I used to contribute to this site called Ultimate Metal Reviews ('UMR') which was a very popular metal website back in the late 90s and early 00s; its popularity declined in recent years as the dude who ran the site semi-retired from writing reviews and updating the web site. I saw that the site is now making a come back but it will be slow and gradual.

In any case, here is a collection of articles I wrote for the web site about 10 years ago:

The return of tharsh:
http://www.metal-reviews.com/tgos/042303.htm

Immortal (the band) essay:
http://www.metal-reviews.com/tgos/070803.htm

Opeth concert review (this is just around the time the band was becoming known outside their traditional metal-based crowd):
http://www.metal-reviews.com/tgos/cr062503.htm

As a side note: I was very young then and not very experienced with my writing; my knowledge of metal was also more limited than it is now. At the time I had only been into metal for less than 10 years, with most of my knowledge drawn from the mid-late 90s onwards from when I started listening to more European metal bands and more underground bands.

Thanks for sharing. It certainly is a main event when a metal band reaches our shores... unfortunately my job and my location makes going to shows an even rarer event!