Explanation

Each of the graphs represents a snapshot of the data of the Metal Archives taken at an early point in a year.

Why is there no graph for every year? Well, because yours truly has forgotten to query the data at that point in time.

What is the difference between the "To 2024" and "From 2024" template? Beginning with the 2025 the data used for the aggregation of the graphs is provided no longer as single values per genre and year, but now on the level of the country. This means that an aggregation over year/genre/country had to be done.

Is the data accurate? No. The data for the graphs is on the level of the bands. This means should a band have the genres "black/death", then any of its releases would be summed under the genres "black" as well as "death".

But should the genre then not be on the level of the releases? No, this is a can of worms you want to open.

Why is there a drop-off towards the end? Is the metal scene dying? No. This is something we had discussed back in 2010 when I did these graphs the first time. The sharp drop-off at the end will gradually fill in over the next few years as more data is added to the archives.

What are the Landmarks? Landmarks are notable events (e.g. a seminal album release or a key moment in a genre's history) shown as vertical dashed lines on the chart. After selecting a genre, the Landmarks panel lists the events available for that genre — each one can be toggled on or off individually. Hovering over a landmark line on the chart reveals its label.