The Top 40 Metal Bands Infuriatingly Not Listed on Metal-Archives.com
Ah, Metal Archives: at times an invaluable resource, at others Exhibit A of metal’s infuriatingly elitist gatekeeping culture.
I regularly refer to Metal Archives as a reference for MetalSucks articles, usually for specific information about a band’s discography or membership timeline. Almost as often, I find myself frustrated and baffled at the criteria the site’s moderators use to determine which bands gain entry to be listed among the THOUSANDS of metal bands there and which do not, as if they alone get to determine which bands are METAL and which are FALSE.
At times, those inclusions are hypocritical, born of a decision made long ago they feel compelled to stick to. Suicide Silence aren’t listed, but Whitechapel are. Born of Osiris aren’t included, but Veil of Maya are. Mötley Crüe pass the TRUE test but Ratt do not. What are the determining factors that make those bands so different from each other?
While in some cases the snubs make at least some sense — critics have long rejected Poison as pop, not metal, and everyone hates Limp Bizkit — it often seems ludicrous that certain bands have been purposely omitted, especially in light of their later output, as with Between the Buried and Me or Fit For an Autopsy. Some obscure band from Connecticut called Slipknot are listed, while the Slipknot we all know and love are not. And so on and so forth. It’s nonsensical!
Certain sub-genres perennially deemed non-metal by elitists see a number of bands omitted. Anything that leans too hardcore is an automatic disqualification, whether early metalcore bands like Converge or newer acts such as Knocked Loose, Vein and Turnstile. Hardcore pioneers Discharge, strangely, get the nod. Hair metal gets the snub, for the most part. Nu-metal and djent are presumably too mainstream for inclusion. Anything — anything at all! — in the death or black metal realms, meanwhile, gets a pass.
We realize the irony that complaining about Metal Archives listings only serves to give more authority to those listings. That’s not lost on us. That said, this is the internet, and the internet is for arguing! We’re not even fans of many of the band’s we’re including here.
With that, we present our list of the top metal bands that are not listed on the site:
- Slipknot
- Korn
- System of a Down
- Deftones
- Limp Bizkit
- Stuck Mojo
- Coal Chamber
- Converge
- Every Time I Die
- Parkway Drive
- Between the Buried and Me
- The Dillinger Escape Plan
- Evergreen Terrace
- Cave In
- Periphery
- Animals as Leaders
- Northlane
- Suicide Silence
- Fit For An Autopsy
- Born of Osiris
- Coheed & Cambria
- Issues
- Chon
- Polyphia
- Russian Circles
- Cloudkicker
- Knocked Loose
- Vein
- Turnstile
- Rosetta
- We Came as Romans
- Bring Me the Horizon
- Asking Alexandria
- A Day to Remember
- Cinderella
- Poison
- Ratt
- Babymetal
- Magrudergrind
- Kvelertak
Did we miss any? Chime in with your suggestions in the comments.
