The Metal Temple: Online Heavy Metal Dealers


Unfortunately, for many Metal fans in the U.S., the days of CD stores having large and extensive Metal sections are long gone. While mainstream Metal albums from artists like Metallica, Megadeth, and Judas Priest are widely available, this not the case for underground releases. For most fans of Gothic, Power, Thrash, Progressive, Death, and Doom Metal the best sources are on the World Wide Web. There are many Online CD Dealers on the Web, but they are not all equal in service or pricing. The following recommended dealers, with the exceptions of eBay and Amazon, have been chosen based on several criteria including: Selection, Prices, Shipping Charges, Customer Service, and Reliability.



-CD Universe is a great online store, and there are several good reasons to use them: -A huge selection of CD's from all categories of music, games, movies, and more. This is the one stop shop for CD's. -Their Prices are very competitive, and they frequently put CD's on sale. -They cap their shipping cost at five items. Regardless of the amount bought over four there is no additional shipping. -They ship fast when all items are in stock. If an item is backordered the "Ship Together" option eliminates any charges for items that may be shipped separately. -Adding to, deleting from, combining, or canceling orders can be easily done online before final processing. -No hassle returns on unopened items or faulty opened items. -They have a breakage guarantee on CD cases that may be broken in shipment. Cases are replaced free with no shipping. -Lots of sound bites to preview. -A rating system that allows buyers to review and submit comments on CD's. -A Wish List linked to your e-mail address, which friends and family can view for gift giving, and gift certificates.

-The End is favorite of many Metal fans because: -They have absolutely NO SHIPPING CHARGES for orders sent via First Class/Priority mail within the U.S. -They have a huge catalog of exclusively Metal titles. The catalog can be searched, browsed, or viewed by genre. -Sound bites. -An easy return policy. -A PayPal payment option. -Gift certificates.

-Century Media is an international Metal label that has many bands signed. -Their catalog contains a wide variety of Metal genres, including many artists from other labels. -Their shipping rates are low, and orders over $100 are shipped free.

-The Laser's Edge is run by Ken Golden, and specializes in Progressive Metal. They have bands signed to their in-house labels: The Laser's Edge and Sensory. -They have a large catalog of albums from artists not signed to their labels, which is very strong in relatively unknown Progressive Metal bands. -Ken posts a description of the CDs he sells. If it's bad (in his opinion) he says it's bad. If Ken says it's good it's probably worth checking out -If looking for something new or unusual the Laser's Edge may be your best bet.

-Exploding Ned's is, in his own words, "...one guy, at it for over 18 years, working my ass off every day." -Ned charges only $1.00 for shipping for orders under $50 in the U.S., and orders over $50 are shipped free. -If an order is placed before 4pm EST Ned will ship it that same day. -Exploding Ned's has a wide selection in several genres.

Ebay, while not a Metal dealer per say, has both advantages and disadvantages. Both will be listed here. However, although eBay is included on this list The Metal Temple DOES NOT endorse any individual Seller. Advantages: -Ebay is an excellent source to find rare and Out Of Print albums, often at low "used" prices. -Current releases can be found for less than other outlet prices in auctions. -Many Sellers are based outside of the U.S.A. Therefore, many of the albums listed are exclusive to a Seller's country. This affords the U.S. buyer to obtain domestically unreleased albums, or foreign released versions with bonus tracks for a fraction of the cost of Imports. Disadvantages: -Rare or Out Of Print CD's in high demand may be outrageously priced. -Auctions require time and attention, and a prized find may be lost to a higher bidder in the last few seconds. -Sometimes a fevered auction will result in a higher price than may be available elsewhere. Especially when rare albums are involved -Shipping costs are frequently very high for a single item, often offsetting or exceeding the savings of buying elsewhere. Shipping costs for additional items are usually more reasonable. It is best to buy in bulk from a single Seller, thereby diluting the initial shipping charge. -Shipping from foreign countries, especially Eastern Europe or Russia, takes a long time. It is not unusual for an order to take 4 to 6 weeks to arrive. This may lead to some concerns about lost shipments or even fraud. That being said, I have never had an order fail to arrive...eventually. -Returns are not convenient. They may not be accepted at all, or require the Buyer to pay return postage. Maybe to even Moscow or Minsk! Read all terms of listings carefully before buying or bidding. Ebay is a transient community, and a seemingly well established Seller may simply vanish from the site. Summary: -Although the listed disadvantages of using eBay seem to be many they are non-issues 99% of the time. If one is a serious collector and/or a patient buyer the deals on eBay are often hard to beat. -Be sure to read all details on auctions and listings. Pay attention to the Seller's feedback. Any Negative feedback should be reviewed, as it is often unjustified. -Also remember to include the shipping for the entire order in the overall price. And don't get caught up in the excitement of an auction and overbid an item thereby negating any savings.

-Amazon has a fair number of Metal selections, but good deals are not usually found here. However, the Amazon Marketplace where individual sellers list their items has some good deals. -When search results are displayed check the "New & Used" links for Marketplace listings.