Metal Archives Graphs

Explore global metal music production through interactive data visualizations

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Note: This site is not affiliated with the Metal Archives · Data visualization by oneyoudontknow  ·  oneyoudontknow@posteo.net

Review Analysis
v2.2

Reviews by Genre

Review volume, ratings, and share over time per genre family — Black Metal, Death Metal, Doom, and 11 more
v2.2

Reviews by Region

Review volume and average ratings over time broken down by world region — compare Northern Europe, Africa, the Middle East and more
v2.2

Review Analysis

Canon formation, rating distributions, reviewer behaviour — 135,551 Metal Archives reviews analysed
v2.2

Country Explorer

Select a region, then toggle individual countries — compare review volume and ratings per country over time
Genre Analysis
v2.1

Genres & Years (2024→)

Analyze genre trends from 2024 onwards — hover tooltips show count & share of all genres; landmark annotations mark key releases
v2.1

Genres & Years (→2024)

Historical genre evolution from 1964 to 2024 — hover tooltips show count & share of all genres; landmark annotations mark key releases

Genre Leaders

Discover which countries dominate each genre — per capita and absolute rankings

Country Genre Evolution

Watch how genres evolved within individual countries over time
Geographic Analysis

Regional Analysis

Explore metal production across 15 global regions — from Scandinavia to Southeast Asia

Region vs Region

Head-to-head regional comparisons — contrast metal cultures across the globe

Region vs Country

Compare individual countries against their regional context

Country Comparisons

Direct country vs country matchups — compare any two nations' metal output

Genre Per Capita

Compare genre production per million people — reveal which nations punch above their weight
Continental Rankings

Continent Comparison

Compare genre production across continents — per capita and total output

Continent Leaders

Top producing countries within each continent ranked by output

 80s 90s 00s

Decade Snapshots

Time travel through metal history — see how scenes looked each decade

Multi-Country Compare

Compare up to 6 countries simultaneously — flexible multi-way analysis
Project Info

Todo

  • Rest API Implementation to retrieve population data from the UN database.
  • Separate the current repository into three different ones: backend, population, frontend.
  • Documentation... the bane of every developer.
  • Polish the current backend processes. Still a bit clunky and fickle.
  • Mobile testing & refinements.
  • Migration to TypeScript?
  • More genres
  • Expand landmark coverage to remaining genres: Gothic, NWoBHM, Progressive, Black/Death, Sludge, Stoner, Groove, Metalcore.

Changelog

June 2026

Review Analysis section (v2.2)

  • New dataset: 135,551 Metal Archives reviews spanning 2002–2026.
  • Canon Formation — bubble chart correlating album release year against review year, revealing which eras the community keeps returning to.
  • Rating Distribution — stacked bar showing the shift in rating patterns year by year, with a separate 100% band.
  • Reviewer Buckets — mean rating and histogram per experience tier (Casual through Elite), decomposing grade inflation by reviewer cohort.
  • Reviews by Genre — review volume, average ratings, and share over time across 14 genre families (Black, Death, Thrash, Doom, and more).
  • Reviews by Region — review activity and ratings broken down across 12 world regions, with proportional share view.
  • Country Explorer — drill into any region and compare individual countries side by side.
  • Releases vs Reviews — correlates cumulative review attention per album vintage against annual reviewing activity.
April 2026

Genre chart improvements (v2.1)

  • Hover tooltips on genre charts now show the raw count plus its percentage share across all genres.
  • Landmark annotation system: key album releases marked as dashed amber vertical lines, selectable per-genre via a new sidebar panel.
  • Event listener are now better implemented. Less button clicking needed.
24th February 2026

Release of new version

  • New version online.
January 2026 - February 2026

Major UI overhaul

  • New dark theme design with metal aesthetic with the help of AI (Claude Code)
  • Custom SVG icons for all visualization cards
  • Improved responsive layout
  • Theme persistence across sessions
May 2025 - December 2025

Data & visualization updates

  • Redone the entire backend and aggregation of all datasets
  • Started with some initial and small data presentations
May 2025

New dataset received

  • Retrieved a new and improved dataset from Hellblazer.
  • new content has the data divided over years and countries.