Posted by Megadeth’s Website Design History
Megadeth, one of the most prominent metal bands to ever exist, was a product of the early 80’s, but remains of large cultural significance to this day. As the band’s name would suggest, the imagery of the band was largely centered around death, which is apparent in their album covers and merchandise. Their website, created as a fan site, also fully emulates this. Graphic design and web design has come a long way, where what may have seemed photorealistic then is comedic now. However, we can still get a sense of the band’s direction back in the day. The “Wayback Machine”, a project on web.archive.org, contains a database of websites ‘captured’ at different points in time, some dating back as early as the 90’s. Megadeth’s fan website, naturally, exists in that database.
The minimalist black background www.megadeth.com from 1997 contains all the information you could ever need about the metal sensation. The website is complete with hyperlinks to take you to different sites or mailing lists. They have space devoted to tour dates, and new releases, including a song that debuted on the Mortal Kombat-Annihilation game (a game quite fitting for the band). They even have an announcement in red font for a “Ms. megadeth.com”, which sounds quite intriguing. Finally, they installed a web traffic counter, telling you what your visitor number is and labelling it as your “Fan number”. While the pictures on the website are no longer available, it contains anything a Megadeth enthusiast could need.
Since 1997, the website has undergone a massive redesign, as showcased in the Wayback Machine’s archive in 2012. The black background was replaced with satanic imagery and writing, and the top of the website features a green screen photo of the band members in front of what appear to be zombies. Instead of the linearly vertical information and content placement of the old website, the sections are separated in a more visually appealing way. The news is placed in the center and has stories as you scroll down, accompanied by links to click on the side taking you to their new album or to the tour site. The whole website screams metal and is a perfect encapsulation of everything the band has to offer.
The website www.megadeth.com is still active today, holding the legacy of the band strong as they continue to dominate the scene.