There is a whole world of information on metal out there in the land of the Internet. All things being un-equal, I’ve written up a short list of some of the best metal websites, whether for ease of use, historic relevance, or the “just plain neat” factor. Here we go:
Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives: This is basically a gigantic user-created database listing over 70,000 bands and including basic info such as genre, band members, lyrical topics, discographies, trivia, user-contributed reviews, and so on. If you can’t find a band on this site, they likely didn’t exist!
The BNR Metal Pages: Another database, not nearly as comprehensive as Metal Archives, but then again it’s all the work of one guy. Explains the various metal genres and includes some top ten lists and label information.
Dark Legions Archive: Ignoring the offensive yet absurdly humorous domain name, here we can find a fairly large collection of mostly death and black metal reviews, all written in highly elaborate language. Also houses many interesting articles, a metal FAQ, some classic interviews and one of the most intelligent forums I’ve seen.
Hessian Studies: A currently vacant metal blog, but looking through the archives one is faced with lots of interesting content. Their mission is to elevate metal and metal fans (hessians) to higher status in the current social order. Contains an excellent beginner’s list of metal albums.
Death Metal: Possibly an offshoot of the above site, this is a superb death metal blog full of well-written reviews of underground death metal albums, interesting articles highlighting metal’s role in world history and human consciousness, and lots of video clips and zine scans. Although this site only recently took off, it soars above all the rest. Absolutely necessary for underground maniacs.
Dark Lyrics: The best place to go for heavy metal lyrics; not drenched in advertising like most lyrics sites.
Voices from the Darkside: This ezine is home to many classic interviews (such as the ultimate Profanatica interview) and lots of reviews. The only downside is that the layout makes for difficulty reading, but it’s well worth it.
Mourning the Ancient: Another webzine full of interviews, reviews, some essays, a selection of quotations by metal musicians concerning eschatology, and some possible NSFW content.
Transcending the Mundane: More interviews, reviews, etc. from this webzine.
Norwegian Black Metal: Contains reviews, a top 100 list, and a history of everyone’s favorite niche of church-burning black metal.
Larm: A vintage underground review archive. Supposedly, this was the way to find out about good releases during metal’s better days.
Return to the Pit: Lots of live shots of bands, although the focus is on death-core and things of that ilk.
Decibel: Official site of this metal magazine, styled like a blog. Focus is mostly on hipper varieties of metal.
Blabbermouth: A good metal news site, if you can wade through the junk.
Know any other good ones? Speak up and write a comment!
