Downloading metal

Just some tips for those not in the loop, here are some different methods for finding obscure and rare metal.
First of all, you should be using Metal-Archives.com (as well as wikipedia from time to time) for band information. If you don't use MA, then you're a fool and I pity you.

--Digital--
Blogspots: Just open google, type in the name of the band followed by the album followed by blogspot
example: Burzum Aske blogspot
This will lead you to many fellow metalheads hosting music on their blogspots. This is essential for finding hard to find albums. You may want to use quotation marks for better results if you aren't finding anything (thanks captain obvious). The files are usually hosted by either Rapidshare, Megaupload, or Mediafire. You can also type in the name of the band and album followed by any of those, but beware some rar or zip files have passwords on them, and you may have to find the original blog that uploaded it.

I prefer Mediafire, you can download multiple files at a time without waiting. Megaupload is pretty great too, and rapidshare depends on how many people are using it. There are many others, but these are the hosts you will encounter most of the time. Filestube and sites like it have lots of spam and bullshit, but if you know what you're doing they can be quite helpful.

Torrents: There are many private torrent sites, these are the best, they ensure you won't get a virus, but may not have what you are looking for. It's best to search for a variety of torrent sites, but of course if it's a rare or obscure torrent, there won't be too many people to download from. Good private sites include: What.cd, Demonoid.com (is this still private?). As for regular torrent sites, I'd recommend btjunkie.org. I'm sure Guy knows many other good sites, he torrents like a motherfucker. As for the torrent program, I highly recommend utorrent (or microtorrent as it should be called)

P2P (Kazaa, Napster etc.): I used to be a big fan of p2p till I discovered torrenting, and then blogspotting. You might be able to find what you're looking for, but like torrenting, if only 1 guy has the file, it'll be a real bitch to get a hold of. I wouldn't really know what programs are good (if any) I leave that for someone else to figure out.

Online stores: Nowadays, thanks to the interwebs, you can buy music online, on sites like iTunes, Rhapsody, etc. In my opinion, buying audio files is for chumps. Either pirate it or buy a hard copy, but if somehow one of these sites has some rare music you like that you can't find anywhere else (14 Bis), I say go for it.

Copying your friends metal collection: If you're like me, then you have friends with 500GB external hard drives maxed out with metal (and porn). This is by far the best way of getting music. Imagine the tape trading scene within the black metal circle in Norway, only with external hard drives, now thats a beautiful thought. Nowadays, your digital music collection is more important than your actual albums, but don't be a chump and pirate everything, support your favorite artists and build yourself a metal collection to be proud of.

--Hard Copies--
Ebay: I find most of my stuff on ebay, although I'm sure the rest of the team knows of some good trading sites. Or you could check out our collections/wanted lists.

more coming soon.
-Captain Obvious