2008 Music Results

It wasn't my purpose to make this post at the same time as the metalstorm awards' result but here my comments about the 2008 in music:
First, I have placed since 1 month ago the top 25 in my tops' page

2008 - Top 25

01-Equilibrium - Sagas
02-Forefather - Steadfast
03-Machinae Supremacy - Overworld
04-Opeth - Watershed
05-Amon Amarth - Twilight Of The Thunder God
06-Stormlord - Mare Nostrum
07-Dalriada - Szelek
08-Obtest - Gyvybes Medis
09-Hollenthon - Opus Magnum
10-Mirrorthrone - Gangrene
11-Synesthesia - From Amnesia To Apocalypse
12-Before The Dawn - Soundscape Of Silence
13-The Monolith Deathcult - Trivmvirate
14-In Mourning - Shrouded Divine
15-Human Fortress - Eternal Empire
16-Kalmah - For The Revolution
17-Draconian - Turning Season Within
18-Faithful Darkness - In Shadows Lies Utopia
19-Assailant - Wicked Dream
20-Mourning Beloveth - A Disease For The Ages
21-Eluveitie - Slania
22-Sorgsvart - Vikingtid Of Anarki
23-Heathendom - Nescience
24-Omnium Gatherum - The Redshift
25-Transcending Bizarre? - Cosmic Zero Equation

As you could see I was placing here all the "surprises 2008" I discovered in this year. I decided they were just the debut albums of every one, though at the beginning I was just thinking about albums that surprised me.
Here you have the best rookie bands that released their first CD on 2008, in every link you can find under the youtube video a link to download it through rapidshare.

Alestorm - Captain Morgan's Revenge
Martriden - The Unsettling Dark
Carach Angren - Lammendam
Synesthesia - From Amnesia To Apocalypse

This Haven - Today A Whisper, Tomorrow A Storm
Heathendom - Neoscience

Faithful Darkness - In Shadows Lies Utopia
Consecration - Aux
Tiarra - Post Scriptum
F5 - The Reckoning
In Mourning - Shrouded Divine

About the letdowns:

Mercenary - Architect Of Lies
Misanthrope - IrremeDIABLE
Kataklysm - Prevail
Metsatöll -Iivakivi
Atrocity - Werk 80 II
Midnattsol - Nordlys
Inactive Messiah - Sinful Nation
Pyramaze - Immortal
Judas Priest - Nostradamus
Esqarial - Burned Ground Strategy
Verjnuarmu - Ruatokansan Uamunkoetto
Haggard - Tales Of Ithiria
Evergrey - Torn
Funeral - As The Light Does The Shadow
Dragonforce - Ultra Beatdown
Guns'n Roses - Chinese Democracy
Silentium - Amortean
Mechanical Poet - Eidoline
Iced Earth - The Crucible Of Man

Not too much to add but I think Axel Rose and Hetfield and company are teasing fans.
Metallica's fans are happy with every thing they release and they take advantage of it, even with such an uninspired album like Death Magnetic. Just with the matter of being a bit more thrash they won most of the followers, though lacking good guitar riffs or even good solos. Death Magnetic is a poor album of pseudo-rock-modernthrash that fans from the old good age shouldnt like at all. But I was realizing that Metallica sells just because of the name, Metallica is more a brand than a band. Just that could explain St. Anger got good results in sellings, and even there are people who actually liked that crap (I'm trying to be objective, but I'm sure when Metallica members get old they will apologize about people who bought that, or at least will think that).
Most of the other disappointments are about releases that I liked the previous one or I expected more, like the one of Evergrey or Mercenary or Innactive Messiah, but there are also some that are running desperately down from a high hill and it's impossible to turn them back, cases of Iced Earth, Judas Priest or Silentium.

By the way, my votes in the MetalStorm awards were:
Best albums by genre

Alternative Metal
Gojira - The Way Of All Flesh

Atmospheric/Symphonic Metal
Tiarra - Post Scriptum

Avantgarde Metal
Mirrorthrone - Gangrene

Black Metal
Stormlord - Mare Nostrum

Death Metal
The Monolith Deathcult - Trivmvirate

Doom Metal
Mourning Beloveth - A Disease For The Ages

Extreme Doom Metal
Esoteric - The Maniacal Vale

Gothic Metal
Draconian - Turning Season Within

Grindcore
-

Hard Rock
Motley Crue - Saints Of Los Angeles

Heavy Metal
Randy Pipers' Animal - Virus

Melodeath/Gothenburg Metal
Amon Amarth - Twilight Of The Thunder God

Metalcore
-

Pagan/Viking/Folk Metal
Equilibrium - Sagas

Post-Metal
-

Power Metal
Machinae Supremacy - Overworld

Progressive Metal
Opeth - Watershed

Sludge/Stoner Metal
-

Thrash Metal
F5 - The Reckoning

Other awards

The Best Cover Song
Machinae Supremacy - Gimme Gimme

The Best Debut Album
Synesthesia - From Amnesia To Apocalypse

The Best DVD
-

The Best Video
Behemoth - At The Left Hand Ov God

The Biggest Letdown
Judas Priest - Nostradamus

The Biggest Surprise
Equilibrium - Sagas

Special award

The Best Drama
Gaahl Gay

Surprises 2008: In Mourning - Shrouded Divine

In the last one of my "surprises 2008" I will talk about one of the best discoverings of 2008. The great album of In Mourning, a swedish band that started making a slowlier music in those early demos than in the debut album. That gothic metal became a gothic-doom-melodeath in Shrouded Divine, a majestic album that inmediately set In Mourning as one of the best bands in 2008. With a palpable progressive touch and very origininal environment, clean and mostly harsh vocals and delicate and atmospheric melodies sometimes and melodeath catchy riffs other times, Shrouded Divine is probably my personal best discovering in 2008, and shouldnt pass over any open minded metal fan (even no-metal fan), due to the wide of their offer, the lots of genres they are touching and becoming solid under the same.

1.	The Shrouded Divine	07:11
2.	Amnesia	03:35
3.	In The Failing Hour	04:22
4.	By Others Considered	06:24
5.	Grind Denial	04:28
6.	The Art Of A Mourning Kind	05:29
7.	The Black Lodge	08:13
8.	Past October Skies	06:33

In Mourning - Shrouded Divine