# Metal-Archives Scraper - Metal Band Database (`lulzasaur/metalarchives-scraper`) Actor

Scrape band data from Metal-Archives.com (Encyclopaedia Metallum). Search or browse 170K+ metal bands with genres, themes, discographies, review scores, and band details.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/lulzasaur/metalarchives-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [lulz bot](https://apify.com/lulzasaur) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce
- **Stats:** 8 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $10.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Metal-Archives Scraper (Encyclopaedia Metallum)

Scrape band data from [Metal-Archives.com](https://www.metal-archives.com/) (Encyclopaedia Metallum) — the world's largest encyclopaedia of metal music with 170,000+ bands.

### Features

- **Search by band name** — find any band with fuzzy matching
- **Browse by letter** — alphabetically browse the entire database (A-Z, NBR for numbers)
- **Full band details** — country, location, genre, lyrical themes, status, years active, current label
- **Complete discographies** — every release with type (Full-length, EP, Demo, Single, etc.), year, review count, and average review score
- **Pagination support** — handles large result sets automatically
- **PPE monetization** — pay-per-event billing for each result

### Output Example

```json
{
    "name": "Metallica",
    "bandId": "125",
    "country": "United States",
    "location": "Los Angeles/San Francisco, California",
    "genre": "Thrash Metal (early); Hard Rock (mid); Heavy/Thrash Metal (later)",
    "themes": "Introspection, Anger, Corruption, Deceit, Death, Life, Metal, Literature, Films",
    "status": "Active",
    "formedIn": "1981",
    "yearsActive": "1981-present",
    "currentLabel": "Blackened Recordings",
    "photoUrl": "https://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/2/5/125_photo.jpg",
    "logoUrl": "https://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/2/5/125_logo.png",
    "discography": [
        {
            "name": "Kill 'Em All",
            "type": "Full-length",
            "year": "1983",
            "reviewCount": 44,
            "reviewScore": 88,
            "url": "https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Metallica/Kill_%27Em_All/538"
        },
        {
            "name": "Master of Puppets",
            "type": "Full-length",
            "year": "1986",
            "reviewCount": 44,
            "reviewScore": 81,
            "url": "https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Metallica/Master_of_Puppets/547"
        }
    ],
    "albumCount": 58,
    "url": "https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Metallica/125",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-04-25T12:00:00.000Z"
}
```

### Input Parameters

| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|-----------|------|---------|-------------|
| `searchQuery` | string | | Band name to search for (e.g. "Metallica", "Iron Maiden") |
| `browseLetter` | string | | Browse bands by first letter (A-Z, NBR for numbers). Used when searchQuery is empty. |
| `maxResults` | integer | 50 | Maximum number of bands to return (1-5000) |
| `includeDiscography` | boolean | true | Fetch full discography for each band |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | | Optional proxy configuration |

### Usage

#### Search for a specific band

```json
{
    "searchQuery": "Metallica",
    "maxResults": 5
}
```

#### Browse all bands starting with "D"

```json
{
    "browseLetter": "D",
    "maxResults": 100
}
```

#### Quick search without discography (faster)

```json
{
    "searchQuery": "Death",
    "maxResults": 20,
    "includeDiscography": false
}
```

### Rate Limiting

The scraper is configured to be respectful to Metal-Archives servers:

- Maximum 3 concurrent requests
- Maximum 20 requests per minute
- 1.2 second delay between paginated AJAX calls
- Proper User-Agent header

### Cost

This actor uses Pay-Per-Event pricing. You are charged per band result returned to the dataset.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):

Band name to search for (e.g. "Metallica", "Iron Maiden", "Opeth"). Leave empty to browse by letter instead.

## `browseLetter` (type: `string`):

Browse bands alphabetically by first letter (A-Z, NBR for numbers, ~). Only used when Search Query is empty.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of bands to scrape (1-5000). Each band requires a detail page fetch plus a discography fetch.

## `includeDiscography` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch full discography for each band (album names, types, years, review scores). Doubles the number of requests.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Optional proxy configuration for requests

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchQuery": "Metallica",
  "maxResults": 50,
  "includeDiscography": true
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "searchQuery": "Metallica",
    "browseLetter": ""
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("lulzasaur/metalarchives-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "searchQuery": "Metallica",
    "browseLetter": "",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("lulzasaur/metalarchives-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "searchQuery": "Metallica",
  "browseLetter": ""
}' |
apify call lulzasaur/metalarchives-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,lulzasaur/metalarchives-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/glYeIk4d9ufHauPfS/builds/jUhqw3GmEhQIogc4H/openapi.json