I Listened to the 2026 Metal Grammy Nominees So You Don't Have To

What a stupid fucking move that was.  

Anyway, so my distaste for the Grammys has been pretty crystal clear from day one of this blog.  They have absolutely no idea what to do with heavy music.  Most of the time, if there is a readily identifiable band in the category, that's who wins (Metallica has won seven times).  Sometimes, they make decent decisions, such as last year when Gojira won for the song played at the Olympics.  I understood that one.  Other times, they seemingly throw a dart and go with what comes up (Deftones, Tenacious D, Rage Against the Machine).  That's what happened this year.  First of all, I don't even understand how they came up with these nominees.  For Best Metal Performance, you would think at least a couple of the nominees would be metal songs.  Not this year.  I suppose I will give my thoughts.

1.  Turnstile: "Birds".  This was the winner this year and I am not sure I am listening to the same song.  Turnstile came up through the hardcore and punk scene and then became this weird mix of those genres with alternative rock.  Note, I did not once mention metal.  This is a little bit more of a straight-up hardcore song.  It's fine, but it is not a metal track.

2.  Spiritbox: "Soft Spine".  This band has been jammed down the throats of listeners to Liquid Metal on Sirius XM for years.  I occasionally listen to that in the car and I think I hear a song by them at least once when I do.  This song is fine, I guess.  But again, Spiritbox is not really a metal band, more of an alternative/electronic/industrial rock band.  Heavy, but the metal influences are minimal.  I would say they have more in common with nu-metal.

3.  Sleep Token: "Emergence".  I discussed this band on my Bands I Hate post awhile back.  I listened to this song, and what the fuck?  I know they have rather disparate influences slapped together like an amateur chef trying to be experimental, but this is one of the least metal songs I have ever heard from this band.  There's occasionally some power chords.  That's it.  Otherwise it's a mix of soft rock and R&B and some electronica thrown in.  And then there's a saxophone solo.  What the hell were the people that put together the nominees thinking here?  They're not the most metal of bands most of the time, but this is seriously the farthest away I have ever heard this band.

4.  Ghost: "Lachryma".  I thought this was going to win honestly.  Ghost has won in the past and that is a sure sign of winning again.  Even though they are not really a metal band anymore.  This song comes at least close at times.  This is not a bad song, but again, it's not really metal.  Much more of a straightforward hard rock track.

5.  Dream Theater: "Night Terror".  Here is the only metal track in the category.  I haven't really cared about anything Dream Theater has done since their album Awake back in the mid 1990's.  This is a decent song, but it's almost ten minutes long, which is way too long to expect the people that vote on these things to actually pay attention.  It's not a great song, but at least it's a metal song, something I would think would be the primary qualification for nomination.  I guess Dream Theater has won this before as well.  Still, I didn't think this had a chance at winning.   

I don't think any of these should have won.  Time to listen to something to cleanse the palate.  I am going to put on some Satan's Hallow.

High on Fire Wins the Grammy

I'm a little shocked by this.  High on Fire, a legitimate metal band that is not way past their prime won the Grammy for Best Metal Performance.  I still have not had a chance to listen to their latest album, but if it is anything like their last few, and I assume it is, I'm sure it was great.  I have been a fan of the band for about ten years now.

High on Fire was up against Trivium, Between the Buried and Me, Underoath, and Deafheaven.  I'll be honest, I'm shocked Deafheaven did not get it as they seem to be very popular with the Pitchfork set.  High on Fire was by far my preference as I don't care much for BTBAM or Deafheaven and I can't stand Underoath.  So anyway, congrats to High on Fire.

So, the Grammys...

Lots to talk about here.  First of all, the award for Best Metal Performance went to Megadeth for "Dystopia".  I was pleased with this.  The other contenders were Periphery, Baroness, Gojira, and Korn.  And frankly, all but Korn probably deserved to be in this category.  I would have loved to see Gojira win it, and Baroness's song was one of the catchiest of the year, but Megadeth's album was damn good.  It is too much to expect the Grammys to give the award to an underground band like Gojira, so the Megadeth victory was not at all surprising.  Once I saw the nominees, I knew who would win.

But that obviously was not the whole story of the night.  There were all of the slights.  For one, Megadeth took the stage to a Metallica song.  Metallica performed, but with Lady Gaga.  Orange is the New Black actress Laverne Cox introduced the performance, but neglected to name Metallica.  And then, James Hetfield's mic did not work for the first half of the song.  Honestly, I do not think any of the issues were intentional, though they were frustrating.  Frankly, I thought the Lady Gaga/Metallica performance was quite impressive.  She sounded good singing for Metallica, and I have always respected her music, though not really enjoying it.

The Grammys have never really known what to do about metal.  That was obvious from the very beginning when Jethro Tull beat out Metallica for the first Best Metal Performance Grammy.  Now, the award is not even televised on the actual program and there have been a long list of questionable choices.  I don't think this year's issues were intentional, but they are new additions in the Grammy Awards long history of incompetence in handling metal music.

The Grammys Still (Mostly) Suck

Well I was reasonably impressed that Ghost won the Grammy last for Best Metal Performance.  I have seen the video of their acceptance of the award and I would have liked some reaction shots from the crowd, as Ghost definitely makes an impression visually.  Their song was the only nomination that I really like all that well.  The other bands nominated were Lamb of  God, Slipknot, August Burns Red, and Sevendust, none of whom I give a fuck about.  Ghost is apparently also going on tour soon with a concert date near here, I may have to go check them out.

Fuck the Grammys

Call it morbid curiosity.  I really do not give a fuck about the Grammys, but I find myself checking out who won the Best Metal Performance Grammy each year.  Usually I do not even see the nominees until that night, but I check it out anyway.  This year saw Tenacious D win the Grammy for Best Metal Performance for their version of Dio's classic "Last in Line".  That is fucking ridiculous.  A cover version of a song written 30 years ago by a joke band headed by actor Jack Black is not a very good representation of where metal is today.  I'm not even mad about it, the whole thing is just so ridiculous that it defies explanation.  I would prefer it if the award show would just drop the Metal Performance Grammy altogether.  They have no idea about the genre and don't seem to care.  What's the point?

The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Goes to...

Halestorm.

I still have no fucking clue who the hell this band is.  Fail.

Your Hard Rock/Metal Grammy Nominees Are...

Anthrax: "I'm Alive"
I actually really like this song and I like the latest Anthrax album a lot.

Halestorm:  "Love Bites (So Do I)"
I have never heard of this band.

Iron Maiden: "Blood Brothers" (Live)
The live version of a poor song originally on an album released twelve years ago.

Lamb of God: "Ghost Walking"
Have not heard it.  Nothing from Lamb of God has been worthwhile in several years.

Marilyn Manson: "No Reflection"
See Lamb of God.  I had no idea Marilyn Manson was still around.

Megadeth: "Whose Life (Is is Anyway?)"
I did not care much for this track, though I do love Megadeth.

Now I am not going to claim I really give much of a damn about the Grammys.  That being said, Anthrax would be my preference to win based on these tracks, but I would guess it will go to Iron Maiden or Megadeth.  Possibly Halestorm if I had any fucking clue who they were.

Grammys Fuck Up Again

Link.

The Grammys, already well known for their vast knowledge and attention to the genre of metal, recently decided to streamline their awards show, combining several awards and dropping some as well. One of the casualties is the metal award which has been combined with the hard rock award. Which means that they will likely stop nominating any metal albums at all. That's just great. Luckily no one has given much of a shit about what the Grammys have to say for a long time anyway.

Iron Maiden Wins Grammy

I believe I predicted this. Not that I really think this deserves it, but it was better than a lot of the stuff that was nominated. I still have no idea why in the fuck I care.

2011 Grammy Nominations

I am usually on the ball with this, because I have kind of a sick desire to know what the Grammys nominate for the Best Metal category. It's like a trainwreck, that I just cannot look away from.

Well, here's this year's nominees, quite a bit late this year:

Iron Maiden: "El Dorado"

Korn: "Let the Guilt Go"

Lamb of God: "In Your Words"

Megadeth: "Sudden Death"

Slayer: "World Painted Blood"

Okay, so, completely predictable. Lamb of God and Slayer seem to get nominated every year, whether they actually released an album or not. Megadeth has been nominated several times lately as well, but I am not sure what this song is, it's not on their last album. I guess it appeared on a recent Guitar Hero game. Iron Maiden was, of course, a high profile release from a high profile band, and they will likely win it. Korn is the obligatory "what the fuck?" band.

MY PREDICTION:
Iron Maiden wins it in a sort of tribute to their larger discography, which has heretofore been ignored by the Grammys.

Grammys Again

I mentioned in my last post that the Grammys have made a habit of giving the Metal Performance award to songs that were actually fairly old. That got me thinking. So I decided to research the issue. Here's the list of winning bands who won with a song that was significantly older, and the year of the award and year the song was originally released. If it was a cover song, I have noted that as well.

1991: Metallica "Stone Cold Crazy" (Queen cover 1974)
1996: Nine Inch Nails "Happiness in Slavery" (1992) NFM
2000: Black Sabbath "Iron Man" (1970)
2005: Motorhead "Whiplash" (Metallica cover 1983)
2010: Judas Priest "Dissident Aggressor" (1977)

2010 Grammy Award of Metal Performance Goes To...

Judas Priest for "Dissident Aggressor" off of their recent live album. I predicted some time ago that Slayer would win it, but expressed a preference for Megadeth or Judas Priest. This is a pleasant surprise. I am not predicting any sort of real change in Grammy voters in how they feel about metal. The fact that they gave Judas Priest their first Grammy some 40 years after the band's formation shows that they don't understand today's music. "Dissident Aggressor" is a song which first appeared nearly 30 years ago. Whatever. The other problem is of course the fact that they don't hand out the Metal Performance Grammy during the televised show. Congratulations anyway Judas Priest.

2010 Grammy Nominations for Best Metal Performance

I hate the Grammys and I am sure that most metalheads would agree with me. Ever since the first year the award was given out for Best Metal Performance, no self-respecting metalhead has taken it seriously. That first time was one of the most infamous fuckups in award show history. They gave the Grammy to Jethro Fucking Tull. Over Metallica. Over Metallica's "One", a masterful song. That same year the other nominees were Iggy Pop, AC/DC, and Jane's Addiction. What a way to start the award off with a complete fucking disaster.

Since then, Grammy awards under this category have been awarded to non-metal and false metal bands like Nine Inch Nails (twice), Rage Against the Machine, Tool (twice), Deftones, Korn, and Slipknot. The worst year was 2003 when not a single nominee was actually a metal band. That year featured Korn winning with nominations for P.O.D., Slipknot, Stone Sour, and Rob Zombie.

This year's nominees were announced on Thursday and they're not as egregiously, mind-blowingly, awful as usual. Huh. Maybe they're learning. Probably not. As my fiancee said to me many metal bands have become better known in the last few years. She has heard of all of these bands. So, here's the list:

Judas Priest: "Dissident Aggressor": I have no idea why they picked this particular track off the band's recent live album. The song itself is 30 years old.
Lamb of God: "Set to Fail"
Megadeth: "Head Crusher"
Ministry: "Senor Peligro"
Slayer: "Hate Worldwide"

Slayer has won a couple of Grammys for this category recently, so they could easily get it again. Ministry seems to be nominated every year (five times total), so it would be nice for them to finally win it, though I doubt they will as they are extremely inaccessible. Megadeth has been nominated eight times, without a single win. Judas Priest has been nominated four times without a win. Both Megadeth and Judas Priest deserve it for their larger body of work, not necessarily the stuff for which they were nominated.

In short, I think Slayer will win it, but I would like to see it go to Judas Priest or Megadeth. I will not watch the show as they give out this award during the pre-show. Stupid bunch of shit.

Metallica and Alice in Chains were nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance. Metal bands nominated for Hard Rock? Sigh.

Dear Grammy Awards

Dear Grammy Awards:

Last night, you got one sort of right. Metallica did deserve the Grammy over the other crap that you nominated. However you have a long history of completely missing the fucking point with metal. First of all, Slipknot is not a fucking metal band. Secondly, perhaps if you dug a little deeper, you might find that there were much better albums out last year than Judas Priest, Metallica, Dragonforce, and Ministry.

You have a real fucking spotty record with regard to nominations and winners in general for this category. Looking over the list of winners, we have the following completely non-metal bands: Slipknot, Korn (what the fuck, not even Korn believes they are a metal band), Tool, Deftones (this one completely astonishes me and they fucking won over Iron Maiden for fuck's sake), Nine Inch Nails (if you don't use real instruments, it's hard to claim you're a metal band and they won twice), Rage Against the Machine, and the grand-daddy of all Grammy fuck-ups Jethro fucking Tull. The following completely-non-fucking-metal bands were nominated over the years: Stone Sour (really?), Mudvayne, Rammstein, Hatebreed, Marilyn Manson, Spineshank, P.O.D. (wow), Rob Zombie, System of a Down, Nashville Pussy, Rollins Band (I like Henry Rollins, but his band is most certainly not even fucking close to a metal band)

You have been warned Grammy. Either learn about real metal, try a little harder for nominations, or stop giving out the damn award.

Love,
shadowking86