It was actually several full seconds before the votes started flooding in. You folks must be losing your edge. Ya still know how to punch us right in the kidneys with your complete indifference to the effort we put in, though - we need to have a serious talk about that Black Metal category. This is how democracy dies. Next year's Awards will simply be a list of albums that we tell you are superior to whatever you like. Heck, we would've taken write-in votes for Marduk or Behemoth; it's ironic to think that the 21st most popular band on this site of thousands would have constituted an interesting upset, but apparently in 2019 we're still playing this game. This is payback because we didn't nominate Shylmagoghnar in Melodeath, isn't it? Just remember: whatever band wins, it wasn't the one that deserved it.

Newsflash for the rube who wrote in Kanye & Lil Pump's I Love It for every category: you're wrong, but we respect you more than the guy who wrote in Machine Head for Alternative. Another interesting approach was writing in Shining (NOR)'s Animal for Best Djent/Math Album. If that's math, then Ghost is knot polynomials. The best Best Symphonic write-in was for, and we quote, "- - -." Yeah; us, too, pal. If'n'y'all had consulted each other and formally designated one category in which to nominate Dimmu Borgir, they likely could have snatched victory, or at least some significant ranking, but that was not to be. If we're talking about a lack of coordination among write-ins, though, we'll have to hop over to the Best DVD category, where we had seven different variations on Devin Townsend's Ocean Machine release. This one is admittedly tricky since our all-encompassing profile is under the name "Devin Townsend" and this was a Devin Townsend Project release, but we won't take all the blame. One voter gave up and stuck to "DT - Ocean Machine," which suffices, we guess. Opeth came in second with five variations. It ain't that hard to check the database for the proper title (just saying).

Elsewhere, in Biggest Surprise, we found this entry: "Snuck into the staff room at Metal Storm Towers - I saw... things. Things that haunt me". You probably just saw Radu and Che giggling over a Twin Peaks meme. Could've been worse. Now let's get back to that Melodeath category for a minute. So we didn't have anything to say about Shylmagoghnar, and that might have been a mistake, BUT there were still plenty of top-tier underdogs to choose from, BUT that's nothing compared to the awesome might (read: name recognition) of At The Gates and Omnium Gatherum, BUT things were actually still pretty tense, because those two were neck-and-neck for a good while there. Might not be any consolation to equally deserving candidates like The Crown and Deceased, whose only crime is the lack of Facebook likes, but it made for great television. Machine Head, on the other hand, absolutely slaughtered the competition... in the one category where you really don't want to do that. Speaking of slaughtering - in the Heavy/Melodic category, Judas Priest pulled in ten times as many votes as the next-highest draw... and they came in second. That kind of imbalance always crops up in the MSAs, but it seemed to be an important theme this year.

Of course, as much as we like to joke, we start and end each Metal Storm Awards season by reminding our readership - and ourselves - that the purpose of these Awards is not to determine objectively who is the best and who sucks; it's not to rank the 2018 metal crop definitively; it's not merely to pick a winner. We put these together to allow us all the chance to explore some cool releases from the previous year. This is for fun and for research and maybe for challenging yourself a bit, and if you got something out of this experience, then it doesn't matter who won or lost. And, in any case, the Staff Picks article will be up soon with the REAL results. Have yourself a look around, maybe jot down some names you didn't get around to or that stood out... and then start working on this year's harvest.

And, of course, don't forget to tell us what you thought of the whole ordeal here.