We keep getting comments from the maintainers of sites we review about the rating they receive. Again I'd like to point out what the ratings actually mean:
Rating: Yes - You should go visit this site. This means that it most likely has something to offer all of our readers and is worth the time to go look at.
Rating: Uhm - You should visit this site if you have a bit of extra time on your hands. While it's not a must see, there is likely something there that will appeal to many of our readers.
Rating: No - It is unlikely that this site has something to offer to a large portion of our readers. It doesn't necessarily mean the site is bad. It may contain extremely specific information, or it may be under development. As always, there is an elaboration in the actual review which clarifies the particular rating.
| Prog.Net |
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| Scott Stewart |
Rating: Yes
Except for the Microsoft-esque sidebar graphic, prog.net is a cleanly designed and well laid out site. Graphics are everywhere, content is scarce. But, keeping in mind that this is a personal page and the author is working and is playing in a band, so not a lot of time to play with HTML. For the most part you'll find links to band pages (mainly progressive metal) and some links to zines and newsgroups. An album review or two will be hanging out here periodically.
| Sick Creations |
|---|
| ramsgate@gei.net.au |
Rating: No
It's a small distro(?)/label(?), and the owner is planning to do a short compilation demo tape sometime soon. Nifty graphics, VERY small page, probably not useful to most readers.
| Death Fucking Metal |
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| Reginald Galang |
Rating: Yes
Strangely enough, this is only the second site to be reviewed with the word 'fucking' in it. Strange, that is, considering the genres of music we are concerned with at ToC. Let me first go over the design and execution of this here site. There are warnings that it is best viewed under 800x600x64k, which is hateful enough by itself. In fact, 800x600 (or less) is the only way to view this site, unless you want the bright and colourful background graphic all over the place. The link graphics and page titles are so totally unreadable, you might as well turn them off. Good thing there are alt's and onMouseOver's to help you out. But this should not stop you from visiting DFM, because it does have something to offer. There is the obligatory band links page, but it is extensive and with a twist; all links (or rather bands) have short descriptions beside them. This might turn out useful depending on your familiarity with the scene, and provides an insight into the author's musical preferences. In short, lots of cool links! And some ravings to munch on as well...
| Kundalini Fanzine |
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| Anish Bhatia |
Rating: Yes
This zine was not reviewed for the last issue because the first issue of Kundalini wasn't yet complete. Now, this is the case with the second issue. The notice says that the author is away on vacation for a couple of months, and will be back to finish things off. It is rather odd to be looking at a half completed zine, but even in its state of incompleteness it is quite impressive to look at. Going through the album reviews one will notice that the reviewer (that only seems to be one) is good at what he does and the writing is enjoyable to read. This is just a copy of the paper version, and you will have to be happy with whatever is on the web site until late september when the editor comes back.
| Titan Records |
|---|
| Titan Records |
Rating: No
Titan Records specialize in all things heavy. I guess that includes metal. Definitely nothing impressive to look at, as is the case with many distro sites. Probably busy selling CDs or working. It's nice to scroll through the list of music available, but not very useful or entertaining if you don't plan to buy. In case you didin't know, the latest 'cool' thing to do with your web page is to put it on a web ring. These people must be ultra-cool...
| Heavy Metal is The Law |
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| Shawn Solonynko |
Rating: Uhm
It's a personal page as you will soon find out. I mean, it is on GeoCities, where all you're supposed to have is a personal page, right? There are numerous album reviews, some short, some longer with a 1-100 rating scale. Throw in a couple of sound files and links and you get the picture.
| Nuclear Blast |
|---|
Rating: Yes
Most of you are familiar with Nuclear Blast. Amorphis should be your first big clue. It's a nice, commercial-looking site and it shows that someone spent some time on it. Flashing and animating graphics are all over the place with plenty of JavaScript thrown into the mix. Explorer users might not even notice since Microsoft decided not to support JavaScript. There is all the usual stuff you'd expect from a label, band info, news and new release highlights, and a shopping area. This one is actually functional, with full on-line ordering capabilities. Again, Explorer users might be left out in the cold as this section relies heavily on JS as well. The selection is obviously not as wide as you'd find in a distro, but the prices are good and it might be worth it to order directly from Nuclear Blast.
| Local Beat Magazine |
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| Local Beat |
Rating: No
Local Beat loves Netscape. But there are several characters which display as empty cells in my Netscape, at least in the Arial standard font. So much for that plug. For some reason I thought the name sounded familiar, but 'local beat' is not exactly original or first. The first issue of local beat came out back in last year (seems like), and the most recent issue is copyright 1996 as well. LB has some music reviews, which do not appear to stick to any one genre or area; there's metal, alternative and uhm, retro pop. Other writings and links have many ska references (predecessor of reggae). So, rude-boys and girls, see if you like it.
| Sterilized Decay |
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| Lee Edwards |
Rating: No
Sterilized Decay is a small distro running out of England. No great graphics are to be extected here... my monitor might as well be monochrome. Everything is red, some purple and green stuff here and there, even the Java applet is red. You'll find many small bands and demo tapes for sale, if you want to listen to this kind of music, then visit the site. One of the tapes that, well, stood out, is titled "On the 7th day God created Masturbation". Go figure...
| Visceral Productions |
|---|
Rating: Uhm
By looking at what first pops up on the page you woudn't think this is a label dealing with extreme music. I thought it was another submission by some guy who was confused about the meaning of 'dark, hard and heavy music', which is what ToC is interested in. Nevertheless, you'll find some heavy bands here. A much more professional look than many label pages, with nice graphics and an organized catalogue. No on-line ordering capabilities, and probably not coming soon. A nifty Java chat section is awaiting completion, so you'll be able to talk with featured bands, whenever they announced to be online. Hmmm, the usual label fare I guess.