The rating system for these reviews is to help our readers find the best sources of information and best web sites available.
Yes indicates that you should visit the page, normally because the content is good and the site has a nice presentation.
Uhm indicates that you may consider visiting the site, it's probably a fairly average site with a few problems with it.
No indicates you probably shouldn't go to the site, it either contains no information relevant to our typical reader or the layout makes it too hard to use.
| Dark Legions Archive |
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Rating: Yes
Conviniently placed on the domain anus.com, the pages are very nicely made and more or less logically presented. You can browser the pages by genre, style, history or geography. This will probably be useful to those who have only recently entered the metal scene, or for anyone looking for new things to listen to. Pick a genre/style, and click on the presented band names. Many album reviews will pop up, often multiple reviews for an album, so you will get a pretty good idea of what music is being reviewed. This page is apparently still under construction as many style headings do not have any band names listed, but there is enough here right now to have you scrolling for the next half hour.
| Gateways of Bereavement |
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| Forlorn Soul |
Rating: Yes
A personal page of Forlorn Soul, the GoB presents several of author's bands. The guy just can't understand how people can like any other kind of music, a sentiment shared by many. There are 3 bands showcased in the Metal Militia; these are descriptions of the band, some pictures and sound samples. If anything, come here for the samples. You will need a Real Audio player to do this though. Several dozen sound clips (1-2 mins in length on average) are accessible from the Metal Domain section. The author is also hosting a TV show, but the description page does not exist.
| MindCage |
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Rating: Yes
MindCage (or MindPage as it calls itself) is a still growing organization. Its goal is to provide resources for independant bands and artists. So far you can have a look at several links to supportive recording companies and distribution channels, as well as some advice for new and aspring bands. Hopefully, as the page promoses, there will be more information here soon.
| Peaceville Records |
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| hammy@dweeb.demon.co.uk |
Rating: Yes
Peaceville, for those who don't know, currently carries several bands, including My Dying Bride and Anathema. They really have to be commended for producing such a nice looking site. While there is no actual content here, it still is a nice place to go to. Let me elaborate a bit. Peaceville has made available a few tracks for free for you to listen to (Real Audio 3.0), but this is only limited to two concurrent streams, so only two people can listen to it at the same time. In addition to this there is the FAQ, links to their bands' pages and a mailing list. Expect your stay to be short and fairly uneventful.
| Beavis' Mosh Pit |
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| Wes Foll |
Rating: Uhm
This is Wes' personal web page. It is obviously dedicated to a certain kind of music he listens to, namely metal. The highlights are the scans of unique collectibles and rare band pictures.
| Phat Metal Chat |
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Rating: Uhm
Like the name suggests, this is an online chat for metal people. I have never been a big fan of online chat systems; they are generally slow, clunky to use and, if anything, impede the communication process. The novelty has worn off by now always. Just go on IRC if you wanna chat. To make matters worse, all the buttons and text are finnish (norwegian?). Enter at own risk.
| Pure Fucking Metal |
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| gothmog@optera.com |
Rating: Uhm
After the impressive load time on this page, you will see what this page is all about. And if you are not firm in your beliefs you will want to leave. Because this is for 'true trashers and headbangers' only. Don't consider yourself a 'goat worshipper'? Don't think 'black metal is a way of life'? Not willing to bow down and worship Satan? Well, this just might be too much for you.
| Metal Rules! |
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| gwaye@thezone.net |
Rating: No
Well, the first thing you'll notice about this page is that the fonts look weird. Don't go scrambling for your browser setup, it's supposed to look like that. It is basically a small scale zine, with some album reviews and interviews. The current review describes some great new CD (the classic old stuff) without actually saying what it is. Among the items of interest there is a page of dozens of links to band and resource pages. Now, if they were just a bit more organized... :) If you are also interested about the metal scene in Newfoundland (that's on Canada's east coast) there is a page with a couple of bands and links to their pages. Oh yeah, there is something on that page that makes Netscape eat up system resources at an astronomical rate! A few concert reviews and twisted sound snips complete the collection. I was amazed that my machine had enough fonts to actually display this site correctly. Sheesh!
| Chemical Peel |
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| Alexis |
Rating: No
This zine is on its third issue now, with the first one no longer available. The reviews seem to cover music of all kinds, with death metal, alternative and industrial bands. There were only a couple of band names that I recognized from the list, and those are for the most part described as mediocre. The latest issue is dated December 19. This is rather old. Combined with the lack of metaloriented content (and content in general) this is not a destination worthy of a metal fan.
| Crimewave Records |
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| CrimeWabe |
Rating: No
The wave is coming! The wave is coming! No, not the wave the cable companies want you to buy. The new wave of music. There is a solution to the crap played on the radio. Or so this page says. Well, actually this has little to do with metal at all. One of their albums is described as "a bit of jazz blended with a soulful torch atmosphere".
| Moribound Records |
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| Mega |
Rating: No
This particular label has several black metal bands on board. There are pages for each one of the projects, describing their work and giving some background. Not much else to say here, except that the Judas Iscariot guy sounds like an intriguing person.
| Outersound |
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| feedback@outersound.com |
Rating: No
The Outersound is envisioning its future as a one stop place for music needs. It is obviously still growing, but there are a fair number of bands represented now. With all those various bands, where is metal? The stuff of interest is located in the Noisy Rock and Electronic & Dark categories. Let us have a look. Hmm... lots of hard rock and punk, but I see no metal bands. Maybe some time in the future.