About the MS Awards... RESULTS Edition!
| Written by: | BitterCOld |
| Published: | 11.03.2011 |
So that famous historical dude was wrong in his assessment that there are but two certain things in life, death and taxes. There are, in fact, three: death, taxes, and whining about the Metal Storm Awards results.
"Boo hoo!" you cry.
"The popular bands always win!" you claim.
Well, sure. Kinda. Looking at this year, some of the most popular bands in metal didn't win. Sure, the staff didn't actually nominate favorites like Iron Maiden or Dimmu Borgir. But even still, their write-in candidacy movements amounted to a blip on the radar.
The truth is, year after year, the awards most often go to the most popular band, regardless as to whether or not their release actually stand's up to the lesser-known competition.
And we're ok with that.
Folks have a right to vote, and it's common sense the most popular band will win.
So if you don't like it, boo-fucking-hoo. You don't have the right to dictate to others how they should feel about certain releases.
The MSA's serve multiple functions, and the winner in each field is, to a certain extent, the least of those. It's swell that some bands get a nice, shiny, (virtual) trophy to display on their (virtual) trophy shelves. The win and $5 will get them a pint of their favorite barley soda.
The reality of the situation is this? for one month of each year Metal Storm recognizes the big and the small alongside each other. The Davids and Goliaths go toe-to-toe in the same arena. And while, ultimately, Goliath will invariably slay David time and again, the Staff, through the nomination process, provide a fighting chance. It also provides the band a platform for the ever-growing multitude of Metalstormers to check them out.
It's win-win.
The small bands get recognized alongside their popular compatriots? and thus a chance to earn fans. And you, the voters, get a chance to check out a slew of new acts, and maybe discover some new bands with some awesome tunes.
Consider Mar De Grises, for example. MdG is a band from Chile, far off the typical metal map. They've released three albums, all high quality. They started small and unnoticed with their first effort garnering some praise and 20 votes in our first ever awards. Their second, Draining The Waterheart, arguably should have won, but came in second thanks to a last minute internet push, to a band who got like 125 votes the last day of shop. This time around, in a field filled with some stiff competition, they ran away with the vote. It took a while, but they won folks over. Some folks just arrived (several years) late to the party.
Truth is that virtually any popular band wins based upon a certain level of popularity gained through years of work. Whether or not their releases are the "best" of any given year is completely subjective.
So as stated above, the winners are the fans that uncover new awesome bands? and the bands that gain new, awesome fans.
That is the ultimate purpose of the Metal Storm Awards.
Bands gaining fans, and fans gaining bands.
So you can whine all you want about how horrible the results are. You can froth at the keyboard because Anal Necro Llama lost in the Donkey Rape Metal field to the more popular Shredded Whore Fetus Quesadilla. (Duh. SWFQ are just a Hot Topic band!) It's pretty amusing to most of us. We certainly don't want you to stop. It's entirely too funny and we have developed some lethal drinking games we, the staff and elites engage in at Metal Storm Towers.
I'm just putting this out there so maybe a few more of you will "get it" and understand the whole thing. Maybe you, too, once it sinks in, can grab the "Froggie Feast" (Popcorn, a bucket of chicken wings, and a six-pack of beer? I know, it doesn't sound at all French, but Collin swears by it. It's been his post-awards regimen for half a decade now) and join us in laughing at the myopic folks that take things way too seriously.
 | Written on 11.03.2011 by BitterCOld has been officially reviewing albums for MetalStorm since 2009. |
Comments
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Comments: 44
Visited by: 640 users
| Mad Mike Posts: 163  |
I couldn't agree more with this. Well said, Bitter! 
---- Did you ever notice that the people who tell you to get a life are normally people who should be dead in the first place?
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| farfaramir Posts: 128  |
Mar de Grises :')... How beautiful is to see a national band here. VIVA CHILE!!!
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15250  |
Written by farfaramir on 11.03.2011 at 02:55 Chile had another in the doom section... Procession's latest was awesome as well.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18276  |
I said it before... And I will say it again. Hopefully some people will get it as you said. It's stupid to not vote just because you know the party you will vote won't win. First of all: You never know. Second: It's about stating your opinion, givig the support to what you believe (in this case the music you like)... If you don't like to vote for the band you liked the best just because you know they won't win, well let me tell you: You don't like that band as much as you say you do... Hell, you don't even like music for that matter as it seems to be a popularity contest for you.* *Compare this to a regular political voting, if politics were about popularity and not stating what you believe in... This will be a fucked up place. Sadly, it is like that in many countríes... There are morons who don't understand what stating your opinion mean. There's NO shame in voting for the underdog... and more important: IT'S NOT USELESS.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Justicelust Posts: 213  |
I'm totally with that ultimate purpose of the Metal Storm Awards. I found many great bands, thank you Metal Storm. 
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| Kwis Posts: 133  |
Written by Justicelust on 11.03.2011 at 10:18 So true. That's always been the best part of the Metal Storm Awards. Thanks again for doing an excellent job!
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| flamey Posts: 109  |
I usually don't even vote without listening to all the bands in the category. This year for example I only voted for 2 categories I think, but who cares? I'm checking out all the nominated bands and discovering awesome stuff.
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| Sulac Posts: 242  |
So true. I know full well that I discovered a whole slew of new bands through this years awards, from Graveyard Dirt to Accept to The Foreshadowing, who is now one of my favorite artists. Heck, I sat down and listened to Enslaved for the first time because of these awards.
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| schwanderen Posts: 32 |
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| ErnilEnNaur Account deleted |
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| MétalNoir Fils du Lys Posts: 847  |
Sorry, I don't get why you MS staff work so hard making lists of nominees but allow write-in votes... In any awards, voters have to choose a nominee, not vote for some obscure shit or Maiden/Metallica/Megadeth (the only bands they actually know). I think you should delete write-in votes so Mstormers will make the effort of listening to your suggestions. If they want to bring the staff's attention to an album, they have plenty of time to do so in the MS Awards suggestions, right? I personnally listen to ALL your nominees before voting, but yes, I sometimes write-in vote for my favorite bands, even though they don't necessarily deserve the award, I just know my bands' albums better. Please, help me and my fellow Mstormers open our minds!
---- Notre destinée n'est pas encore tracée....
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| thanos shattered Posts: 28  |
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15250 |
Written by MétalNoir on 11.03.2011 at 15:54 Good question, but here's the why. 1. Popular bands make the nomination cut regularly. some don't, but a lot do. We generally don't care if the band is huge or has 7 fans, if it's good, it's good. if it gets the support, it gets in. in said cases, they're going to win. unless there is an even more popular band in the same category... 2. We are not infallible, either. I can think of some glaring omissions. Cobalt didn't make the 2009 awards because for whatever reason Gin flew under the radar for a while, and i personally didn't get a copy until January of 2010. It was an awesome album that easily would have made the Black Metal list. This year Ihsahn didn't make the list for Prog (not forgotten, just basically a vote short)... it was one of three write-ins i made this year. We miss stuff. And our opinions on what is good are not be-all/end-all. write in votes also serve the purpose of exposing bands to fans, fans to bands... and maybe even staff to bands! as for people listening to nominees, i'll finish this post quoting a famous proverb: you can lead a metalhead to water... er, new tunes, but you can't make them \m/.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| MétalNoir Fils du Lys Posts: 847 |
Written by BitterCOld on 11.03.2011 at 18:08 Mmmkay, thanks for the explanation. So, the goal of the MSA isn't to let people choose between a selection of albums decided by an elite (like, say, the Oscars), but to expose "bands to fans, fans to bands". Glad to see the staff doesn't see itself as an aristocracy 
---- Notre destinée n'est pas encore tracée....
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| qlacs "The Quaker" Posts: 1537  |
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| Salbitani Posts: 18  |
Why dont the MS staff selectcs the winner too?? it would be: Staff Awards Fan awards ?
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15250 |
Written by Salbitani on 11.03.2011 at 22:41 We do. Our awards come out a week to two after voting closes and the general winners are announced. we do this to for heightened antici..... ...pation.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| ErnilEnNaur Account deleted |
ErnilEnNaur
Account deleted Written by BitterCOld on 12.03.2011 at 01:00 But if somebody doesn't have a life, then he can check each staff member's votes and figure out who'll win before you can announce it 
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15250 |
Written by Guest on 12.03.2011 at 01:17 how? who did I vote for? eager to see if you can tell.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18276 |
Written by MétalNoir on 11.03.2011 at 20:30 Oh gorgeous day... One person udnerstood the obvious fact. I'm not messing with you... It's really good that youg ot it right compared to all the morons whos till don't get the point.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| ErnilEnNaur Account deleted |
ErnilEnNaur
Account deleted Written by BitterCOld on 12.03.2011 at 01:23 What I mean is that you can check each staff member's ratings for all the albums that came out that year in every genre. That's why only someone without a life could possibly do it. I'm sure as hell not going to waste time on that lol.
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
Written by Guest on 12.03.2011 at 01:17 Not all of the Staff or Elites vote, and not all have voted on every nominated album. Good luck to those that try making an educated guess though.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15250 |
Written by Guest on 12.03.2011 at 01:30 i honestly was eager to see how transparent i was. some are indeed obvious wtih me, some are less so.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| ErnilEnNaur Account deleted |
ErnilEnNaur
Account deleted Written by BitterCOld on 12.03.2011 at 01:40 If you want me to take a guess, I'd say that Enslaved winning the BM category is pretty much certain. But I don't need to be a genius to think so, since it's a masterpiece and everybody on MS loves it, including myself.
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15250 |
Written by Guest on 12.03.2011 at 01:45 yeah, that one was obvious. at least as far as my voting goes. most of my votes are apparent, though, with my best of list. i wouldn't advertise theme during the voting period, but won't hide them after the fact.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| Salbitani Posts: 18 |
Quote:Written by BitterCOld on 12.03.2011 at 01:00
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15250 |
Written by Salbitani on 12.03.2011 at 04:44 here you go...
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| Lit. Metalhead Account deleted |
Lit. Metalhead
Account deleted
I suppose I can agree with you. Without the Awards I probably never would have listened to Blood of the Nations and I'm actually giving that Enslaved album a try. Metal Storm is credit to life. 
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| Salbitani Posts: 18 |
Written by BitterCOld on 12.03.2011 at 05:19 Thank you
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| Axe Argonian Posts: 116  |
I have a question, though it may be off-topic. Why is there not a "Best Overall Album of the Year" award? I think that a category comprising 30 of the year's best albums would be quite interesting. I'm not sure whether you would agree, but I think that watching albums by unrelated yet popular bands like Enslaved, Mar de Grises, Accept, Dark Tranquility, etc. compete for user's votes would be quite thrilling, actually.
---- "Man does at all times only what he wills, and yet he does this necessarily. But this is because he already is what he wills." - Arthur Schopenhauer
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