Has there been a verdict for Soulfly?

Stop asking, damn. You're afraid Max will stop sending you money to get his band here?

I haven't been pestering this time, geeze. I've brought up the topic once (12 days ago), and asked about an update once (which was a week ago).

So I take it no verdict yet?

Probably. It sucks, but it's metal.

Took the words out of my mouth. I was about to ask him this exact question a while back.

My band 'Rest': http://rest6911.bandcamp.com/ was recently submitted to the Metal Archives, and we have all the requirements, including a physical release (though extremely limited and self released) and, while we are grindcore, I've noticed that you accept groove metal bands as well, and we are heavily influenced by groove metal bands. I think you should appeal your decision, or, if you have the time, get more in depth as to how we are 'not a metal band'. If we aren't a metal band, what are we? We aren't mallcore, we aren't pop. Please shed light onto this subject and tell us exactly how we can get accepted onto this site.

Thanks,
Alex Cossette-Deck.

I assume the moderators would say - You just said you are grindcore, as far as grindcore the rules are clear. Groove metal has its place but then again grindcore isnt groove metal.

"Grindcore (and all its variants; noise, crust, etc) with little to zero metal influence (ex: Anal Cunt, Libido Airbag)" - Unless its death metal influenced like Carcass, which according to your few tracks doesnt really reflect that.

I feel that many bands out there want to have the privilege of seeing their name in MA but lack the understanding that this site is more about metal music rather than heavy music.

okay, but how many other mods need to admit this before the band will finally be added? Or is it really just 1 single admin on here that is blocking the road? If it's only because there's one mod in charge of giving a 'GO' and still is unwilling to give permission for the creation of Soulfly's MA page (because of some mysterious grudge he might be having against Max Cavalera), then i guess democracy has let us down..

I think it's pretty sad.. MA might aswell go delete the pages from Sepultura, Machine Head, Lamb Of God, Chimaira, Pantera, Anthrax, Metallica, etc.. If they want to be consistent.. (Because that's what they are trying to do, right ???)

I'm sure when the moderators make a decision, no matter how long it takes, they'll at least have the courtesy to announce it here in this thread.

Don't see why it would be a 'no' for Soulfly since Enslaved is metal from start to finish.

MA is not a democracy though, the final decision is up to the administrators, and it's two people - Hellblazer and Morrigan. They own this site. This is more or less their private property and all of the other members are guests.

There's a bit more to it than that, Goatfangs.

When it comes to issues like this one, admittedly we can be a bit Entish - but that`s a necessary thing. Ultimately, this is one of those cases that ought to require a fair bit of consensus among the mods, and certainly the founders, before going ahead with a decision. Give us time. The longer we`re able to discuss, the more solid and firm the outcome.

Don`t decry us for wanting to discuss this, and not be too hasty; good, lasting decisions don`t come with haste.

I tried submitting Aaron Turners new band, Split Cranium. It's heavy as fuck, but was rejected because I didn't tag it as 'metal'. Do you guys even listen to the bands before approving/rejecting them?

Give this a listen, and tell me it doesn't deserve to be in here: http://splitcranium.bandcamp.com/

This isn't hardcore punk archives or heavy music archives.

Dude, if you tag a band as hardcore punk, there's no need to listen to it. Thank you for your honesty, I appreciate it, but if even the submitter doesn't consider a band metal, I'd say there's something wrong with the submission's fundamental logic. And no, tagging it as metal would not yield a different result, it's the music that counts; this is the Metal Archives.

I would let it go there, but concidering the fact that you have bands like Dark Sanctuary (Darkwave/Neoclassical), Vàli (Neofolk) and so on, you obviously stretch "metal" very far. Notice that none of them are tagged 'metal' either.

I love that kind of music, but it's about as metal as Madonna. I'm not saying you should remove them, I'm just asking you, please, to be as open minded towards any submission as you were when you approved artists like that.

It's a controversial rule, but it's been there for as long as I remember.

The band Werian (Germany) was rejected for being described as drone/ambient, and the Mod asked for samples...
www.myspace.com/Werian

Well, I guess it's a borderline decision, if it could be classified as black/doom or drone.
So if you feel like not including the band, fine with me, otherwise tell me to resubmit.
Cheers!

I saw the lack for samples and that what I read could be described as drone/ambient.
I've listened to it. You may re-submit.

Hmm... Born of Osiris is not in metallum anymore. Sad, but, oh well...

Hails, I added a band called Uptight Bastard from Greece, but it got rejected because it is not a metal band.
So please check this: http://www.4shared.com/file/uB5IFm-a/up ... _-_st.html

I do not think they are not a metal band!
Thanks

Sounds way more punk than metal. I agree with the rejection.

That made me laugh! Ok thanks for the answer

Hi guys, trying to add Desolate Winds from the uk but it is stopping me, it is coming upp as 'blacklisted'. Debut ep has just been released on cd through Lone Vigil Recordings.

I as well am trying to add a band, they're called Angel Grave and they're from Indiana, US. Got the "they've been blacklisted" popup. Tried searching, and unless I'm doing something completely wrong search-wise, there are no posts about them. They just released their EP yesterday. Thanks!

"Proof of Metal" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLN_sGY4rZc , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvCMb5VhI0I
"Physical Proof" -

I think the mods would tell you that its not a physical proof, if you burn a few songs on a blank CD and write on top Angel Grave doesn't make it a release. A physical proof is an album that is white on the inside and has artwork on the other that was printed in a printing shop not a crappy hp printer at home. Be prepared to get a really big denied message for your submission.

@Yahko - While I'm not entirely sure about how strict the moderators are concerning the interpretation of the rules outlined in the thread's OP, or any of those things you mentioned, the rules state


While I'll admit it's not the highest quality of packaging etc, it is a recording in a solid format, and I've seen bands with much shoddier (granted, that's subjective, but yeah) packaging, so this should get through. Of course, I'm not exactly a respected member here so I might get shat on by the mods, but meh. Guess we'll find out.

What? It's not true that a band must have a professionally printed CD to get on the website. Sure, with a CD-r it can be a bit harder to prove physical distribution to the public, but once that's out of the way, a CD-r with a markered title in an album with a photocopied cover is no less valid than something that was professionally printed... not to mention that it better embodies metal's DIY attitude.

Nobody's asking you to have a professionally replicated and printed CD to get on this site, mate. But there've been times when people have tried fooling us with shoddily labelled CDrs with no packaging or album art whatsoever, so in cases like those, it's worthy of suspicion on our part to press users for further proof.


That has absolutely nothing to do with evaluating proof of physical release. While there's a common illusion that more "well-known" contributors are judged more leniently than newer members, the truth is that the "well-known" members have submitted enough bands enough times to know the routine, so they know what the moderators are expecting to see in a submission. They need to supply the same evidence that every other member does - photographs, links to a distro marking the release as available, links to posts or blog entries by bands announcing the release, pages to Facebook events for album launch parties (usually showing comments by fans asking how much for a copy of their CD), etc...


That's... actually a complete load of crap. Bands can burn a bunch of CDs and distribute them at gigs without any ornamentations and that can still qualify... so long as the submitter proves that they WERE distributed (typically by showing a link to an event that mentions the CD's distribution, as explained above).

Soen is a progressive metal band which features members of Death and Opeth. It is clear that is "metal enough" to be accepted and I don't know why have been rejected...? It has physical proof, official band website and so on... Why have been rejected? and I would like to quote the same argument regarding band Engel from sweden.

That's refreshing to know; the reason I mentioned that in my post was because I've been to numerous forums in my day and many are disproportionately cruel to new people. Thanks!

Soen is on the progressive rock side of the spectrum. Their acceptability/rejection has already been discussed among the staff. Engel were deleted again in 2010 for being "too alternative and nu-metal based".

I guess I'm wrong here and I take my words back because I assume that a release should look more official. I wonder if a band can burn a few songs on an cd-r take a photo of some landscape and Photoshop your bands logo and make it look like a legit release, make a Facebook page and announce a release date, 10 friends would comment how cool is it and that they are going to buy the CD at a St Patrick's Party at some pub/club.

MA would consider this as a legit release ? It looks like quite an easy way to release a CD which technically cant not be verified, you can convince a few friends to post on your Facebook page...... and as far as I know MA do not accept iTunes releases which to me look as official.

Frankly, if people put in that much effort just to get accepted into MA, then that is just sad.

But in reality we do not function as automatons. It's never as simple as to judging a band by its "cover," or by judging all bands based on the same evidence. If your evidence seems flaky at best, then we will request better evidence. The same is true for proving metalness, and for reviewing bands that have somehow fallen through the cracks and gotten accepted into MA. It's the great thing about having a fluid, flexible online encyclopedia where nothing is written in stone, and all bands can be judged and judged again at any time.

I've heard the excuse that it's easy to fake a physical release. I've heard it from other mods, also, and some chagrin at the idea of legitimately accepting projects which put such little effort in the release of their works. At times, it even irks me on a personal level. But MA was never about being a judge on presentation, but being a judge on music and (in our case) on the permanence of that music (which for us, has been the reliance on the physical, tangible medium). Don't get me wrong, some individuals have actually faked info, and have been successful temporarily in their pursuit to get onto MA, but that really is pathetic behaviour.

The band PRIMITIVE (Venezuela) was rejected because it didn't had proof of physical release....

http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Primitive/3540344089

Here is a link with a picture of the physical release:

http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Primitive/3540344089

If you need another proof, please let me know.

Did you mean to include the same link twice? Because you just linked to the same page...

EDIT: Nevermind, I just saw the link to the photograph in the submission notes.

My submission of INNER CONFLICT got rejected. The mods ask me to provide some song samples if possible.
Honestly: I can't. It's a demotape from 1992. I don't have one of those clever machines that play directly into my PC so I can digitalize tapes. At least not yet. All I can do is scan the whole inlay and upload it, and take pictures of the cassette and case and inlay.
Would that be acceptable? Because if not, I won't spend my time on that, but rather wait until I have one of them clever machines, you know?
Cheers!

Is there any reference to this band in a fanzine (even a scan of a tiny blurb would be good) or something like that anywhere? I see (from the deletion log) that the musicians were in other bands, perhaps these musicians were interviewed at some point and refer to their old demo band?

I don't really doubt that it's metal. The band also looks real enough -from the cover scan already provided, e.g.- but I just wanted to try to get some actual music. I understand your situation. You can scan the whole thing like you said and also do what Morrigan suggested if possible. Any additional information helps. After that it should be okay to resubmit.

I interviewed Christoph Dobberstein for my own fanzine back in 1996, but that was already for Under Black Clouds and not for its predecessor band, Inner Conflict. Anyway, I'll try to find more proof, but that will be hard. Complete cover scans and photos are no problem. Thanks for the quick replies!

Returning to Dir en Grey, their first releases are most alternative rock, but since Withering to Death and The Marrow of a Bone they have been shifting to a more "metal enough" sound, and Dum Spiro Spero is a complete "metal enough" album, give it a listen. This case of evolution is the same that occurred with Soulfly in their last albums.

I have been asked to provide song samples for the submission of Maléfices (Can). Can the responsible person send me a PM with his email, and I will gladly do so. Thanks.

Otherwise is there another way to fix this? My submission was first rejected because there was no proof of a physical release. Then, I sent link (www.productionsheretiques.com) where the release is clearly available, and then I am asked to send song samples....