Metal Archives lyrics source in MB plugins

[sveakul]

Hi, I thought I'd make a new topic for this to keep from cluttering up the LyricsReloaded thread.

Those who have read the latest in LR are aware that the search script for Metal Archives built-in to the LR DLL has been broken for a while due to changes made at their website.  Plugin coder slonopot was able to supply a modified version of the LR DLL that allowed access again with a new separate YML file.  However, soon after a "captcha" authorization puzzle was added by the site that defeated access by the plugin.

As can be seen in the last few posts over at the LR thread I have been in touch with a coder for an authorized API allowing search access, whose work was also stopped by the captcha with no explanation from the Metal Archives webmaster.

Anyway the "latest" is that I checked the Metallum site with the Firefox browser just now and found that the captcha has been removed/deactivated.  Why and for how long is anybody's guess.

The site will now respond to lyrics searches made by the MB LyricsReloaded plugin, IF:

1.  The modified version of mb_LyricsReloaded.dll as supplied by Slonopot is used, in place of the current 1.27 "stock" version by Mayibongwe:

https://mega.nz/file/HUh0SAja#OxRSTjddoX77Ny4EABRUtyl080IEaT1pRHWvMPwh4Xo

2.  A specific YML text file for the site is added to the LR "providers" folder:

Code

name: Metal Archives Test
loader: search

variables:
    artist:
        type: artist
        filters:
        - [regex, '\s([\[\(].*?[\)\]])*$', '']
    title:
        type: title
        filters:
        - [regex, '\s([\[\(].*?[\)\]])*$', '']

config:
    identity url: "https://www.metal-archives.com/search/ajax-advanced/searching/songs?songTitle={title}&bandName={artist}"
    identity pattern: ['\[.*?"(<.*?>)*\s*({artist})\s*([\[\(].*?[\)\]])*(<.*?>)*".*?"(<.*?>)*\s*(?<album>.*?)\s*(<.*?>)*".*?"(<.*?>)*\s*(?<type>.*?)\s*(<.*?>)*".*?"(<.*?>)*\s*({title})\s*([\[\(].*?[\)\]])*(<.*?>)*".*?"(lyricsLink_(?<identity>.*?)\\".*?)?".*?\]', 'is']
    lyrics url: "https://www.metal-archives.com/release/ajax-view-lyrics/id/"
    lyrics pattern: ['(?<lyrics>.*)', 's']
    
post-filters:
- strip_html
- utf8_encode
- entity_decode
- clean_spaces
- trim

As mentioned before, this may all get sunk again a week from now or before I finish this post if the captcha comes back.  For now, you know what I know.  The script above does not require an album name be present, so it will work with radio stream metadata.

[hiccup]

Thanks for this.
Out of curiosity: How much better is (additionally) using Metal Archives for lyrics compared to let's say Genius?
Is it better for obscure releases, or does it perhaps have lyrics for new releases earlier?

[sveakul]

Thanks for this.
Out of curiosity: How much better is (additionally) using Metal Archives for lyrics compared to let's say Genius?
Is it better for obscure releases, or does it perhaps have lyrics for new releases earlier?

Well for lyrics over many genres, nothing beats Genius (IMO).  Over the years it has improved so much that only with 2 or 3 other sources  you pretty much got it covered.  I list it first and the few times the searcher has to move on it's normally to Song Lyrics, Bandcamp, or LRCLIB.  Of course, the results are prejudiced by the type of music I listen to, and possibly because most of it is from radio streams.

It's often difficult to get a useful read on how often one source becomes a subset of another, due to the order in which they are listed in LyricsReloaded.  I've been listing Metal Archives first over Genius in searching just so I get a heads-up of when it seems "up" or "down."  You could say I sort of have a "fetish" for Metal Archives, due to the extremely obscure stuff it occasionally pulls--"The 3rd and the Mortal" was one example (and yes, now Genius has them too!).  It had a lot more exclusive coverage earlier before others like Genius and LRCLIB grew and grew, but I still start with it just for my own curiousity when I find I'm listening to something extremely esoteric and want to "Search next" to see how others compare.

[sveakul]

No captcha and still performing normally in LyricsReloaded with the caveats posted earlier (mod DLL and new YML)

[hiccup]

Just some Friday night spur-of-the-moment thought:

There are 'invested' users such as you and me that aren't afraid of diving into details, and there are users that just want 'things to work'.
Perhaps there should be a separate topic that simply (and only) describes what plugins and settings to use to get optimal results for retrieving lyrics?

Since circumstances are changing frequently, it will need to be maintained and updated by forum members that care about the matter and are in for the longer run.
And it would require a larger set of testing songs that are diverse and frequently updated with new releases.

A good idea? Probably.
Feasible? Probably not.