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Heavy Metal Thunder

Heavy Metal Thunder

A map of metal for people who are new to it. Every genre here comes with a record to start on, where it came from, and who was playing — because the hard part is never finding more music, it is knowing what to put on first.

New to this? Start here

Six ways in. Pick whichever sounds like what you are in the mood for — each one goes to a genre and the one record to hear first.

None of those? All 77 genres are there too, or start from the beginning.

Or start with a place

Almost none of this was invented alone. Six rooms where a handful of bands who knew each other changed what metal sounded like.

All 78 scenes and countries, or see them on the map.

Women of Metal — they were there in 1969, and they never left. →

See the whole shape of it

Five ways to look at the lot at once. More use when you already know your way around a little.

The thirteen families

Every genre belongs to one of these. The colours are used consistently across the whole site.