2020 Metal Storm Awards Now Open
This whole pandemic erupted in earnest around this time last year, when we were embroiled in the 2019 Metal Storm Awards. Well, it's still here, you're still trapped inside, and you probably need to stock up on some more music recommendations to get you through. We don't know about you all, but we've been looking forward to this year's MSAs a lot more than usual, and it is our great pleasure to announce that voting is once again open.
You have the entire month of February to listen and cast your votes, so be sure to explore all of the excellent nominees we have laid out for you. Have at it.
You have the entire month of February to listen and cast your votes, so be sure to explore all of the excellent nominees we have laid out for you. Have at it.
Source: | metalstorm.net |
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Comments: 137
Visited by: 732 users
sgtrobo |
06.02.2021 - 07:08 Written by NastyHero on 05.02.2021 at 18:49 No, I mean, if a band gets write-in votes in "death metal", but the band was already listed by the admins in "black metal" For example, in black metal, I see write-in votes for Vredehammer, Havukruunu, and Dark Fortress In Death metal, write-in votes for Paradise Lost, Necrophobic, Cryptic Shift, and Black Crown Initiate I only noticed, because every one of those bands put out one of my favorite albums of the year and I had to labor over my choice in other categories (Cryptic Shift and BCI in extreme prog, Necrophobic and Dark Fortress in meloblack, Havukruunu in viking/folk, and Paradise Lost in gothic) However, RaduP just answered, the write-in votes get removed.
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Dracoil |
06.02.2021 - 12:24 Written by nikarg on 06.02.2021 at 00:48 I didn't listen to the entire Scardust album, but they are very good. I think Diabulus In Musica deserved to be among this year's nominees
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M C Vice ex-polydactyl |
07.02.2021 - 13:02
Does Mesarthim - Planet Nine go in industrial/electronic or meloblack? Does Sivyj Yar - Горе go in black or meloblack? And does Myrkur - Folkesange go anywhere since there's no metal on it?
---- "I'm here to nunchuck and not wear helmets. And I'm all out of helmets." "I'll fight you on one condition. That you lower your nipples." " 'Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"
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RaduP CertifiedHipster Staff |
07.02.2021 - 13:12 Written by M C Vice on 07.02.2021 at 13:02 Indus/melo/nowhere
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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M C Vice ex-polydactyl |
08.02.2021 - 10:08
Thanks
---- "I'm here to nunchuck and not wear helmets. And I'm all out of helmets." "I'll fight you on one condition. That you lower your nipples." " 'Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"
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NastyHero Posts: 128 |
08.02.2021 - 11:38
Mesarthim industrial metal? *remembers some misnominations* Oh yeah, nevermind.
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Cynic Metalhead Ambrish Saxena |
08.02.2021 - 15:31
Nasty's invasion getting cringy.
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NastyHero Posts: 128 |
08.02.2021 - 18:11
For as long as albums don't get shuffled into their proper genres, my invasion will strike on. This year is better than the previous ones, anyway, only one album's category is 'wtf?', the rest is understandable, sort of.
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musclassia Staff |
08.02.2021 - 18:29 Written by NastyHero on 08.02.2021 at 11:38 I haven't heard every Mesarthim album (the person behind it needs to slow down, it's hard to follow all their releases), but the category title is Industrial/cyber/electronic, and some of Mesarthim's previous albums have been very electronic-heavy, albeit on top of a black metal base, so I could believe that it would be applicable to the release they're referring to
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NastyHero Posts: 128 |
08.02.2021 - 18:38 Written by musclassia on 08.02.2021 at 18:29 I'd just hesitate to call it industrial metal because of this. Although now I can see that this category is explicitly called (also) "electronic metal", which makes more sense. Not the category I'd pick for it, but it's sort of plausible in that case. Not like it matters, write-ins are never gonna win anything
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Rage10000 Posts: 139 |
Written by tea[m]ster on 05.02.2021 at 23:13 I went through the category over the weekend and here's what I thought: Katla: Perfectly described - "cinematic stream of consciousness". A terrific atmospheric experience. I loved it from start to finish and can't wait to listen to it again. This may be my Fvneral Fvkk for 2020. Kevel (Mutatis Mutandis): Looking at the category so far, the first 3 bands are all completely different. I see the Cult of Luna reference. I really liked Apophatic. The drumming is just relentless and the song attacks you for the entire 6.5minutes. It's a gem. Cosmic Domination feels about as "Post" as it can get. Repetitive, mesmerizing, and ever evolving. Another beauty. Lotus Thief: Easy listening but a bit ho hum especially after just playing Kevel. I really liked The Furries. It'a melancholy album that grew on me as the album went on. Sister in Silence is also excellent. Loviatar: The first half of the album didn't do it for me, but I thought the last half of the album was exceptional, especially Silica. If Silica followed Waiting for Darkness on Bark at the Moon, you'd never know it wasn't Ozzy. Try it. What's the worst that can happen? You get to hear an Ozzy song that isn't Crazy Train. Mountaineer: I expected to see this album here and I forced myself to listen to it again. Once again it didn't do it for me, but I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority on that one. Pull Down The Sun: Awesome opening with airy Aka and then pounding into Whare Ra. I loved the early extended instrumental here (note: I missed not having any new Pelican this year - actually I would have liked to see Telepathy on this list. It was an album I played a lot). The guitar groove on Turehu is incredibly powerful. Same as on Utu. Wow! Salt of the Earth too. I like this album. It often feels like a straight heavy metal album rather than post metal. The Ocean: The opener Triassic is a beauty, as is Jurassic with Jonas. Actually, one of the other sites I read suggested that this song was Katatonia's best work this year. It might have been AMG himself and I'm not sure I agree with him, but still, it was kind of funny. I really like Pleistocene. There's something poppy about it and it reminds me of someone but I can't place it. Dave Matthews a little. There's someone else though too. It's a beauty too. Probably my favourite on the album. Vous Autres: The opening track is fairly harsh - brutal really. Not really my cup of tea, although I liked the second half of the opening track a lot better. The whole album didn't really stand out to me. Yuri Gagarin: Opening track is great. I had Oneironaut on my 2020 playlist. It's a groovey little tune. The title track is also excellent. Lots of head bobbing and air guitar being played. My overall thoughts: I really enjoyed everything. I'm sticking with Garganjua because i played it so much this year and I loved it; but I think given a few more plays, I would probably choose Katla's album. Who cares anyways. All the music was fantastic. Cheers.
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NastyHero Posts: 128 |
08.02.2021 - 20:30 Written by Rage10000 on 08.02.2021 at 19:05 I was supposed to skip Garganjua (due to its relatively low ratings on RYM) but because of you I added it to the MSA playlist. I hope it's worth it. Speaking of, the s/t Yuri Gagarin track is so fantastic. It feels a lot longer than it actually is, yet somehow it's a good thing. It's like travelling at max speed through galaxies; one after another. Just beautiful.
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Rage10000 Posts: 139 |
08.02.2021 - 22:06 Written by NastyHero on 08.02.2021 at 20:30 Yeah, I think I was doing dishes the other night while I had it on. It made it a whole lot more fun.
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Milena gloom cookie Staff |
Written by NastyHero on 08.02.2021 at 18:11 Proper genre an album would have had if you wrote a review on it and could have a more, uh, descriptive description =/= the album's proper genre on MS. We're even a bit more flexible about nominating the album's genre vs the genre a band usually plays, but at some point everything has to be shoved into 26 categories, and we're very unlikely to have any more than those.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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Cynic Metalhead Ambrish Saxena |
09.02.2021 - 07:17
It's amusing a guy who arrives yearly on MSAs justifying his lectures on proper genre categorization.
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NastyHero Posts: 128 |
Written by Rage10000 on 08.02.2021 at 22:06 So Garganjua won't get my vote (I'd guess The Ocean or Yuri Gagarin will) but they're really good and I'm glad I gave them a go. This low rating on RYM was undeserved. And yeah, I know that listening to music only with high ratings can and will lead me to missing some gems - but then again there's way too many albums out there and I have to filter them out somehow. edit: voted for Yuri Gagarin, like holy shit (can you swear here?), this has no right to be this good. I think I've mentioned twice now how the last track was actually good but that was all I've heard from this record until now (what can I say, I'm a patient man). Oneironaut is almost just as cool. Written by Cynic Metalhead on 09.02.2021 at 07:17 Oh yeah, just because I'm not a regular it means I can't say that some albums are in my opinion in a greater or lesser extent mislabeled. What can I know, after all? For someone with "Cynic" in their nickname you sure do get your feelings hurt way too easily. I guess the nickname refers to the band Cynic instead of the actual meaning of the word. Are you done or are you going to speak up everytime I say something?
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Rage10000 Posts: 139 |
09.02.2021 - 17:37 Written by NastyHero on 09.02.2021 at 10:51
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nikarg Staff |
^ In order for Lorna Shore to end up nominated in symphonic, we had people with broken noses, missing teeth, and black eyes. It was not an easy battle, I tell you. I was on the losing side so you can assume one of the asses that were were kicked was mine.
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BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin |
Written by nikarg on 09.02.2021 at 18:40 I was just at that meeting for the open bar. And to egg on the brawl. Unfortunately dropped my phone in the toilet after reverse-drinking that 4th bottle of Jambu... so alas, no footage.
---- 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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Cynic Metalhead Ambrish Saxena |
10.02.2021 - 20:55
It's bogging when a bunch of non-regular flyers hovers to sting their opinion on genre categorization. Get the fucking pass and move along. This award is worth much more than misdirecting the categorization of genre.
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Starvynth i c deaf people Staff |
Let me just say that I don't really get Cynic's excitement. We've been debating album genres for months, filling 18 pages with tough discussions, outrage and fights to the bitter end. 18 pages, that's roughly 540 posts, covering hundreds of albums. Nitpicking, malicious harassment, blackmailing, slander and threats, nine months long. People cried, left in anger and returned just to make others cry. Deep friendships broke apart on a daily basis and tears and blood was shed by the litre. So if anyone should be entitled to be upset that the result of this work is under critical review, then it's the people that were involved in the nomination process. I can assure you that nobody of us is. For me, personally, it's fun reading a little genre nagging here now and then, and I enjoy NastyHero's comments in particular. And I don't give a flying fuck whether he's a regular user of this site or not.
---- signatures = SPAM
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nikarg Staff |
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NastyHero Posts: 128 |
Written by Cynic Metalhead on 10.02.2021 at 20:55 Lmao, literally nobody has complained about genre shuffles since your previous post. One user (and it wasn't me this time, yay!) said he's "not sure if Lorna Shore belongs in symphonic" but even went out of his way to praise Metal Storm Awards in the very same post. While my comments may seem a bit assholery at times (even if it isn't my intention), he did it in a very polite way. And yet here comes the great Cynic Metalhead, to complain once more about filthy non regulars, cause they dared to open their mouths. What is your problem, dude? Do you want us to argue with you because you want to be nominated for Drama 2021? Forget it, Jon Schaffer storming Capitol is still going to win that one.
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NastyHero Posts: 128 |
I'm done. Quite early this year, I think. But yeah, I skipped a bunch but still managed to listen to a shitton of albums. Some of them I had on my "to-listen" list, so I would have gotten them eventually. Some of them I picked up solely because of the nominations. Anyway, here are what the final results should look like if people had an actual taste And now for the long commentary maybe 3 people would read (I'm doing it for you, guys). Alternative metal - like I mentioned, CBP ain't it. But since they were nominated and easily the best out of the nominations, what choice did I have? Other very good albums were Deftones, Katatonia and Hum, nothing that great though. Ambient / Drone / Noise - I picked Urfaust but it was a close call, Dark Buddha Rising and Neptunian Maximalism could take the spot as well. Avantgarde / Experimental metal - this one was hurtful because I really wanted Oranssi Pazuzu nominated but Thy Catafalque is just a bit better. Imperial Triumphant's hype is also well deserved. Black metal - this one was tough, I feel like I probably should listen to some nominations a bit more, but eh. I wouldn't have picked up Borgne if it wasn't for the nominations and it was great. Akhlys, Gaerea and Panzerfaust were (well, are still) on my wishlist and they were also very neat. I voted for Regarde les Hommes Tomber but really, if I gave former albums a few more spins, maybe my choice would have been different. Odraza is also cool. Death metal - this one was pretty easy, nothing that much interesting this year for me. Wake was also good. Djent / math metal - Serpent Column is good, but it's 7/10 good, so the vote is due to lack of strong candidates. Plini and Cloudkicker are also 7/10 so my vote may have just as well gone for them. Doom metal - eh, this was THE category last year. I just checked previous year and out of 11 bands (I guess one was write-in) ten of them are better than anything nominated this year. Hell, or even 11, that Monolithe album was quite good AFAIR. I don't blame the staff, it just wasn't the year for doom. Frayle, my write-in, is pretty great but I noticed that they don't get that much attention and yeah, I'd have picked any of last year's 10 albums, maybe except Monolithe, over them. The nominated records aren't bad or anything, they just aren't that good. But I wouldn't have picked much better. Extreme doom metal - luckily, here it's much better (albeit last year's was pretty dope too). M.S.W. is superb, so is 3D (Dola/Drown/Dwaal). Atramentus seems also good and Kraken Duumvirate was a very nice surprise I wouldn't have listened to if it wasn't for the Awards! Will definitely get back to them after some time. Such an ocean-y record. Extreme prog - so yeah, I like Enslaved very much in general but after one listen it didn't seem *that* great. Sweven, however, was so my vote went to them. Who knows, maybe after a few listens of Enslaved (because there will definitely be some more) I'll regret my decision but whatever, it's just one vote. Also yeah, last year I voted for Dreadnought. If I could turn back time I would have bought Tesla stock. I also would have changed my vote for Disillusion, damn, self-titled track is titanic. Folk / Pagan / Viking metal album - yeah, not my style. I used to love old Ensiferum, in fact I still do and the new album was actually pretty fun, definitely the best since From Afar like everyone else says. Normally, it would have been Surprise of the Year for me, but some other record took the cake. I feel Árstíðir Lífsins was still better, though. Gothic metal - okay, did I already complain Dool isn't gothic metal? Because they aren't, they're still good, although the previous record was better. Now that I've cleared that up, I loved the new Draconian when I first listened to it (nominations) but I also love new Paradise Lost. Perhaps, had I listened to Draconian a bit more, they would have taken my vote. And yes, I know, we're not in the middle of February and I could spin that record literally hundreds of times, but alas, life is cruel. Light Field Reverie also seemed great. Grindcore - not really my style but Anaal Nathrakh seemed the best. Hard Rock - that Wytch Hazel was unexpectedly good! And yeah, I know their previous albums. After just one listen they managed to convince me to vote for them instead of Hällas or Lucifer who were also really cool. Hardcore / Metalcore / Deathcore - not my category by miles. If I had to choose write-in, it would be Boris. But I remembered that Svalbard (post-hardcore) was getting some love, so I gave them a go and they were easily better than anything nominated. Heavy / Melodic metal - lots of cool records but nothing *that* cool. White Magician, write-in, seemed slightly better than Cirith Ungol/Eternal Champion/Solicitor/Armored Saint, so I voted for them. Which reminds me, I haven't listened to the newest Spirit Adrift yet and it was my choice last year. Maybe I should. Industrial / Cyber / Electronic metal - not much comment here, some good albums out there, Deafbrick I liked the most. Master Boot Record was cool but he essentially makes the same album over and over (their 2018 album was the best with symphonic elements and growls in... Italian, I think. That shit was crazy!) Melodeath / Extreme [ower / Gothenburg metal - actually though, it's a tie between Dark Tranquillity and Aeternam. Now I'm considering switching my vote to Aeternam. I'll see. Melodic black metal - voted for Wayfarer but it's not a 'strong' #1. ...And Oceans, Winterfylleth, Necrophobic and hell, even Malokarpatan (didn't like them that much before, I like the new album though) also were solid choices. Metalgaze - a few good albums, one great album. It's from Shedfromthebody. Post-metal - good category, good nominations. The Ocean were splendid but that Yuri Gagarin record is... argh, how can purely instrumental music be that good? I've already made some posts saying about how good the last track is but it's just THAT good. And the rest of the record isn't far behind. The only thing which would stop me from voting for them is that they aren't post-metal by any means, but since they were nominated... Power metal - yeah, not my category by far. At least there's new Helloween coming out so maybe I could vote for something nominated in 2021 (unless you don't nominate them, who knows how the record will turn out). There were some decent/good-ish albums but I found myself that I really enjoyed Rage. I always thought of them as a heavy metal band instead of power metal but hell, they were tagged as such on RYM and yeah, this record is slightly more power-ish than the others. I used to be Rage fan, I still love some of their older records but recently they haven't been up to their game. This record is better, it's not great but it's very good and worth recommending. And seeing that my vote was the only one when I casted it a few days ago, I use all my brain cells to deduce they're not going to win. Progressive metal - Green Carnation is superb. So was Lucid Planet but this is Paradise Lost / Draconian situation. Sorry, boys. Sludge metal - some decent albums out there but nothing that would interest me more except that Thou & Emma Ruth Rundle collaboration. Stoner metal - Samsara Blues Experiment vote was tempting (even though they're much more rock than metal) but damn, I'm such a sucker for this sexy, sexy saxophone. Good job, Rezn, you know my weaknesses. Green Druid and Elephant Tree are also worth listening for everyone. I may have skipped Shogun but since their name used to be my primary/middle school nickname and till these days I'm referred to as such by some of the friends, so why not. They were quite good. Symphonic metal - a few years ago I remember that I was ambitious enough to listen to literally all of your nominations. Symphonic metal category changed that ambition, because seriously, fuck it. Only listened to Seven Spires, which I saw praises for on the internets before and they were on my 'leftover wishlist'. They were not *that* bad, 5/10, I guess? Almost a 6. Actually, I played Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and they made for a decent background music. Luckily! This year also gave us Triptykon's Requiem which is for me one of the very best albums of the previous year. And even though it's a live album, it's also the only available recording of the music they performed on Roadburn (that is: this song, at least part of it, isn't available on any studio LP) so I think it's fair game if I vote for that, right? Also - I was on that show. Thrash metal - also my Surprise of the Year. I'd never have thought I'd vote for Sepultura in this category. I've never been into them, even the older albums I like, but I respect them more than I like them, if you know what I mean. And since Chaos A.D. and maybe Roots, they released a mediocre album after another mediocre album. Maybe some of them were decent at best. But Quadra is cool as fuck. It's just so fun and well crafted. This is not only easily the best album since Arise, it may be my favorite of them. Oh, and as for the category - Warbringer were also pretty good. I think that Hellripper may also stand a chance (based solely on his previous album) but I skipped them since you didn't nominate it. Clandestine Cut of the Year - I actually took the time to listen to all of them. Montaña Sagrada was easily the best. Recently, I've watched La Montaña Sagrada, the movie, so there's that. Also I love Mar de Grises. Some of the other albums were also cool, Schizophrenia perhaps (first time I had a clandestince cut on my list before the MSA, achievement unlocked). The best album artwork - I haven't put that much thought about it, I only skimmed through the write-ins to remember what grabbed my eye. Oceans of Slumber did. The cover art is gorgeous. And I haven't even listened to the album yet! The best cover song - again, not much thought, I checked what was already nominated. CBP - She's in Parties is the best, I guess, but I don't know the original (yeah, I should probably listen to some Bauhaus, since I really like gothic rock/post-punk from the 80s). Ihsahn's Manhattan Skylines with Einar Solberg is also pretty fun. The best debut album - so, Slift is a space rock / heavy psych band and I guess you could nominate them for hard rock, judging by your rules (definitely more deserving of nomination than AC/DC anyway). In fact, I would have voted for them instead of Wytch Hazel but then again they're not exactly what comes to mind when you think "hard rock". They're top notch. Give them a shot. The biggest letdown && Drama of the Year - I know, I know, I took an easy way out but there hasn't been an album which has actually disappointed me that much. There are some mediocre albums from artists who used to be much better (yes, for example AC/DC or Ozzy) but nothing had indicated that they would be better so it's not a letdown, now is there? Now, some of the bands have made clearly inferior albums to their precedessors - like Pain of Salvation or Ulver - but they were still really good. It's just they had raised the bar so high before. So while I may have hoped they would be a bit better, I don't think of them in terms "oh dear, I'm so disappointed". But covid sucks. I want to go on a show. The biggest surprise - covered in 'thrash metal' category. Ensiferum was also a strong contender. Also Ulver - but not because of the quality of the album but due to the fact that they had released two albums within the same genre in a row. I was expecting some grindcore or avant-garde jazz or symphonic hip-hop. But that still wasn't enough to beat Sepultura.
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Cynic Metalhead Ambrish Saxena |
12.02.2021 - 10:39
^ LOL
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NastyHero Posts: 128 |
12.02.2021 - 11:24 Written by Cynic Metalhead on 12.02.2021 at 10:39 Holy shit. Your obsession with me is creepy as fuck. But yeah, all that's left for you is ignoring mods' comments criticizing you and only making 'snide' remarks every few posts since making an actual reply seems beyond your intellectual capabilities. Whatever, 'block user' button exists for a reason. Just used it.
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Cynic Metalhead Ambrish Saxena |
12.02.2021 - 13:06
For me, probably, Death and Doom metal is the toughest to whip one out. Fucking good albums.
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musclassia Staff |
Written by NastyHero on 12.02.2021 at 00:58 Nice comprehensive summary! I had a reasonable crossover with your votes (as far as your classification comments go, I did agree with you on Dool, and was partly responsible for CBP, so probably mixed opinions on my contributions to the genre debates on your part). I also agree that doom was a bit thin on the ground whilst ex doom was packed, but I think I'm more generally inclined towards death doom that classic doom anyway
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Silent Creeper Senile Veteran |
13.02.2021 - 14:37 Written by RaduP on 05.02.2021 at 17:35 It would probably be good to also mention this somewhere else when the voting is open. I've been voting for almost 15 years now and did not know that. For example I was not planning to vote in category X and did not notice that the band I voted with write-in in category Y was nominated in category X. Vote was deleted and I thought it was just some weird bug.
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Starvynth i c deaf people Staff |
Written by Silent Creeper on 13.02.2021 at 14:37 To be precise, we neither consciously nor actively delete any votes. Rather, many write-in votes will magically disappear once the Awards are closed, but that only applies if they are cast in the wrong category AND if the sum of the (wrongly placed) write-in votes is not enough for a place in the top 10. And that is simply logical, because how are we supposed to know that band X would also be your favourite participant in the melodeath category if you have casted your vote in the death category? Should we delete your original and correctly placed vote for melodeath instead? You should at least take a brief look at the related categories and remember the names of the nominees before you blindly cast your vote in a "wrong" category and thus waste it. I think that's the least you can ask for and it's not even particularly complicated.
---- signatures = SPAM
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