Written by JoHn Doe on 03.02.2022 at 13:04

I asked in the shoutbox but I'm being ignored I guess, but now I'm curious - What's Darkthrone doing in heavy/melodic metal? No one is bothered b that? If there is an album in the wrong place, it's this one.

I personally dont understand the ”melodic” tag at all and I Will request its elimination in the future as it does not make sense (even less than meloblack or melodeath).

That being said: I reviewed the band so I feel compelled to write to you. Darkthrone is in no way black metal now. In personally on the fence between heavy and thrash but at least to me black would have been way off. :p

Cheers mate!

Also, i wanna do a quick shoutout to ALL users who are writing their votes here and their opinions and just Making the thread an entertaining read. Im actually a bit moved to see people as invested in this as we were while preparing this.

So massive THANK YOU METALSTORMERS!

Written by JoHn Doe on 03.02.2022 at 13:04

I asked in the shoutbox but I'm being ignored I guess, but now I'm curious - What's Darkthrone doing in heavy/melodic metal?

Where would you put it? It's certainly not a black metal album. Unless you'd categorise Celtic Frost and similar bands as "black", I guess (but that'd be simply wrong).

Like Rod says, thrash could've worked too, yeah.

Just to be clear, we are not only valuing feedback, we are looking for it. This is a community-centric site after all. Nobody needs to defend their input as long as it's free of insults, all-caps statements and allegations of state-sponsored political agendas

Yes, feedback and questions are well-appreciated. Don't worry about being wrong. We're wrong all the time too!

Written by Netzach on 03.02.2022 at 13:19

Written by JoHn Doe on 03.02.2022 at 13:04

I asked in the shoutbox but I'm being ignored I guess, but now I'm curious - What's Darkthrone doing in heavy/melodic metal?

Where would you put it? It's certainly not a black metal album. Unless you'd categorise Celtic Frost and similar bands as "black", I guess (but that'd be simply wrong).

Well, maybe I'm a traditionalist when it comes to heavy metal, but neither of the two bands you mention there are heavy metal to me. Celtic Frost went so beyond the heavy metal boundaries, they gave birth to new genres.

To me black metal vocals still means black metal. There were a couple of bands in recent years that played speed metal with black metal vocals. They were categorized as blackened speed metal which is correct and I agree.

I don't know where Darkthrone be put in the awards (if you say black metal won't do anymore), but definitely not in heavy/melodic metal.

Thanks for answering.

Written by musclassia on 02.02.2022 at 20:28

Written by RockwiththeDoc on 02.02.2022 at 16:25

Hi guys! in the context of MS awards, do you consider the band ERRA in the math metal or metalcore category? MS' page suggest them as Metalcore but i would submit their last album in Math Metal category, in fact that sound it's more near to this genre. What do you think?

We had them down in the djent/math category, just missed the cut

Thanks!

Written by JoHn Doe on 03.02.2022 at 13:29

I don't know where Darkthrone be put in the awards (if you say black metal won't do anymore), but definitely not in heavy/melodic metal.

Thanks for answering.

It's a bit confusing maybe that the category is called "heavy/melodic" and this album is anything but melodic. It just means that both heavy metal and melodic metal (which I agree with Rod is a bit of a weird tag) both go there.
I agree it definitely isn't traditional heavy metal either, but neither is it avant-garde or progressive or doom or... well, the closest to "speed metal" would probably be thrash. We only have so many categories available, though, and sometimes albums aren't a good fit anywhere. It's a bit of a compromise.

The main thing to note is that the category is judged on an album basis, regardless of what the band might be known for playing, and at least by my definitions of black metal, there's nothing black about this album. Would thrash have been a better fit, you think?

Written by JoHn Doe on 03.02.2022 at 13:29

I don't know where Darkthrone be put in the awards (if you say black metal won't do anymore), but definitely not in heavy/melodic metal.

I suggested doom because I thought Darkthrone listened to a lot of Candlemass before doing the album, but I was in the minority. The "whatever" category that Evil Cooper suggested is something we should consider for the next Awards, it seems

Written by X-Ray Rod on 03.02.2022 at 13:19


I personally dont understand the ”melodic” tag at all

I assume the 'melodic' tag is used to make it clear why Amorphis end up in the category whenever they put an album, I think most other records that end up in there can normally be linked in some way to trad heavy

Written by Netzach on 03.02.2022 at 13:38

Written by JoHn Doe on 03.02.2022 at 13:29

I don't know where Darkthrone be put in the awards (if you say black metal won't do anymore), but definitely not in heavy/melodic metal.

Thanks for answering.

It's a bit confusing maybe that the category is called "heavy/melodic" and this album is anything but melodic. It just means that both heavy metal and melodic metal (which I agree with Rod is a bit of a weird tag) both go there.
I agree it definitely isn't traditional heavy metal either, but neither is it avant-garde or progressive or doom or... well, the closest to "speed metal" would probably be thrash. We only have so many categories available, though, and sometimes albums aren't a good fit anywhere. It's a bit of a compromise.

The main thing to note is that the category is judged on an album basis, regardless of what the band might be known for playing, and at least by my definitions of black metal, there's nothing black about this album. Would thrash have been a better fit, you think?

Thrash? A bit better probably. Isn't what they play called black'n'roll? Or they don't play that anymore either? Weren't they doing a Motorhead sound with black metal vocals at some point? Or am I confusing them with someone else?

Written by JoHn Doe on 03.02.2022 at 13:29

To me black metal vocals still means black metal. There were a couple of bands in recent years that played speed metal with black metal vocals. They were categorized as blackened speed metal which is correct and I agree.

Darkthrone generally bore me so I have no real thoughts on this specific album, but I thought I'd just make a comment on this point - certain vocal styles are predominantly connected with certain genres (growls - death, shrieks - black, screams - X-core, soaring cleans - power/heavy, so on) but a vocal style shouldn't really take precedent in determining a song/album's style over the characteristics of the music, i.e. if you released an instrumental version of an album and it would fall into genre X, it shouldn't go into genre Y/be considered an X-Y hybrid just because the vocals are associated with genre Y. If something uses blackened guitar tones/chords or drum patterns associated with black metal alongside some shrieks/croaks, then calling it 'blackened' something makes complete sense, which I think is usually the case with blackened thrash/speed albums (usually a bit more hyper tempo-wise with some blasts or blackened chord choices), but I wouldn't call something that was otherwise a Testament/Exodus album but with Attila from Mayhem on vocals a blackened thrash album.

Written by Netzach on 03.02.2022 at 13:19


Like Rod says, thrash could've worked too, yeah.

Or maybe trash metal

Written by JoHn Doe on 03.02.2022 at 13:48

Thrash? A bit better probably. Isn't what they play called black'n'roll? Or they don't play that anymore either? Weren't they doing a Motorhead sound with black metal vocals at some point? Or am I confusing them with someone else?

Nothing to do with thrash or speed. Have you listened to the album? It is largely influenced by NWOBHM as well as epic doom and features harsh vocals. As I said before, doom would be an option, and heavy isn't far off since it is very much rooted in traditional metal.

When the category awards are announced, is there a way that each category can get its own thread, so we can harass each other for our picks in each individual category?

I don't want my complaints about Trisagion not winning meloblack to get drowned out by my other complaints that Fallensun didn't win melodeath.
I'd prefer my whining to stand on its own, separately

Written by nikarg on 03.02.2022 at 14:05

Written by JoHn Doe on 03.02.2022 at 13:48

Thrash? A bit better probably. Isn't what they play called black'n'roll? Or they don't play that anymore either? Weren't they doing a Motorhead sound with black metal vocals at some point? Or am I confusing them with someone else?

Nothing to do with thrash or speed. Have you listened to the album? It is largely influenced by NWOBHM as well as epic doom and features harsh vocals. As I said before, doom would be an option, and heavy isn't far off since it is very much rooted in traditional metal.

the album in its entirety, no, I don't like the vocals.
Well, I just don't see it then, my bad.
Thanks for answering and explaining.

Written by sgtrobo on 03.02.2022 at 15:21

When the category awards are announced, is there a way that each category can get its own thread, so we can harass each other for our picks in each individual category?

I don't want my complaints about Trisagion not winning meloblack to get drowned out by my other complaints that Fallensun didn't win melodeath.
I'd prefer my whining to stand on its own, separately

There is a way. But we want you all in the same pot.

Written by RaduP on 03.02.2022 at 15:38

Written by sgtrobo on 03.02.2022 at 15:21

When the category awards are announced, is there a way that each category can get its own thread, so we can harass each other for our picks in each individual category?

I don't want my complaints about Trisagion not winning meloblack to get drowned out by my other complaints that Fallensun didn't win melodeath.
I'd prefer my whining to stand on its own, separately

There is a way. But we want you all in the same pot.

Written by sgtrobo on 03.02.2022 at 15:41

The actual reason is that, as of right now, when a year's awards are archived, they are moved to a different part of the database while we re-use the categories with their IDs for next year to make sure external links keep working.
We could attach a thread to each category but would then need a way to clean those after the awards. Then what happens to the posts, do they get deleted? Are they subtracted from a user's post count?
There would be a few more technical hurdles to overcome, but there is merit to having all discussion in one thread. Yes, it may get confusing at times, but there's also the fact that everyone in here at least theoretically reads what everybody else posts. So if they find a discussion about an album they don't even know, they might get curious and accidentally discover a whole new genre they never listened to. One they'd never look into otherwise because the thread would be hidden behind a genre name they think they're not interested in. Just to give one example.

I just now realized how weak was this year for thrash releases.
A couple of good albums but nothing spectacular

Written by Caio on 03.02.2022 at 17:16

I just now realized how weak was this year for thrash releases.
A couple of good albums but nothing spectacular

Really? I thought it was a pretty great year. Liked it more than the previous couple of years. But then again I'm also not that big on thrash metal.

What happened to Obscura's A Valediciton btw? It is in the Top 20 of 2021 where it belongs. Did everyone forget about it because it is an excellent album and a nomination at least wouldn't have been out of order.

Written by Nejde on 03.02.2022 at 18:00

What happened to Obscura's A Valediciton btw? It is in the Top 20 of 2021 where it belongs. Did everyone forget about it because it is an excellent album and a nomination at least wouldn't have been out of order.

Ex prog is pretty stacked. But also we did kinda forget about it.

Written by RaduP on 03.02.2022 at 18:03

Written by Nejde on 03.02.2022 at 18:00

What happened to Obscura's A Valediciton btw? It is in the Top 20 of 2021 where it belongs. Did everyone forget about it because it is an excellent album and a nomination at least wouldn't have been out of order.

Ex prog is pretty stacked. But also we did kinda forget about it.

Pretty stacked is an understatement. Since Colors II was my AOTY it obviously got my vote. Without it in ex prog it stil would've been almost impossible to cast a vote since you still have Hannes Grossmann, First Fragment, Stortregn, Rivers Of Nihil and Burial In The Sky in the same category.

You guys have out done yourselves again. Thanks so much for doing this.
I have to admit, I was disappointed not to see Clouds and Kauan, but I wrote them in, so there.
Man, is the Melodeath category awesome. I've been playing it for the last two days and am having trouble making up my mind. That's a good thing.
Anyways, great stuff. Cheers!

Excited to go through as many nominations as I can, currently expecting I'll have to write in Vvilderness since that was my favorite album of the ones I got to, but I missed a lot of albums this year.

Written by JoHn Doe on 03.02.2022 at 15:24

the album in its entirety, no, I don't like the vocals.

I'm with you. The vocals prevent me from listening to recent Darkthrone as much as I would like to, since I very much enjoy the music.

Written by corrupt on 03.02.2022 at 16:19

Written by sgtrobo on 03.02.2022 at 15:41

The actual reason is that, as of right now, when a year's awards are archived, they are moved to a different part of the database while we re-use the categories with their IDs for next year to make sure external links keep working.
We could attach a thread to each category but would then need a way to clean those after the awards. Then what happens to the posts, do they get deleted? Are they subtracted from a user's post count?
There would be a few more technical hurdles to overcome, but there is merit to having all discussion in one thread. Yes, it may get confusing at times, but there's also the fact that everyone in here at least theoretically reads what everybody else posts. So if they find a discussion about an album they don't even know, they might get curious and accidentally discover a whole new genre they never listened to. One they'd never look into otherwise because the thread would be hidden behind a genre name they think they're not interested in. Just to give one example.

ew, what a headache.
yeah, dont' do that. If it can't be done "cleanly" and easily, no need to worry. You guys put up with enough craziness each year with the awards as it is

Written by Rage10000 on 03.02.2022 at 22:30


Man, is the Melodeath category awesome. I've been playing it for the last two days and am having trouble making up my mind. That's a good thing.
Anyways, great stuff. Cheers!

Absolutely ludicrous category this year - a big bunch of big names all putting out quality and then the smaller bands filling up the remaining slots all nailed it too; I remember it being a bit thin by the time we got to like the 9th or 10th nominees last year, but this one had quite a few worthy albums having to miss out just due to the strength in depth

Great traffic rolls in with interesting posts.

What baffles me here is a rush to wrap up listening all nominees just to form conclusions. Someone before pointed out that too.

Dig doctor once said,

Results are assenting if you dig slowly.

I'm not done listening, still don't know what to vote for in some categories, they're tough choice.

A lot of great debuts this year, I'll have to pick one (tough choice again, even for a write-in vote ).

Disappointment category? To be disappointed, first of all you got to have some expectations (or God forbid high expectations, then the bigger the disappointment ), so I don't know what band/album disappointed me. Does it make sense?