Metal Storm (webzine)
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Type of site
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Music webzine, database, reviews, community |
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| Owner | Ivan Suslin |
| Created by | Ivan Suslin |
| Website | metalstorm.net |
| Alexa rank |
 68,028 (April 2014[update]) |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | September, 2000 |
| Current status | Active |
Metal Storm (also known as MetalStorm.net, MetalStorm.ee, MetalStorm.eu or just MS) is a webzine specializing in various forms of heavy metal music. It is based in Tallinn, Estonia but caters to an international audience, symbolically recognized by the acquisition of an EU domain in 2008. As of June 2013, the website hosts 7,812 band profiles, 7,800 reviews, 553 interviews and 16,753 news items.
Metal Storm users can register for free and create a custom profile based on their specific preferences. The comprehensive profile format allows for users to display detailed information about their musical taste, activity on the site, and other miscellaneous information, including up to three photos. "Community Points" are awarded to users for contributing forum reports, band info, lyrics, news, events, reviews, and articles, with the number awarded depending on the value of the contribution. Users may also add albums to their "Collection," an interactive list of albums acquired, of which statistics can be graphically visualized in the form of pie charts broken down by style and country. These lists, along with the favorite bands and ratings categories, are analyzed to compare users and match those with similar musical tastes in the "Neighbours" area of the Collection tab.
Metal Storm has a forum available to all registered members. The forum is divided into many categories, including sections for discussing specific metal styles, non-metal music, general discussion and community-related topics. All comments for publications on the site are also incorporated into the forum for the purpose of convenience. The forums are moderated for spam and illegal content such as pornography and copyright infringement but are otherwise uncensored. This has caused issues with a number of posters including at least one staff member engaging in both racist and misogynistic comments, including Islamophobia.
In each member's Collection section, they have the option of making the album part of their regular collection, their wishlist or part of their tradelist. Members can then browse other member's tradelists and privately negotiate the trade of albums. Metal Storm states that the trading of albums is to be done at the member's own risk and that the site won't be responsible for any outcomes.
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