On 2014

Was It A Good Year?
NO.

Was It A Better Year For Me Professionally?
Absolutely.

Best Console Title

Drakengard 3

Best Mainstream Console Title

Alien: Isolation

Best Commercial Game Whose Strengths and Failures Reveals The Stagnation of Console Games

Alien: Isolation

Best Commercial Indie Title

Shovel Knight

Best Weird Indie Game

Idk but you could probably find out by reading The Arcade Review

Best PS4 Game

FFVII, as it turns out, is still not available for purchase.

Worst Game

Assassin’s Creed: Unity

Game I Liked The Least

DARK SOULS II

Favorite Movie
Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Best Movie This Year?
Fucked if I know, I think I saw maybe three in total?

Lowlight of The Year

Just as Gamergate was heating up, Robin Williams took his own life. A loss of one of the world’s great talents.

Best Metal Album

At War With Reality by At the Gates

Highest Concentration of Bangers on a Metal Album

Darkest Hour - Self-titled

Best Metal Album That Is Regularly Not Metal

Siren Charms - In Flames

Likelihood That An Album By A Band That Could Be Described As Melodic Death Metal At Some Point In Their History Will Be Next Year’s Album of The Year?

Continues to be extremely high.

Best Metal Lyrics

Who else? Anders Friden - Siren Charms

Best non-metal EP

Between Bodies - The World Is A Beautiful Place, and I Am No Longer Afraid To Die

Best Metal EP
Myrkur - Self-titled

Best Single

“From The Kettle Unto The Coil” - Deafheaven

Austin’s One New Rap Album Per Year

My Krazy Life - YG

Don’t Judge Me

My Krazy Life - YG

Likelihood You’re Gonna Hear About Big Projects Pretty Soon?
Extremely high.

Thanks for reading this year. Have a happy new year.

• Austin C. Howe, Maryland (for the last time), 2014