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Map Of Metal is a totally addictive and endlessly entertaining interactive website, designed by Metal Historian Nick Grant and Graphic Designer Patrick Galbraith. The site traces Metal music all the way through from its 1960s beginnings to its latter-day mutation into crazily specific genres (Black Ambient, Mathcore, Crust Punk, Swedish Death Metal, etc ad infinitum). The artists featured are as diverse as Black Sabbath, Queen, Slayer, Lamb of God and Cannibal Corpse. Different genres of music not usually associated with metal – Punk Rock, Grunge and Post Rock – but with ties to the genre are also represented. The Map of Metal is available to order in various poster sizes (and would surely make an amazing gift), but the online version includes hundreds of sound files and doubles as a heavy-metal radio station. It takes a few minutes on the site to orient yourself and get used to how the interactive functions work, but it’s best to get started by clicking on the “Navigation Map” thumbnail in the upper right hand corner of the page. Then just drag your cursor all over the place, from sub-genre to sub-genre, as you explore the Origins of Head Banging in all its brutal glory. Valhalla, I am coming.

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