All began in April 2002, when two students of Chernivtsi Gymnasium N1 — Scorpio and Death (later known in the portal's life as Nebel) — decided to create a list of metal bands. On May 1st, 2002, the first version of the site appeared online under the name The MetalList Website. The site was updated several times but went quiet that summer due to low traffic.

Scorpio never abandoned the idea of reviving the project. After entering Chernivtsi National University, he met Kashey. Then in February 2003, letters arrived from Andres Kullaste (BESTIA, Nightmare Metal Page) and Andrew Gorbol (NOCTURNAL DOMINIUM) — proof that people were actually visiting. On March 15th, 2003, Scorpio and Kashey launched a new version — a full-fledged webzine with a band database and links section. A month later the project got a new name — The MetalList Portal, a new design, and clear roles: Kashey as editor-in-chief of the webzine, Scorpio as webmaster and project coordinator.

May 1st, 2003 marked the launch of the updated version — exactly one year after The MetalList Website first went online. Banner exchanges began, first promo packages arrived for review. A partnership was established with the French resource Heavy-Metalinks.com. On December 7th the portal moved to its permanent address — www.themetallist.com — and the team began expanding rapidly: translators, editors and writers from different cities joined, along with musicians Andrey Ind (GRENOUER) and Konstantin Zmievskiy (TESSARACT). Deals were struck with major CIS metal labels — CD-Maximum and Soyuz — and the portal became an info partner for concerts in Ukraine and russia.

Over the years the editorial team spread across Chernivtsi, Kyiv and Moscow. Correspondents regularly attended shows and festivals — from the annual Metalhead's Mission in Crimea to Wacken Open Air in Germany. The MetalList logo appeared on concert posters, and the portal became a notable player on the Eastern European metal scene.

In May 2006, to celebrate the portal's third anniversary, The MetalList team organized its own concert — TML Fest. On May 2nd, 2006, in Chernivtsi, a live show took place featuring TUMULUS, KURGAN, REVOLT, and BASTION OF DARKNESS.

But in 2007–2008, most of the team finished university and dived into professional and personal life. The steady flow of content dried up. For a while the site was kept alive by Alan from Moscow — posting event posters, coordinating correspondents, publishing photo reports. The last live report appeared in 2014. After that — almost twelve years of silence.

Those years also brought technical problems: some content was lost due to absent backups. The site continued to exist as static pages while dynamic sections, including the forum, stopped functioning.

The idea of a full relaunch never left Scorpio. As early as 2007, a new design concept emerged — black fingerprints, white background, blood splatter. Together with Alan and Fawkes they kept a shared document with a vision for the portal's future. But plans remained plans.

Until early 2026. Scorpio finally got to work — armed with new technologies, he revived the portal. The 2007 design concept formed the foundation. A key decision was made: drop the Russian-language version and switch to Ukrainian and English. Social media accounts and a YouTube channel were launched. All the old content was migrated, proofread and translated. The long-planned "This Day in Metal History" section was implemented. The band catalogue was updated with cross-references. The upcoming releases section returned — so readers always know what's coming out soon.

The first interview of the relaunched portal was a conversation with Ukrainian band 1914 — signed to Napalm Records, fresh off a new album and heading into a major European tour.

The updated portal launched on March 20th, 2026. Scorpio is currently the sole editor and author of all content.

And the story continues...