Februaries are always a highlight of the year for me for this exact event.

Pope Gregory XIII, the most metal of all Popes.

Good time to discover stuff i missed

The drama one has me conflicted. On one hand, Wintersun probably deserves the award. On the other hand, Wintersun deserve nothing til they actually release Time 2. Or any 40+ minutes of new music.

So many great candidates, yet I must lament the fact that Vitriolic Sage didn't make the cut. Easily one of the best black metal albums in recent times for me. Ah well, at least Ciemra, the rest of my top 10 (Warcrab, King Gizzard, Terminalist, Sulphur Aeon, Altari, Kadaverficker, Fires In The Distance—ok, understandably no Necrovation EP), Venus, and even Green Yeti got in!

I haven‘t looked at the lists yet, just enjoyed the introductory writing. … Feels like Christmas, when you stand before a pile of unopened presents almost as high as the tree. Not that I ever did, but this is how it would be.
Now let‘s see what is in the boxes…

I won't do my blow-by-blow of every single category like I've done the past couple of years, but overall vibes for the categories this year:

Like in the previous couple of years, Extreme Progressive and Meloblack were the most competitive to get into; both categories are stacked, and the likes of Lunar Chamber, The Zenith Passage and Gorod, and Uada, Panopticon and ...And Oceans respectively missed out on each of them. Melodeath is once again very strong after an iffy year last year; in contrast, this is probably the weakest year since 2019 for Death and Post-metal (I'd normally be annoyed that an album as bland as the new Obituary got nominated, but there's nothing really glaring that it took the place of). Djent, Stoner, Black, Prog and surprisingly Thrash are all very strong; Power isn't quite as great as last year. Symphonic is comfortably the weakest, although we did just about manage to find 10 respectable albums to feature in it.

On the whole, I think we've done a great job of assembling the best 2023 had to offer! A few albums I'm sad didn't make it (Bloody Cumshot, Calligram, Blindfolded And Led To The Woods, Panopticon, Remission), but by and large the albums I thought were strongest in each category ended up in thee final nominations.

Power was noticeably weaker in 2023. I can probably only name 2 albums I enjoyed. Meloblack was particularly difficult because of many consistent in quality releases, and prog would've been difficult if it weren't for Nospūn. I agree symphonic was probably the weakest - outside of one album.

Time to discover some gems again, thanks MS

I voted in the categories with the easy choice vote.
I'll do some listening, hopefully discover something good, as it's happened in the years before.

Unreal that Dying Fetus wasn’t nominated… I was under the impression that their newest was beloved. Maybe just me?

Was a little disappointed Silent Planet didn’t get nominated for Metalcore, Dozer didn’t get in Stoner, and Helga wasn’t nominated for Folk but the rest of my favorites got in!

Written by zach_buddie on 01.02.2024 at 12:33

Unreal that Dying Fetus wasn’t nominated… I was under the impression that their newest was beloved. Maybe just me?

The whole list of nominees in the death metal category is just some kind of a joke

Written by Shmelevod on 01.02.2024 at 15:33

The whole list of nominees in the death metal category is just some kind of a joke

We try to nominate the ones that are actually good, not the ones that are just popular and well known. And there's always the possibility to write-in your vote if you're unhappy with our nominations.

Written by M C Vice on 01.02.2024 at 07:15

The drama one has me conflicted. On one hand, Wintersun probably deserves the award. On the other hand, Wintersun deserve nothing til they actually release Time 2. Or any 40+ minutes of new music.

But let's just give it to them anyway because this is where we are at this point with Wintersun.

Written by SamuelYK on 01.02.2024 at 09:42

Time to discover some gems again, thanks MS

If you haven't discovered them already, I highly recommend Clandestine Cut Of The Year category. Some very good EPs released in 2023: Avgrunder - The Fallen One, Grimsever - Grimsever, Inherit The Curse - Condemnation and Carathis - The Moonstone Temple.

Written by Vellichor on 01.02.2024 at 13:33

Helga wasn’t nominated for Folk but the rest of my favorites got in!

Can't speak for the other two more than I don't think anyone bar one or two people rated them much compared to the competition, but for Helga, it's just not a metal album - obviously tons of albums have ended up nominated despite featuring one or two non-metal tracks over the years, but only 4 out of 10 songs on Wrapped In Mist could be considered metal, it's not really enough to consider it a Folk Metal record. It's unfortunate, as it's certainly more than good enough quality-wise to make it into the category!

Written by Nejde on 01.02.2024 at 15:54

Written by Shmelevod on 01.02.2024 at 15:33

The whole list of nominees in the death metal category is just some kind of a joke

We try to nominate the ones that are actually good, not the ones that are just popular and well known. And there's always the possibility to write-in your vote if you're unhappy with our nominations.

Yeah, I hear you, but the thing is: what does 'actually good' actually mean? Most albums on the list barely reach 7.5 and Astral Tomb doesn't even hit 7. It would make sense if the nominees would have been selected based on the rating, otherwise, it's just a matter of staff's taste.

And I'm sure we both know that write-in never wins

Written by Shmelevod on 01.02.2024 at 16:22

It would make sense if the nominees would have been selected based on the rating, otherwise, it's just a matter of staff's taste.

Then skip the awards altogether and use this for the top 10 death metal albums of 2023. Do you also think movies should be nominated for Oscars based on Imdb scores?

Written by musclassia on 01.02.2024 at 16:21

It's unfortunate, as it's certainly more than good enough quality-wise to make it into the category!

I had a slight heart attack when I saw Helga being mentioned because I thought I completely forgot about the possibility of nominating one of my favorite albums of the year.

Written by musclassia on 01.02.2024 at 16:21

Can't speak for the other two more than I don't think anyone bar one or two people rated them much compared to the competition, but for Helga, it's just not a metal album - obviously tons of albums have ended up nominated despite featuring one or two non-metal tracks over the years, but only 4 out of 10 songs on Wrapped In Mist could be considered metal, it's not really enough to consider it a Folk Metal record. It's unfortunate, as it's certainly more than good enough quality-wise to make it into the category!

I’m just whining, I don’t think those were very popular releases with most people anyways I was just hoping to see them there since they were ones I really enjoyed! I think the picks in each category are pretty on the money

Excited to listen to some new music! I usually keep up on Power Metal and Melodeath but I didn't listen to many 2023 albums this year, of the ones I did listen to only Lovebites got nominated. Didn't particularly think it was a strong year for the albums I did listen to - In Flames's record was good, not great; I loved Voyager's new record but they're barely Metal at this point and was very disappointed with IGNEA's output this year. I thought Elvenking put out a better record than Lovebites to be honest - Judgement day is an absolute banger of a song but the rest of the record is forgettable at best while Rapture didn't have many standout songs it was just a better overall output. Loved Spiritbox's EP but I don't think those count towards the awards.

Anyway, I think that's all the 2023 records I ended up spinning this year. Excited to hear what the staff thought was the best and voting later this month!

Written by Shmelevod on 01.02.2024 at 16:22

staff's taste.

You're absolutely right. What would the point be if we just picked the 10 highest rated albums from each genre. It would make the MSA totally pointless. I also dare to say that the staff members listen to more albums in a year than the general MS user does so we find more bands and albums that stand out from the rest. The point of the MSA isn't to only nominate the most famous bands and popular albums, they get enough exposure as it is. It's also to point our users to hidden gems and unknown bands that we feel deserve some more attention.

Written by RaduP on 01.02.2024 at 16:36

Written by Shmelevod on 01.02.2024 at 16:22

It would make sense if the nominees would have been selected based on the rating, otherwise, it's just a matter of staff's taste.

Then skip the awards altogether and use this for the top 10 death metal albums of 2023. Do you also think movies should be nominated for Oscars based on Imdb scores?

Never cared about Oscar, but I guess the correct answer is 'no', since the Oscar committee and IMDB website are different institutions with different logic, while MS awards is the matter of the MS community. Anyway your statement doesn't explain how come bands like Astral Tomb have been nominated and Vomitory, Dying Fetus, and alike were simply ignored as if they didn't do anything this year. Do you really think it's justified?

As for your advice, yeah, I guess I have no choice, but to skip the voting this year, although I was waiting for it.

Written by Nejde on 01.02.2024 at 16:48

Written by Shmelevod on 01.02.2024 at 16:22

staff's taste.

You're absolutely right. What would the point be if we just picked the 10 highest rated albums from each genre. It would make the MSA totally pointless. I also dare to say that the staff members listen to more albums in a year than the general MS user does so we find more bands and albums that stand out from the rest. The point of the MSA isn't to only nominate the most famous bands and popular albums, they get enough exposure as it is. It's also to point our users to hidden gems and unknown bands that we feel deserve some more attention.

I see, so the point of MSA is to encourage an average user to pick some not-so-well-known bands? My bad then, I didn't understand the idea

Written by Shmelevod on 01.02.2024 at 16:52

Do you really think it's justified?

Yeah.

Written by RaduP on 01.02.2024 at 17:03

Written by Shmelevod on 01.02.2024 at 16:52

Do you really think it's justified?

Yeah.

Fine, I can accept your way of argumentation. After all, I have 30 years experience of living in Russia

Written by Shmelevod on 01.02.2024 at 16:52

As for your advice, yeah, I guess I have no choice, but to skip the voting this year, although I was waiting for it.

You do have choices, which is write in vote or pick your favorite of the options, you just don’t like them

Written by Shmelevod on 01.02.2024 at 16:52

Written by RaduP on 01.02.2024 at 16:36

Written by Shmelevod on 01.02.2024 at 16:22

It would make sense if the nominees would have been selected based on the rating, otherwise, it's just a matter of staff's taste.

Then skip the awards altogether and use this for the top 10 death metal albums of 2023. Do you also think movies should be nominated for Oscars based on Imdb scores?

Never cared about Oscar, but I guess the correct answer is 'no', since the Oscar committee and IMDB website are different institutions with different logic, while MS awards is the matter of the MS community. Anyway your statement doesn't explain how come bands like Astral Tomb have been nominated and Vomitory, Dying Fetus, and alike were simply ignored as if they didn't do anything this year. Do you really think it's justified?

As for your advice, yeah, I guess I have no choice, but to skip the voting this year, although I was waiting for it.

For what it's worth, my ideal top 10 in the death metal category wouldn't have Astral Tomb in, but it also wouldn't have Vomitory or Dying Fetus in. The nominations are a group effort comprising people with distinct musical interests, and on balance the collective preference does perhaps lean away from old school death metal towards newer or more original-sounding styles, but the cream of the OSDM crop in recent years, such as Immolation - Acts Of God, Asphyx - Necroceros, Memoriam - Requiem For Mankind, and Nocturnus AD - Paradox, have been nominated. That exteds to this year, the hyped Obituary release and Frozen Soul's album have been nominated - personally, I would take Vomitory and Dying Fetus over both of those, but the more OSDM-inclined wings of the MSA committee evidently showed a preference for the latter. The top 10 nominees in each category aren't infallible by any means; they're subject to individual taste, and sometimes the sheer volume of releases in a year mean that some albums slip under the cracks (particularly in the most populous categories such as death). Also, a band not getting nominated doesn't mean that they've been ignored as if they've not done anything this year; I don't think any of Vomitory, Dying Fetus, Astral Tomb, Obituary or Frozen Soul made one of the 10 best death metal albums in 2023, but I'm not denying that any of them produced albums, nor that some of them were actually pretty good, particularly Dying Fetus, I just don't think what they did was as interesting as what a good number of other death metal bands produced.

As to how much wider standing of albums in the metal community should influence the nominations, I don't think we should necessarily be blind to an album generating a lot of buzz in a category, and I would say for the most part, a popular band that produces a strong album ends up nominated in the MSAs most of the time. However, there's also no one metric of 'popularity' that can be reliably used on that front. If we were to pick the most 'popular' in terms of most listened albums in each category, the single most streamed metal album in 2023 was Sleep Token's Take Me Back To Eden, but that has an underwhelming 6.6/10 average in our database, so we can't just choose the most popular albums to determine the best albums without contradicting the opinions of the Metal Storm database. And as far just using the user ratings - if someone wants to see what the best rated album is on the site in a genre for a given year, as Radu said we already have a chart function for that purpose. We ultimately try and put together categories that have what we approximate are the 10 best albums in a category in that year, no matter how popular or underground they are; as you've mentioned Astral Tomb multiple times, they have a lower average than Vomitory and Dying Fetus, but that's from a whopping 13 votes - if more people listen to the album, they may well end up finding that they actually do really like the album.

And as to what the point of the Metal Storm Awards are, I would've thought by now that most people would have recognized that it's not determining what the best album in a genre is each year; across over 20 years of the awards running, the fact that the category winners, in the overwhelming majority of cases, have always ended up the most widely known band in each category should be proof of that. I'd hope that users of a metal site would be able to recognize that popularity and quality don't have a 1:1 relation (although, considering how many metalheads take pride in metal being a counterculture phenomenon, and embracing that by claiming they listen to 'good music' instead of 'pop/rap crap', it's intriguing how many metalheads gravitate towards just the big names and show limited curiosity for what lies beneath).

I wouldn't say exactly that the point of the MSAs is 'to encourage an average user to pick some not-so-well-known bands'; we don't pick underground bands over bigger bands just because the former are less known, but if we think a smaller band has produced an album that we collectively think is worthier than a bigger band, we won't pick the latter just due to their pre-existing reputation. The MSAs' main intention is to try and be an exhibition of the great music that's been produced across the metal spectrum in a year, and to encourage metal fans to engage with that exhibition, including the albums that they've not discovered up to that point; the fact that a substantial proportion of the voters each year opt instead to just vote for the handful of names they've heard of and sack off the rest without listening to them doesn't mean that we shouldn't keep trying to achieve that - there's no point us trying to chase the attention of the big names in metal when the likes of Loudwire, Metal Hammer, Metal Sucks, Blabbermouth etc are already clamouring over one another for their attention.

Alright, so I'm back and already in the fourth category. I'm that fast. I just didn't want to post earlier cause I'd have to type on my phone and I'm lazy AF.

But then again, what is there to type? Some questionable choices* as always, and as always lots of great music. I'm having fun already, so let's get the party going.

*Healthyliving in doom metal, no Panopticon (which I haven't heard but just seeing the hype everywhere else -- but you may be right with this one, time will tell), no Metallica (ok, that was a joke)

I'm just disappointed that you didn't nominate Wolvennest to Drone for nth time, cause I was ready to complain about it.

Thanks, guys, for doing this.