https://www.metal-archives.com/news/view/id/205 |access-date=21 April 2016 |work=metal-archives.com}}</ref> 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 ] and/or ]).{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} | |||
| ⚫ | == Accepted bands == | ||
| The site is known for its extremely strict rules, especially those which mandate band submissions. Encyclopaedia Metallum only accepts bands which are, without debate, metal bands. The only exceptions are: side projects of members of metal bands that were released by a label with worldwide distribution, bands that are no longer considered to be metal, but were in the past and ] bands that bear close similarities to ]. | |||
| 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Berkers |first=Pauwke |title=Gender Inequality in Metal Music Production |last2=Schaap |first2=Julian |date=June 19, 2018 |publisher=] |isbn=9781787146754 |pages=20-21, 34, 70-73 |doi=10.1108/9781787146747}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Herbst |first=Jan-Peter |title=Gender Inequality in Metal Music Production, Pauwke Berkers and Jual Schapp (2018) |url=https://pure.hud.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/18216194/Herbst_Review_Gender_Inequality_in_Metal_Music_Production.pdf |journal=] Research Portal |access-date=June 23, 2024}}</ref> In January 2022, '']'' reported that ] 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 ] (approx. 26,000).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chainey |first=Ian |date=2022-01-31 |title=The Month In Metal – January 2022 |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2174542/the-month-in-metal-january-2022/columns/the-black-market/ |access-date=2024-06-23 |website=] |language=en}}</ref> | |||
| ⚫ | Additionally, there are some non-metal bands featured on the site that are considered to be part of the metal scene despite not being metal themselves (usually |
||
| ⚫ | == Accepted and excluded bands == | ||
| Genres that are usually associated with metal, such as ] and ], are also absent as they are seen to have more in common with ] than metal. ] is rejected if the band is considered more rock than metal and ] is only allowed if it's considerably more heavy metal than industrial music. Bands that are associated with the ] or ] labels are completely forbidden and have been since the website started. Many users believe that ] bands have been completely banned from the website since a bulletin was posted that simply stated, "Please stop submitting -core bands. Please." However, this is false; many metalcore bands appear on the archives and many more have been added since the bulletin was posted, but the moderators have become more strict on what metalcore bands can be added and generally work case-by-case rather than saying all, or zero, metalcore bands will be accepted. Most of the metalcore bands that are allowed are the ones heavily influenced by ]. | |||
| ] | |||
| 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. ] genres and era (such as the ]) 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.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311162456/http://metal-archives.com/guidelines.php#bands|date=2010-03-11}}.</ref> 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 ] or ] will only be accepted if the moderators consider their material to be at least "fully, unambiguously metal", examples being ], ], ], ], ] and ], while the site will not accept certain rock- or hard rock-based acts like ], ], ], ], ] or ].<ref name="rules">{{cite web |title=Rules & Guidelines |url=https://www.metal-archives.com/content/rules |access-date=21 April 2016 |work=metal-archives.com}}</ref> | |||
| ⚫ | == History == | ||
| The Encyclopaedia Metallum was founded in 2002 by two Canadians using the pseudonyms HellBlazer and Morrigan. They have been interviewed twice about their site. The first interview was given to the now defunct MetalGospel.com site, and the second interview was given to the Finnish magazine Miasma during May and June of 2005, and the issue was published in mid-October of the year. | |||
| ⚫ | 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 ] and ] bands that are side projects of already well-known established metal artists), examples being ], ], ], ], ], ], etc. These bands were selected by the moderators "in an admittedly arbitrary fashion", and their submission by normal users was discouraged.<ref name="rules"/> In 2021 the staff collectively decided that they will not be adding any more of these "exception bands" to the database.<ref>{{cite web |title=Submission of non-metal side-projects and similar |url=https://www.metal-archives.com/news/view/id/231 |access-date=21 April 2016 |work=metal-archives.com}}</ref> | ||
| Certain genres related to metal that the site does not accept are ] and ], although some bands who are on the site have released albums in the latter genre, such as ] and ], who both released nu metal material in the early 2000s, but are mostly recognized as ] bands. ] and ] are only allowed on the site if the moderators consider at least one album "clearly more metal than core", examples being ], ], ], ], ], ], and ], while other bands such as ], ], ], ], ], and ] are not allowed on the site.<ref name="rules"/> | |||
| == |
==See also== | ||
| ⚫ | * ] | ||
| * The process of being banned from contributing to the site has been nicknamed "Dursted", named after ] (lead singer of ]). Durst is cited as a possible "enemy" of metal, and thus, an enemy to members of the site. | |||
| ⚫ | * ] | ||
| * Everyone starts off with the ranking of ] kid when joining as a member of the site. Some people get upset about being labeled as a mallcore kid on the website, but it's just a ranking on the site refering to the amount of points you have (in which case referring to 0-point accounts). | |||
| ⚫ | * ] | ||
| * Finnish band ] was the first band to be entered into the database. According to administrator Morrigan, there was no particular reason for this. | |||
| * Certain bands, like ], are only allowed on the site for having one metal release. | |||
| * Industrial metal band ] was originally rejected since it was believed they were not metal enough. Recently, the band was accepted after their two recent albums. | |||
| * Certain bands original accepted have been later rejected. One example was ] band, ]. Another was ] band, ], for the belief they were "too ]". | |||
| ==References== | |||
| ⚫ | == |
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| {{reflist|30em}} | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| ⚫ | ==External links== | ||
| ⚫ | ] | ||
| * {{Official website|https://www.metal-archives.com}} | |||
| ⚫ | ] | ||
| ⚫ | ] | ||
| ] | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
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Latest revision as of 18:42, 1 January 2025
Website on metal bands This article is about the online heavy metal encyclopedia. For other uses, see Metallum (disambiguation). | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
 Logo | |
| Type of site | Music database, reviews |
|---|---|
| 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. 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." 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". Nevertheless, there are numerous 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.
History
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. The site initially went live early in July 2002 and the first band (Amorphis) was added on July 7, 2002. In just over a year the site had amassed a database of over 10,000 bands. The site continues to grow at a rate of about 500 bands per month. On November 13, 2014, the number of bands listed in the database reached 100,000.
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. 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. 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).
Accepted and excluded bands
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. 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.
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. In 2021 the staff collectively decided that they will not be adding any more of these "exception bands" to the database.
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.
See also
References
- Miers, Jeff (June 13, 2008). "Club Chatter". The Buffalo News. Archived from the original on April 16, 2009. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- Sullivan, Matt (December 22, 2009). "The indie-fication of metal, 2009". Nashville Scene. City Press LLC. Archived from the original on December 28, 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
- Alderslade, Merlin (December 2009). "Cyber Metal". Terrorizer's Secret History (The Decade). No. 2. UK: Dark Arts Ltd. p. 62.
- "Encyclopaedia Metallum - Miasma Interview". metal-archives.com. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
- "Amorphis". metal-archives.com. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
- "10,000 bands!". metal-archives.com. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
- "Band archives - By created date". Encyclopaedia Metallum. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
- "100,000 bands". metal-archives.com. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
- "Happy New Year! We have a present for you". metal-archives.com. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
- Berkers, Pauwke; Schaap, Julian (June 19, 2018). Gender Inequality in Metal Music Production. Emerald Publishing Limited. pp. 20–21, 34, 70–73. doi:10.1108/9781787146747. ISBN 9781787146754.
- Herbst, Jan-Peter. "Gender Inequality in Metal Music Production, Pauwke Berkers and Jual Schapp (2018)" (PDF). University of Huddersfield Research Portal. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
- Chainey, Ian (January 31, 2022). "The Month In Metal – January 2022". Stereogum. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
- "Websites "rules"... heavy metal/hard rock to be considered "ambiguous"" Archived 2010-03-11 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Rules & Guidelines". metal-archives.com. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
- "Submission of non-metal side-projects and similar". metal-archives.com. Retrieved April 21, 2016.