There is really nothing that stops a fermentation in full flight except the removal of every last yeast cell. You can do that by using sterile filtration or by repeated (and frequent) cold crashing and racking. The first is assured, the second is Russian Roulette. There is a third method* but this involves a very different process and that is to deliberately step feed your mead more and more honey until the yeast die from alcohol poisoning (you may need to step feed the yeast and not add all the honey in one go because the yeast may be unable to process the honey altogether given the concentration of the sugars in the must. As you come close to the published tolerance for your strain of yeast you will then want to add the honey in 4 or 5 oz batches waiting for the yeast to fully ferment each feed before adding the next. By feeding in 4-5 oz batches you won't overshoot a sweetness marked by a gravity of 1.010 BUT you might find that your mead might have an ABV of 18 % (if you use the wrong yeast). Bottom line: I would recommend an ale yeast that has a tolerance of no more than about 10 % (which might then give you 12 -13% before it gives up the ghost... ).
But on a second note, I wonder if your lack of thrill when you back sweetened had less to do with back sweetening and more to do with other choices you made at the start... The honey you chose, the yeast you pitched, the temperature of the fermentation, your use of nutrients, the TA of the mead, the amount of time you aged the mead... and indeed, the sweetening agent...
* As I write this there is a fourth method that comes to mind but not one that anyone would want to use on a high quality mead - Pasteurization - not only will that destroy volatile flavor and aromatic molecules but given the CO2 that will still be in the fermentor you risk very serious injury.
