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Metal Storm Awards 2008


 
It was no surprise to us that 2008 was the year of the big names: Opeth, Testament, Moonspell, AC/DC and Metallica all released new albums and they all won in their respective category without much competition at all. Out of these bands only Opeth had two big competitors, Ayreon and Enslaved, but still they took the trophy with a difference of almost 300 votes. However, the most convincing victory was for Amon Amarth's "Twilight Of The Thundergod". By winning the category with almost 60% of the votes and 500 votes more than the runner-up Scar Symmetry, they re-defined the meaning of "crushing the competition".

A few other things we noticed was that Virgin Black proved that it does help to have a loyal fan base, as they were the doomed runner-up behind Mar de Grises, but after posting a news bulletin the votes for their " Requiem - Fortissimo" album sky-rocketed and they ended up with almost twice the amount of votes. Metallica almost pulled a "Nightwish" (i.e. winning both The Biggest Letdown and The Biggest Surprise), but they had to give in to In Flames' "A Sense Of Purpose" in The Biggest Letdown category. Our guess is that they're not too sad about that.

The neck-by-neck race of '08 took place in the Sludge/Stoner Metal category, where the long-lasting tie between Ufomammut and Black Mountain was broken on the last day, in favour of the Italians of Ufomammut. '08 also brought a new treble forward, after Angtoria's success in '06's (winning the Best Atmospheric/Symphonic, Best Debut and Best Cover Song categories). This time the honour befell to the one and only Opeth, winning not only the Best Progressive Metal category, but also the Best Cover song and Best DVD categories.

Metal Storm won an award too, for Best Drama, concerning our little feud with Wikipedia. Congratulations dear readers, you have proven your own insanity as clearly, Metal Storm does not exist and neither are you actually reading this. It's all a big conspiracy, that's what we say.



The Best Alternative Metal Album



The Best Atmospheric/Symphonic Metal Album



The Best Avantgarde Metal Album



The Best Black Metal Album



The Best Death Metal Album



The Best Doom Metal Album



The Best Extreme Doom Metal Album



The Best Gothic Metal Album



The Best Grindcore Album



The Best Hard Rock Album



The Best Heavy Metal Album



The Best Melodeath/Gothenburg Metal Album



The Best Metalcore Album



The Best Pagan/Viking/Folk Metal Album



The Best Post-Metal Album



The Best Power Metal Album



The Best Progressive Metal Album



The Best Sludge/Stoner Metal Album



The Best Thrash Metal Album



The Best Cover Song

1. Opeth - Would? (Alice In Chains cover) 276
2. Firewind - Maniac (Michael Sembello cover) 94
3. Benedictum - Balls To The Wall (Accept cover) 52
4. Northern Kings - I Should Be So Lucky (Kylie Minogue cover) 50
5. Heaven Shall Burn - Black Tears (Edge Of Sanity cover) 46
6. Moonsorrow - For Whom The Bell Tolls (Metallica cover) 29
7. Debauchery - Angel Of Death (Slayer cover) 24
  Hollenthon - The Bazaar (The Tea Party cover) 24
9. Helstar - White Witch (Angel Witch cover) 12
10. Dark Tranquillity - Broken (Sentenced cover) 10
  Metallica - Remember Tomorrow (Iron Maiden cover) 10


The Best Debut Album



The Best DVD



The Best Video

1. Arkona - Slavsya Rus 369
2. Kamelot - Rule The World 190
3. Amon Amarth - Twilight Of The Thunder God 170
4. Behemoth - At The Left Hand Ov God 155
5. Moonspell - Scorpion Flower 90
6. Gojira - Vacuity 63
7. Dream Theater - Forsaken 55
8. Evergrey - Broken Wings 38
9. Hollenthon - Son Of Perdition 26
10. Dark Suns - The Chameleon Conflict 25
11. Opeth - Burden 10


The Biggest Letdown



The Biggest Surprise



The Best Drama

Not nearly as publicized as the other battles above, but every bit as mundane (only more self-referential), is the ongoing struggle between the few, the proud, the staff of Metal Storm and the uberposeurs of Wikipedia. Apparently, the vault of all human knowledge is hellbent on denying MS a page on their site, despite the fact every single scrap of information obtained since the big bang itself has an entry on their site, complete with obligatory arguments over worthless parsimonious minutiae. Despite the many reviews, bands interviewed, work with labels, work with festivals, dragons slain, and chicks bedded by MS staff, they claim we do not exist, and, ergo, do not deserve entry in their site so that valuable web space can be spent arguing theories over the eating habits of the dung beetle. Of course, if MS does not exist, and you are reading this, either you do not exist or you are clearly insane. Have fun bouncing that notion around your melon.

Results:

Metal Storm vs. Wikipedia | 173
Rhapsody of Copyright Infringement Cease Musical Activities, Slaying Dragons | 124
Enslaved Download a Sheep, Film at 11 | 105
Chinese Democracy Leakage | 97
Brain Drill, Butt Probed | 51
Glen Benton vs. Blabbermouth Youth | 37
Gorgoroth - Gaahl coming out of the closet | 36
Stratovarius - Stratovarius vs. Timo Tolkki | 19
Nightwish - Anette Olzon leaving the stage | 12