# TheMetalNet

> An interactive map of heavy metal, where genres are galaxies, bands are solar systems and every record has its own address.

TheMetalNet is a free, explorable map of heavy metal built from MusicBrainz and Metal Archives data. Browse more than a hundred metal genres and sub-genres, follow bands through shared members and influences, read discographies and line-ups, and see where every scene sits on the world map.

## What this site is

TheMetalNet is a reference catalog of heavy metal presented as an explorable 3D map. Genres are nebulas, bands are solar systems, and albums and musicians orbit the band they belong to. Every band, album, musician, genre, country and city in the catalog also has a plain, permanent URL that works without the 3D view.

Catalog data comes from MusicBrainz (bands, releases, line-ups, areas) and Metal Archives (status, lyrical themes, recommendations). Band biographies are Wikipedia text under CC BY-SA, attributed on each page. Genre and sub-genre descriptions are written for this site.

## URL patterns

Every entity has both an HTML page and a Markdown version at the same address with `.md` appended.

| Entity | URL | Markdown |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Band | `https://themetalnet.com/band/{slug}` | `https://themetalnet.com/band/{slug}.md` |
| Album | `https://themetalnet.com/album/{musicbrainz-release-group-mbid}` | append `.md` |
| Musician | `https://themetalnet.com/musician/{slug}` | append `.md` |
| Genre or sub-genre | `https://themetalnet.com/genre/{slug}` | append `.md` |
| Country | `https://themetalnet.com/country/{iso-3166-1-alpha-2}` | append `.md` |
| City | `https://themetalnet.com/country/{code}/{city}` | append `.md` |

Genre slugs are unique across both levels of the taxonomy, so `/genre/black-metal` resolves whether the name is a macro genre or a sub-genre.

## Citing this site

Cite the canonical HTML URL, not the `.md` twin. Band, album and musician facts are attributed to MusicBrainz and Metal Archives; genre descriptions and the map itself are TheMetalNet's own work.

## Catalog size

| Entity | Count |
| --- | --- |
| Bands | 33,544 |
| Releases | 112,818 |
| Musicians | 25,432 |
| Genres and sub-genres | 86 |
| Countries represented | 155 |

## Site index

- [Home and full 3D map](https://themetalnet.com/): the interactive universe, all genres at once.
- [Sitemap index](https://themetalnet.com/sitemap.xml): every band, album, musician, genre, country and city page.
- [Support](https://themetalnet.com/support): how to report a wrong record or a missing band.
- [Contribute](https://themetalnet.com/contribute): how the project is funded.
- [Terms of Service](https://themetalnet.com/terms)
- [Privacy Policy](https://themetalnet.com/privacy)
- [Full catalog summary](https://themetalnet.com/llms-full.txt): the whole genre taxonomy with band counts, plus the most prominent bands in the catalog.