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Metal Storm Awards 2014


 
Last year we celebrated the 10th edition of the Metal Storm Awards, and earlier this year we observed the Awards' 10th anniversary with its own special competition. Now, finally, the 2014 Awards have come to a close. Countless bands and users alike have come and gone in those years, but the spirit of the Awards has remained the same; as we like to say, it's not about who wins and loses, but about discovering new bands. While this year's Awards had a smaller voter turnout than the previous couple, 2014 still had its fair share of friendly competition.

It was a good year for overturning the dynastic dominance of the Big Band Beat-Downs. Bands like Behemoth, Arch Enemy, and Opeth failed to secure not only nominations, but significant numbers of write-in votes. This was also the first year in Metal Storm Awards history without a release from Amon Amarth, Dark Tranquillity, or Be'lakor, meaning that for once the Melodeath category was open to some fresh, healthy, and legitimate competition. In other words, Insomnium swept it by an absurd margin.

Of course, no edition of the Awards is ever safe; for example, Agalloch dominated Meloblack with upwards of six (!) times more votes than the runner-up. You'll see plenty of other familiar faces as well. We also had the usual spate of poor, misguided sods - from whichever band of vagrants nominated Arch Enemy in half a dozen categories, to the gentleman who wrote in Metallica for Best Cover with their own song.

The Biggest Letdown debate turned very few heads, as is usually the case. Some would argue that "Biggest Letdown" implies at least some expectation of reasonable quality, but In Flames "won" anyway for the third time (a new record!). Somebody (we suspect Marcel) wrote in for Best Debut, "None - All new bands suck and have sucked since 1989." By an astonishing coincidence, nearly every winner this year formed after 1989, with only four exceptions. Biggest Surprise, surprisingly, went to an actual surprise (worthy in itself of Biggest Surprise in next year's Awards, perhaps). Though Behemoth's thoroughly predictable new album came in second, first place ultimately went to the wholly inexplicable Babymetal, who are, if nothing else, unexpected (you know, like a surprise).

And it just wouldn't be the Metal Storm Awards without Wintersun getting slapped with their perennial nomination for? well, something terrible. This year it was Biggest Drama, but after four successive nominations and two wins in Biggest Letdown (2013 Awards excepted), it seems that nipping at Jari's heels is a true homespun tradition.

Well, go on. We know you've been too busy devouring the results to bother reading this much outroductory text, so we won't attempt to hold your attention any longer - but we hope you enjoyed yourselves, and, most importantly, discovered a load of great, new bands.



The Best Alternative Metal Album



The Best Ambient / Drone Album



The Best Avantgarde / Experimental Metal



The Best Black Metal Album



The Best Death Metal Album



The Best Djent / Math Metal



The Best Doom Metal Album



The Best Extreme Doom Metal Album



The Best Extreme Progressive Metal Album



The Best Folk / Pagan / Viking Metal Album



The Best Gothic Metal Album



The Best Grindcore Album



The Best Hard Rock Album



The Best Hardcore / Metalcore / Deathcore



The Best Heavy / Melodic Metal Album



The Best Industrial / Cyber / Electronic Metal Album



The Best Melodeath / Extreme Power / Gothenburg Metal Album



The Best Melodic Black Metal Album



The Best Metalgaze Album



The Best Post-Metal Album



The Best Power Metal Album



The Best Progressive Metal Album



The Best Sludge / Stoner Metal Album



The Best Symphonic Metal Album



The Best Thrash Metal Album



Clandestine Cut Of The Year



The Best Cover Song

1. Opeth - Solitude (Black Sabbath cover) 26
  Edguy - Rock Me Amadeus (Falco cover) 26
3. Arch Enemy - Breaking The Law (Judas Priest cover) 22
4. Alestorm - Hangover (Taio Cruz cover) 20
5. Metallica - Ronnie Rising Medley (Rainbow cover) 17
6. Pain Of Salvation - Holy Diver (Dio cover) 16
  Body Count - Institutionalized (Suicidal Tendencies cover) 16
8. Within Temptation - Summertime Sadness (Lana Del Rey cover) 14
  DragonForce - Ring Of Fire (Johnny Cash cover) 14
10. Sabaton - For Whom The Bell Tolls (Metallica cover) 11


The Best Debut Album



The Best DVD



The Best Video

1. Sólstafir - Lágnætti 26
2. Allegaeon - 1.618 25
3. Mastodon - The Motherload 23
4. Insomnium - While We Sleep 20
5. Alestorm - Drink 18
6. Evergrey - King of Errors 13


The Biggest Letdown



The Biggest Surprise

1. Babymetal - Babymetal 26
2. Behemoth - The Satanist 20
3. Arch Enemy - War Eternal 18
4. Evergrey - Hymns For The Broken 13
  At The Gates - At War With Reality 13
6. Casualties Of Cool - Casualties Of Cool 12
7. DragonForce - Maximum Overload 11
8. Job For A Cowboy - Sun Eater 10


Drama Of The Year

1. Wintersun - More updates from Whiningsun 201
2. AC/DC, As I Lay Dying - Murder procurement 189
3. Immortal - Legal Battle In The North 83
4. Nachtmystium - Blake Judd fucks over fans 75
5. The Project Hate MCMXCIX - Lord K going full Lars 26
6. Arch Enemy - Angela Gossow Leaves Arch Enemy 12