A Field Guide to Heavy Metal

Search 40 bands, 9 album reviews, 4 news stories and 4 contributors.

The field guide

Written by people who were there

Every field note is written by someone who knows the music first-hand: fanzine editors, tape traders, players, promoters. Each family has a lead writer, and every band entry carries its author’s name.

What contributors write

Four ways into the guide

Field notes

A few sentences on why a band matters, shown on its field card. The heart of the guide: short, sharp and signed.

Album reviews

A record, a score out of five and a verdict, on the band’s page. Readers can agree or disagree.

Legacy essays

The long read on what a band left behind: who they influenced, what changed, how they’re remembered.

Lead writers

Each family has a lead writer who looks after its field marks and decides which bands belong in it.

Join the team

Know a scene inside out?

We’re always looking for writers who lived it: the people who ran the fanzines, traded the tapes, played the clubs or simply never stopped listening. You don’t need to be a professional writer, just someone who knows what they’re talking about.

  1. Apply Tell us who you are, the families you know and a band you’d love to write about.
  2. Get your link We send you a private link to send in your writing. No account needed.
  3. Write A field note, an album review or a new band. We read it, tidy it with you and publish it.
  4. Get your byline Your name and photo on everything you write, and a contributor page listing it all.

Write for the guide

Apply to become a contributor. It takes five minutes.

Apply to write

Suggest a band

Missing someone who belongs on the tree? Tell us who, and why.

Argue with us

Think a line of descent is wrong, or a band is in the wrong family? Make your case.

Get in touch

Press, photos, corrections, or anything else.