Eh not even gonna look. My goal is accomplished: Found a lot of good music.

Written by A Real Mönkey on 01.03.2023 at 00:12

Eh not even gonna look. My goal is accomplished: Found a lot of good music.

At the end of the day, that is the main purpose of the results: otherwise I'd be a bit less happy with Blood Incantation's fairly anonymous ambient effort absolutely sweeping the Ambient category.

I'm sure no one outside of the MSA crew cares, but out of 282 nominated albums across the 28 categories, only 9 failed to achieve the necessary 10 votes to be archived for subsequent years, which is a good effort for us; the fact that I directly messaged 8 of 9 of them and none of them promoted on their social media tells me that none of them really care anyway.

The big win of these awards is a 100% deserved winner of Clandestine Cuts: that Euphrosyne EP is outstanding, and I'm chuffed that it received the recognition it deserved. Other than that, kudos to BlackBraid in beating recognized names to the meloblack title

Definitely a lacklustre year. Hoping for a better 2023.

The famous bands won in all categories, as usual.

Winners were predictable for sure, but yes it was great discovering all the new music, already looking forward to next year's edition!

For me disappointements in Amorphis winning a category were they didn't belong (although there was no competition there anyway except Vermilia which wasn't nominated), and the Halo Effect which according to me is very far from being the best Melodeath album in 2022. Also a bit sad to see In Aphelion sweep the best debut, can you really call an album made by dudes in the games since 1990 a debut.. ?

Besides those minor points, I'll second the fact that we had great nomitations all around again and I got my anual 8-10 amazing new albums that I never heard of and are now going to stick with me for years. Thanks guys

Best new bands for me are: Defacing God, Path Of Might, Final Light, Origin Of Escape

Written by JoHn Doe on 01.03.2023 at 07:51

The famous bands won in all categories, as usual.

Yeah. Kreator winning by so much is kinda funny to me. It was a pretty weak album by them

Written by Ball Fondlers on 01.03.2023 at 09:32

Written by JoHn Doe on 01.03.2023 at 07:51

The famous bands won in all categories, as usual.

Yeah. Kreator winning by so much is kinda funny to me. It was a pretty weak album by them

I expected some of the big names to win their categories, but not Ghost.

Fav bands I found or stumbled on in 2022 Absent In Body, Fleshwater, Candy, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, MNRVA, Panzerfaust, Brace,

Who's minds were in the gutter about my injury?

Sleestak last?

Who the hell was voting in that category?

Anyhoo, dull year. Dull metal.

Written by Liafev on 01.03.2023 at 09:01

Also a bit sad to see In Aphelion sweep the best debut, can you really call an album made by dudes in the games since 1990 a debut.. ?

I feel the same way. I guess a debut is a debut, but I shake my head when I come across bands like Corpsegrinder in that category

"This was the first edition of the MSAs since 2015 - and only the second time in Metal Storm history - that we had a year without a studio album from the Melodeath Mafia (DarkInsOmniumGatherAmon'akor), "

OBJECTION!
Amon Amarth did release an album, even though it was met with lackluster reception.
Therefore, your highness, this statement is invalid.

Pleasantly surprised to see White Ward win over Cult of Luna, and with such a difference too.

Written by NastyHero on 01.03.2023 at 15:57

OBJECTION!
Amon Amarth did release an album, even though it was met with lackluster reception.
Therefore, your highness, this statement is invalid.

Later in that same paragraph...

"Okay, strictly speaking, there was an Amon Amarth album last year, and you will find it among the winners of the 2022 Metal Storm Awards... but not in the categories where nice people dare to tread. We won't count it for Melodeath purposes."

The big bands did win. Always interesting seeing top spots from albums I couldn't make it through. And it's funny seeing best album art look like it was made by AI. Come on people.

Written by Ball Fondlers on 01.03.2023 at 09:32

Written by JoHn Doe on 01.03.2023 at 07:51

The famous bands won in all categories, as usual.

Yeah. Kreator winning by so much is kinda funny to me. It was a pretty weak album by them

Goddamnit I agree 100% with u. I already knew they would win when they were in the contenders.
Similar thing with Megadeth The system has failed winning with Exoduses Tempo of the damned in 2004

I forgot to vote...

Checking all the nominees was insanely fun, looking at the results- not so much.

Written by anxiety on 02.03.2023 at 07:34

Checking all the nominees was insanely fun, looking at the results- not so much.

one cannot please everyone

Surprises (to me at least):

Imperial Triumphant not winning avantgarde and losing by that much to Sigh.
Blackbraid crushing melodic black against such tough competition, even though it was well deserved.
How 12 people thought that Brutus (BEL) goes in hardcore/metalcore/deathcore and not post-metal.
White Ward obliterating Cult Of Luna in post-metal. Didn't see that one coming. Biggest surprise this year imo.
Most positive surprise is Celeste winning sludge even if the competition was fairly "easy" compared to other categories.
An Abstract Illusion winning best cover art. I could name at least 50 other album covers of last year that outshines Woe.

Expected winners (to most I assume):

Zeal & Ardor (deserved)
Gaerea (very well deserved, one of the best albums of last year)
Immolation
Meshuggah (most expected win with Amorphis and Septicflesh)
Shape Of Despair
Amorphis (most expected win with Septicflesh and Meshuggah)
Sakis Tolis (not a bad album but really disappointing win when at least half of the other nominees were better)
Ghost (I really like Ghost but Impera was such an underwhelming album and shouldn't even been nominated, but would probably still have won by write-in votes)
Rammstein (same comment as Ghost)
Disillusion
Septicflesh (most expected win with Meshuggah and Amorphis)
Kreator (obviously winning based on old merits)

Personal disappointments:

Allegaeon not winning extreme progressive. It was my AOTY.
Cult Of Luna not winning post-metal even though White Ward also released a very good album indeed.
Hoaxed and Frayle not being nominated in hard rock and doom respectively.
All the big dragons winning their respective category even though I voted for Meshuggah.

Conclusion:

I had seven winners among my votes in the main categories (Meshuggah, Zeal & Ardor, Celeste, Kardashev, The Halo Effect, Gaerea and Lorna Shore). Two write-in votes (Hoaxed and Frayle). Also had Euphrosyne in CC.

Most categories ended precisely as expected like every year which is disappointing as always but 2022 was still a fairly good year with many excellent releases through all genres and many great discoveries both through and outside of the MS Awards.

Finally a big THANK YOU to the staff for the time and effort of putting the awards together for our enjoyment. It is deeply appreciated. Cheers!

Was glad to see Messa get that win. I was not exactly surprised, given the buzz around Close, but so many metalheads have allergic reactions to buzz that I thought it could flip on them. Probably helped, though, that they were up against Avatarium, which would draw more fire from the potential haters.

Fantastic album, though, Close.

Black should have gone to DSO. That‘s all I have to say.

I feel that 2022 was a very weak year for metal in general. I was also noticing the fact that it's been like 6 years since we don't have a new release in the top 200 here. Makes me wonder if metal fans are not easily impressed anymore or if the quality really dropped in the last years.

Bloodywood should've won alternative. Damn you all.

Written by corrupt on 02.03.2023 at 23:08

Black should have gone to DSO. That‘s all I have to say.

Nah.

I think in due course of time with and without MS , i have been elevated to be a good critic of Heavy Metal music coz this is the first time after I started voting here, just 1 match with results...lol....😆😆😆
I am loving this and now i am sure that I know my music.

For me Gaerea "Mirage" is death metal.Vocals, arrangements - all sounds like death metal. It should NOT be in BM category at all!

I miss many good BM bands in the MS chart which released their good albums in 2022: Pestilent Hex, Pure Wrath...

I care less about who wins than the amount of really good playlists I get to create with the nominees. Found some real gems.

Written by AndyMetalFreak on 01.03.2023 at 09:39

Written by Ball Fondlers on 01.03.2023 at 09:32

Written by JoHn Doe on 01.03.2023 at 07:51

The famous bands won in all categories, as usual.

Yeah. Kreator winning by so much is kinda funny to me. It was a pretty weak album by them

I expected some of the big names to win their categories, but not Ghost.

Ghost was a no brainer for me in that category. Great band, great songs, great album.

They were also the only category in which I picked out the winner

So happy to find a few good bands. Very good. I'm not really interested in the big names, but in reaching new discoveries and new horizons. I think this is the magic of metal. No limits. Always exploring.