Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Steel Archives
loading stats…
Greetings, all! It is virtually that point of the 12 months once more – time for our basic opinions problem!
This problem is a time-honored custom amongst our reviewers right here. Each spring and autumn, reviewers are inspired to spend every week writing and submitting as many high quality opinions as potential. The problem is targeted on virgin albums: these with no opinions up to now.
Every single day, the opinions submitted and accepted are tallied, in order that members can see how they evaluate with each other and whether or not or not, altogether, we have been capable of surpass earlier challenges’ totals. There is not any prizes or rewards besides understanding that you have given a evaluation to an album that did not beforehand have one. There’s additionally bragging rights for probably the most opinions, if that issues to you. Please learn this thread for the foundations and to debate the problem!
The problem is known as in reminiscence of our buddy Diamhea, a long-time contributor to the problem and employees member right here at Steel Archives, who sadly handed away on Could twenty first, 2018. He was the primary particular person to have ever written 100 opinions for a single problem!
The problem will begin two weeks from now at 12:00AM EST on Monday June twenty sixth and can run till 11:59PM EST on Sunday July 2nd.
Everyone seems to be welcome to take part – all it’s a must to do is submit opinions as typical throughout that week.
Trying ahead to your participation! m/
–
On March 31, 2023, a extreme storm brought about the roof to collapse on attendees at a metallic gig in Belvidere, Illinois. One man was killed, whereas one other 28 individuals had been injured, together with 5 with extreme accidents.
If you want to supply help, a GoFundMe has been arrange for the household of the person who was killed, to assist with the prices that come together with dropping a member of the family:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/fred-livingston-jr
Donation pages had been additionally created to assist with monetary reduction for severely injured attendees:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/financial-relief-for-michelle-il-roof-collapse
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-paul-rojas-after-apollo-roof-collapse
https://www.gofundme.com/f/dylans-recover-from-the-apollo
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-metal-mark-apollo-theater-roof-collapse
https://www.gofundme.com/f/daniels-recovery-apollo-roof-collapse
https://www.gofundme.com/f/financial-relief-after-roof-collapse-for-victoria
https://www.gofundme.com/f/vmq5j6-medical-and-monthly-bills
If there are further official donation pages, we’ll add them. Our ideas are with the victims, their households, and all these affected by this tragedy. The metallic group is right here for you.
–
Hey gang,
I’ve bought a pair unhealthy information. Firstly, there’s sadly no magic AI that may assist us handle the band queue. That was only a little bit of April Fools Day wishful pondering. Who is aware of, perhaps someday!
Secondly, black metallic will stay on the location.
–
There are some huge adjustments coming to the way in which we do issues right here on MA. I am positive most of you might have seen the current speedy advances in AI know-how, such because the wonderful outcomes that software program like ChatGPT and Midjourney can produce. So we have begun to suppose, may one thing comparable be used for the betterment of MA? Certainly one of our most important jobs is in fact to judge bands for inclusion on the location. This can be a very time-consuming course of, usually leaves individuals dissatisfied (each mods and submitters), and whereas we do our utmost to succeed in an neutral consensus on our selections, the human factor means that there’s all the time a level of subjectivity concerned. Wouldn’t it be potential to make use of AI know-how to develop a wholly unbiased and scientific approach of figuring out if a band is metallic?
Because it seems, sure. Sure, it’s. We have spent the final couple months coaching an AI algorithm on a whole lot and a whole lot of songs of each style and have ended up with a really stable mannequin for predicting whether or not a band is metallic or to not a excessive diploma of accuracy. Because of this within the close to future, we can consider band submissions fully objectively primarily based on sound wave evaluation and chilly laptop logic. For the second, we shall be utilizing this AI mannequin manually to double test the outcomes, however we hope to ultimately be capable to merely let submitters give a Bandcamp or Spotify hyperlink, and the automated system will do the remaining!
Now, there’s one small difficulty. Algorithms like this create their very own approach of “pondering” about issues, so to talk, and this will typically discover patterns and particulars that escape human beings. As such, one very shocking outcome about metallic subgenres got here out of our experiments. See, if we throw, say, doom metallic on the mannequin, positive, that is fantastic. Loss of life metallic? No downside. Conventional heavy metallic? After all! It is even fairly good at figuring out if the extra borderline genres are predominantly metallic or not. However… Black metallic? It was fairly a stunning discovery, but it surely does seem that when analyzed scientifically, it seems that black metallic is not truly metallic. I do know! We had been stunned, too! We even spent period of time redoing the assessments whereas tweaking the parameters and such, however the outcomes remained very constant: scientifically talking, black metallic is fake.
Now, what lets do about this? Take away all black metallic from the location? Nicely, it sounded loopy at first, however the extra we considered it… It would truly make sense. MA has all the time prided itself on its accuracy, and now that it may be scientifically confirmed {that a} good variety of bands on right here aren’t metallic, it stands to motive that they should not be right here in any respect. It is not fully unprecedented both, since there have been purges of some area of interest subgenres up to now, although on a a lot smaller scale. Ultimately, we predict that the chance to be 100% constant and goal in how we do issues trumps the inconvenience. In addition to, let’s face it, I feel deep down everyone knows that black “metallic” has all the time been the worst subgenre. This transfer also needs to lower down on at the least 70% of band-related drama on the location. Total, I feel we are able to think about this a win-win.
That is why, within the subsequent few days, we’ll start to take away BM bands from the location. This shall be a gradual effort since each band must be evaluated once more. After all, many black metallic bands additionally incorporate parts from the true metallic genres of their sound, and these shall be allowed to stay if they’re decided to be predominantly metallic. This fashion, you’ll be able to at the least relaxation assured that the higher bands within the style will keep on MA.
Thanks on your comprehension, and we hope this new know-how and classification can usher in a brand new age of enlightenment for the metallic group as an entire.
–
The tip of the 12 months is sort of upon us, which suggests it is time for the Album of the Yr ballot for 2022!
How does it work? Choose your high ten metallic albums of the 12 months; they need to be metallic, they need to be new, authentic materials, they need to be on MA, and so they need to have been launched in 2022. Put your checklist so as, with #1 being the album you favored probably the most. When you’re sure you might have your checklist, ship it to BastardHead by non-public message (pm) on the discussion board. You may have till 12:00AM EST on January 1st, 2023 to submit your checklist to him – as soon as the 12 months adjustments, the polls are closed!
You get one poll, and your account on MA should’ve been registered earlier than November thirtieth, 2022 so as to take part. Please learn the primary put up here for extra particulars on the way in which the ballot works.
The outcomes of the ballot will (ideally) be introduced on January 1st, 2023 or shortly thereafter. This information put up shall be up to date with a hyperlink to the outcomes when accessible. Within the meantime, be at liberty to debate the ballot within the thread situated here.
EDIT: Outcomes will be discovered here!
Have enjoyable, and stay up for your participation. m/
–
It is right here!
The shop focuses largely on shirts, however we even have wall artwork/prints, flags, buttons, stickers and different cool stuff, and most gadgets are pretty customizable. You may select among the many proposed gadgets on the shop homepage, or flick through the Collections or the menus to select what you need. Be sure to choose the precise dimension/colors/choices (again print or not, cloth, and so forth).
30% of proceeds go in the direction of the Eden Reforestation Projects, a non-profit that work in growing international locations to fight deforestation, poverty, and local weather change and rebuild biodiversity.
We hope you want what you see, and we thanks on your help.
&
–
20 years!
That is how lengthy this website has been round. Do you are feeling previous but? Or are you amongst these of our customers who weren’t even born then?
In early July of 2002, HellBlazer and I put this website on-line on the general public Web, however virtually nobody knew about it but. With the assistance of some buddies (and a few of their very own buddies), we went about to check the platform and began including knowledge, with the primary band web page being Amorphis, added on July seventh. Why Amorphis, we are sometimes requested? I don’t know. I used to be most likely listening to Elegy on the time or one thing. Or I appeared round and noticed an Amorphis CD mendacity round. Or perhaps not, I actually cannot keep in mind!
Then, on July 14th we purchased the metal-archives.com area title. Sure that is proper, within the earliest, pre-launch days, the location ran on a… Tripod.co.uk URL, seeing because it was one of many uncommon internet hosts that supplied free PHP/MySQL internet hosting on the time. And some days later – band addition data suggests this might be July seventeenth 2002 – one among our employees members determined to plug the location on a (sadly now defunct) public metallic discussion board, and thus opened the floodgates. The contributions got here pouring in shortly, the early “huge push” wanted in the direction of constructing what shortly grew to become the definitive heavy metallic database on the Web.
By no means would I’ve imagined, twenty years in the past, that someday we might be internet hosting a staggering ~160k bands, or that there have been even that many metallic bands in existence. HellBlazer and I are consistently awed and humbled by the wealth of data and data our group has gathered through the years, to not point out the great consideration to element and work ethic of our tireless contributors and employees members. We couldn’t have accomplished it with out you all, and we sincerely thank everybody who has contributed to this website, each in huge and small methods.
Now, the 20 12 months anniversary of Steel Archiving should be celebrated and commemorated in some methods, and we do have some plans for that, which we’ll disclose shortly. Keep tuned…
For our customers previous and new, be at liberty to share your reminiscences, anecdotes, ideas, or different feedback here or on social media.
Right here’s to, I hope, a number of extra a long time!
–
You have most likely seen that on each band web page we checklist the band’s standing. There are six choices: energetic, on maintain, split-up, unknown, modified title, and disputed. Usually, it is our coverage {that a} band is listed as “energetic” except confirmed in any other case (i.e. there’s an official assertion from the band saying that they are taking a break (thus, on maintain), have modified their title (self-explanatory), or have determined to name it quits (and due to this fact split-up)). The “unknown” standing is a placeholder, supposed solely for use when there hasn’t been exercise from a band – even within the type of gigs and communication with followers – for a very long time. The “disputed” standing is for particular instances involving band members claiming possession of a band and deciding to take it in several instructions – suppose Batushka or English Canine.
When a band member dies, as long as there are different band members, and it isn’t only a solo venture, don’t change the band’s standing from “energetic”. Wait till the band has made a press release about their plans earlier than doing so. Simply because a band member has died – even the frontman of the band – it doesn’t essentially imply the band is straight away over. The remaining band members might select to maintain taking part in, or take a break, or give up, however give them time to grieve and determine that out first. Typically a press release might by no means be given, however context is necessary, and we’ll have a greater sense of the band’s standing at a later cut-off date.
That is additionally true for different circumstances which may impression the lives of band members. Simply because a band member could also be charged with a criminal offense and/or is incarcerated doesn’t essentially imply the band is mechanically “on maintain” or “split-up”. The identical is true if everybody however one particular person leaves a band; the band may stay energetic, you do not know except the band says in any other case.
In any case, tl;dr: ideally, wait till the band makes a press release on its standing earlier than altering its standing on MA.
Thanks. m/
–
You understand, yearly I feel no one shall be fooled by the joke, and but… A few of you all the time present some amusement. No, we’re not likely eliminating genres, that might be actually foolish. Joyful April Fools.
–
If you have not been residing beneath a rock for the previous week, you most likely already heard concerning the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces.
In these darkish occasions, please think about donating to assist with the scenario over there. Each little bit may also help!
–