Best Sites for Metal Music Reviews
What are your favorite review sites? It doesn't have to be a review site only for metal, as long as metal reviews are also well established there.
This is the most important site, I guess. Very broad range of bands, very good description, and most accurate genre categorization, and of course, many reviews.
The site is very well arranged, and if you do not find a review on another site, you'll most likely find it here. It's free for everyone to review here, so you can read a great variety of different opinions.
Just two flaws in my opinion. One is the rating system, because a "75%" doesn't tell you much. The second is the strict policy of bands that are allowed. For me, it doesn't matter that much because I mostly listen to Death Metal, but Metalcore/Deathcore fans will be disappointed.
("Strict policy" also applies to the reviews themselves, since track-by-track reviews are forbidden, but that's rather positive, I believe.)
Not as good as Metal Archives in my opinion, but the rating system is better! The reviews are usually well-written and give a good overview of the album!
This elitism thing may get in their way a bit sometimes. But make no mistake, their reviews are top-notch and always a pleasure to read.
Quality reviews for a broad spectrum of bands.
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I really like this site. Reviews are nicely written and the rating system gives you a good idea of what the numbers stand for.
Visit WebsiteA site going for - as their credo - metal, rock, and folk. But the site leans towards metal more than most. It covers old as well as new metal in all its splendor.
Pretty snazzy and often downright excellent reviews, mostly on metal but also on some rock and folk. The site covers EPs and the odd video here and there, too.
Well, it's not focused on metal but on all types of music. What makes this site so good is the clear design with its neatly arranged parts. You get a nice overview of the records, and the rating system is very accurate.
A "7/10" could mean anything, but a "3.5/5 great" actually gives you an idea. It's free for everyone to write a review, and it's also free for every user to vote (you don't have to write a review in order to vote).
Overall, it's more interesting to read through the opinions and lists on this site. Metal Archives reviewers tend to be very elitist. Some of the Metal Archives reviews are inconsistent and don't even make sense. For example, one guy criticized Chimaira's self-titled album for not being "nearly heavy or brutal enough for my tastes," but then he gave a Judas Priest album a 100%.
The IMDb of metal. Being true to its roots while acknowledging genres of metal not considered tr00cvlt.
I like the Top 10 lists on Loudwire, but they don't feature much about the less popular bands.
I especially like the very intelligent reviews by Rustyn Rose, who also works for Metal Nation Radio. Their polls are not very reliable because everybody can vote, including visitors - it's something like TheTopTens, with similar flaws. For example, I am pretty sure that people who run the site don't think Babymetal is the best metal band, but I saw something like that on their site.
It's one of the best sites on the web. Good reviews, a nice design, and accurate info.
The site's purpose is something different, but I found some neat reviews there.
Album and concert reviews, great photos, and many interviews. The site is run by an American residing in Finland.
This site champions melodic metal, mostly prog and power metal, but not only. Reviews are written very professionally.
TheTopTens is a countdown-based website founded and created in 2005 which consists of user-generated content. Visitors can vote, comment, like other comments, and view user-created remixes. Registered users can use the additional features of the site - such as creating lists, remixes, posts, messaging,... read more It may not be a site completely intended to make metal reviews, but the blog posts feature allowed it to happen! All we need is to have more diverse contributors!