Encyclopaedia Metallum

**Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives** (commonly kent as **Metal Archives** per the URL or juist **MA**) is a wabsteid whilk leets baunds frae various forms o hivy metal. Encyclopaedia Metallum wis described bi Matt Sullivan o *[[Nashville Scene]]* as "the Internet's central database for aw that is 'tr00' in the metal warld." *[[Terrorizer (magazine)|Terrorizer]]* described the site as, "a fou-exhaustive leet o pretty muckle ivery metal baund iver, wi fou discographies, an active forum an an interlinkin members leet that shaws the iver-incestuous beauty o the metal scene". Still an on, there is exceptions for baunds whilk faw unner disputit genres no acceppit bi the wabsteid.

Encyclopaedia Metallum ettles tae provide comprehensive information on lika baund, lik a discography, logos, pictures, leerics, line-ups, biography, trivia an uiser-submittit reviews. The steid provides a seestem for submittin baunds tae the archives an aw.

## Uiser interaction
As an incentive fur tae get fowk tae submit data, the steid uises a "point" seestem, in whilk registered uisers gain pynts an muive up ranks wi the amoont an value o data an information they submit. When joinin as a member o the steid aw new members start aff wi the rankin o "mallcore kid". The mair valuable an complete the information, the mair points ar awairdit. An aa submittin reviews o baund releases is anither way tae gain points on the steid. Typically though, the wabsteid affers mair points tae those who submit info aboot a baund itself. The maist points are gien tae uisers when actual baunds they submit tae the site are acceptit.

The wabsteid is notably completely free o advertisements, an as o 2012 is run completely independently. Some, housomeivver, quaisten whether or no this affects the quality o the wabsteid. Syne the mids o 2005, frequent veesitors noticit that the steid wis aften doun, though the stability situation began tae impruive in the beginnin o 2006. Through the first three month o 2007 the steid ran relatively free o dountime, wi the exception o late Mairch. The steid went doun unexpectedly for five days at the end o December an aw. This wis in pairt due tae an issue wi the company that hostit the steid. When the company chyngit its business strategy, Metal Archives wis left oot o the process an wis subsequently ignored. The issue haes syne been correctit an the steid is runnin normally again.

## Acceptit baunds
The steid is kent for its extremely strict rules, especially those which mandate baund submissions. Encyclopaedia Metallum anerlie accepts baunds which it deems metal, but mony baunds that ance wur rejectit wur acceptit later on, an vice versa. The anerlie exceptions are: side projects o members o metal baunds that hae a release on a label wi warldwide distribution, baunds that are nae langer considered tae be metal but wur in the past, an grindcore baunds that bear close similarities tae daith metal.

Traditional hivy metal genres an eras, such as the NWOBHM hae stringent rulings; uisers ar warned in the rules section tae consider baunds submittit unner these classifications as "*ambiguous*", in the sense that if a baund is submittit wi these terms as their genre, the muisic will be extensively reviewed bi the moderators afore they decide whether or no tae accept the baund ontae the wabsteid. This is acause in the past, some submissions labeled wi those genres hae turned oot no tae be metal, accordin tae the steid's guidelines. Some baunds which are commonly referred tae as traditional hivy metal an NWOBHM, such as Def Leppard an Stryper, ar on the wabsteid due to anerlie ane or twa o the baunds' albums meetin the wabsteid's specifications.

Additionally, there are some nan-metal baunds featured on the steid that are considered tae be pairt o the metal scene despite no being metal thairsels (uisually daurk ambient an fowk baunds, examples being Mortiis, Elend, Nest, :Of The Wand & The Moon:, Autumn Tears, Stille Volk, etc). These baunds ar selectit bi the moderators "in an admittedly arbitrary fashion," an their submission bi normal uisers is discouragit.

### Baunds excludit bi the wabsteid
Genres that are sometimes associatit wi extreme metal, such as grindcore an metalcore, are absent as they ar seen tae hae mair in common wi punk than metal an aw. Some grindcore baunds are acceptit if they are mair associatit wi daith metal (e.g. Napalm Death, an Pig Destroyer). Mony uisers believe that metalcore baunds hae been completely banned frae the wabsteid syne a bulletin wis postit that simply statit, "*Please stop submittin -core baunds. Please.*" Housomeivver, this is false; mony metalcore baunds appear on the archives an mony mair hae been addiy syne the bulletin wis postit, but the moderators hae become mair strict on wha metalcore baunds can be addit an generally wirk case-bi-case rather than sayin aw, or zero, metalcore baunds will be acceptit. Maist o the metalcore baunds that are allouit are the anes hivily influenced bi melodic daith metal. Glam metal is rejectit if the websteid awners consider the baund mair hard rock than metal. Industrial metal is anerlie allouit if the site's staff consider it "mair metal relatit than industrial", for example; the baund Rammstein is no alloued, while industrial rock pioneers Ministry wur finally acceptit in Mairch 2006 (based on the newer ootput o this baund which haes incorporatit a lot o thrash metal influence). Anither recent acceptit baund ance blocked bi the administration is the industrial group Pitchshifter, based on their first three metal-influencit albums. Encyclopaedia Metallum can anerlie accept grunge an alternative metal baunds if awners consider them "metal"; The Melvins, Soundgarden, Helmet, Faith No More an Alice in Chains hae aw been acceptit, while Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Tool an Chevelle are no allouit on the steid.

Baunds that are associatit wi the nu metal label are completely forbidden an hae been syne the wabsteid stairtit. Housomeivver, certain baunds which are commonly regardit as nu metal wur acceptit an aw, if the moderators considered certain albums "metal" enough. This pairticular loophole wis exploitit tae comedic effect on Aprile Fools' Day 2009 bi the steid's staff when popular nu metal baund Korn wis briefly addit tae the database, whareupon a series o stagit arguments atween moderators appeared throughoot the day on the steid's forum.

The steid runners hae standards which exclude some baunds that are considered bi some sites (such as Allmusic or juist mention Led Zeppelin as "hard rock".

In fact, mony o what are aften viewed as the oreeginal 1970s hivy metal baunds are missin frae the wabsteid, such as Blue Öyster Cult, Uriah Heep, Vanilla Fudge, Cactus an Dust. A sma amoont o uisers hae questioned these exclusions on the wabsteid's message buird in the past. In the ither hand, ither 1970s baunds such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Scorpions, Sir Lord Baltimore, Rush, Rainbow, Thin Lizzy, Budgie an Pentagram ar acceptit.

## References


## Fremmit airtins
* Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives
* Translatit interview frae Miasma Magazine 
* Translatit interview frae Arsenic Magazine 
* Airticle aboot Encyclopaedia Metallum in Examiner.com