I’m thoroughly confused by the 2024 Grammys. Wait! I’m confused about the Grammy’s in general.
“Metal is not a key category” – this statement is listed in multiple places on the internet. Weird, because according to Spotify, heavy metal is the most popular music genre.
Other categories have “best” performance, “best” album, “best” song, “best” new artist, “best” act, etc., but “best performance” is the only metal category. I’m outraged! Wait! Am I?
If the Grammy’s are going to include the category of metal, they should do it right or not at all. AND it really should not be the best “performance.” Why isn’t it just best metal album. (And live albums should not be allowed.)
The 66th Grammy Awards, which aired on 2/4/24 awarded Metallica for best Metal Performance for “72 Seasons,” over Disturbed, Ghost, Slipknot, and Spiritbox. Ok, whatever. At least the nominees are somewhat metal.
Here is part two of my confusion: How are bands both metal and rock or rock and alternative?
Best Metal Performance
Disturbed – “Bad Man”
Ghost – “Phantom of the Opera”
WINNER: Metallica – “72 Seasons”
Slipknot – “Hive Mind”
Spiritbox – “Jaded”
Best Rock Performance
Arctic Monkeys – “Sculptures of Anything Goes”
Black Pumas – “More Than a Love Song”
WINNER: Boygenius – “Not Strong Enough”
Foo Fighters – “Rescued”
Metallica – “Lux Aeterna”
Best Rock Song
The Rolling Stones – “Angry” (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Andrew Watt – songwriters)
Olivia Rodrigo – “Ballad of a Home Schooled Girl” (Daniel Nigro and Olivia Rodrigo – songwriters)
Queens of the Stone Age – “Emotion Sickness” (Dean Fertita, Joshua Homme, Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman and Jon Theodore – songwriters)
WINNER: Boygenius – “Not Strong Enough” (Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus – songwriters)
Foo Fighters – “Rescued” (Dave Grohl, Rami Jaffee, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett and Pat Smear – songwriters)
Best Rock Album
Foo Fighters – But Here We Are
Greta Van Fleet – Starcatcher
Metallica – 72 Seasons
WINNER: Paramore – This Is Why
Queens of the Stone Age – In Times New Roman
Best Alternative Music Performance
Alvvays – “Belinda Says”
Arctic Monkeys – “Body Paint”
Boygenius – “Cool About It”
Lana Del Rey – “A&W”
WINNER: Paramore – “This Is Why”
Best Alternative Music Album
Arctic Monkeys – The Car
WINNER: Boygenius – The Record
Lana Del Rey – Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
Gorillaz – Cracker Island
PJ Harvey – I Inside the Old Year Dying
So, Metallica is listed in both metal and rock categories. Boygenius is listed in both alternative and rock categories? Pick a lane people!
Let’s go back 30 years and find out how many times the Grammy’s got it right. My guess is zero.
Note: Metal was not recognized until 1990. Metallica won the first three years. During 2012 and 2013 they actually did away with the metal category and merged hard rock and metal, not bringing it back until 2014.
1994
Ozzy Osbourne – “I Don’t Want to Change the World” (live)
· Iron Maiden – “Fear of the Dark” (live)
· Megadeth – “Angry Again”
· Suicidal Tendencies – “Institutionalized”
· White Zombie – “Thunder Kiss ’65
Should have been: Pantera “Far Beyond Driven”
1995
Soundgarden – “Spoonman”
· Anthrax and Public Enemy – “Bring the Noise” (live)
· Megadeth – “99 Ways to Die”
· Pantera – “I’m Broken”
· Rollins Band – “Liar”
Should have been: “Death “Symbolic”
Should have been: Death “Symbolic”
1996
Nine Inch Nails – “Happiness in Slavery” (live)
· Gwar – “S.F.W.”
· Megadeth – “Paranoid”
· Metallica – “For Whom the Bell Tolls” (live)
· White Zombie – “More Human than Human”
Should have been: In Flames “The Jester Race” / Hypocrisy “Abducted”
1997
Rage Against the Machine – “Tire Me”
· Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie – “Hands of Death (Burn Baby Burn)”
· Korn – “Shoots and Ladders”
· Pantera – “Suicide Note, Pt. II”
· White Zombie – “I’m Your Boogieman”
Should have been: In Flames “Whoracle” or Hypocrisy “The Final Chapter”
1998
Tool – “Ænema”
· Corrosion of Conformity – “Drowning in a Daydream”
· Korn – “No Place to Hide”
· Megadeth – “Trust”
· Pantera – “Cemetery Gates” (live)
Should have been: Slayer “Diabolus in Musica” / Vision of Disorder “Imprint”
1999
Metallica – “Better Than You”
· Judas Priest – “Bullet Train”
· Nashville Pussy – “Fried Chicken and Coffee”
· Rage Against the Machine – “No Shelter”
· Rammstein – “Du hast”
Should have been: Children of Bodom “Hatebreeder” / In Flames “Colony” / Slipknot “Slipknot” / Static X “Wisconsin Death Trip”
2000
Black Sabbath – “Iron Man” (live)
· Ministry – “Bad Blood”
· Motörhead – “Enter Sandman”
· Nine Inch Nails – “Starfuckers, Inc.”
· Rob Zombie – “Superbeast”
Should have been: In Flames “Clayman” / Morbid Angel “Gateways to Annihilation”/ Pantera “Reinventing the Steel”
2001
Deftones – Elite”
· Iron Maiden – “The Wicker Man”
· Marilyn Manson – “Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes”
· Pantera – “Revolution Is My Name”
· Slipknot – “Wait and Bleed”
Should have been: Slipknot “Iowa” / Fear Factory “Digimortal”
2002
Tool – “Schism”
· Black Sabbath – “The Wizard” (live)
· Slayer – “Disciple”
· Slipknot – “Left Behind”
· System of a Down – “Chop Suey!”
Should have been: In Flames “Reroute to Remain” / Chevelle “Wonder What’s Next” / King Diamond “Abigail II: The Revenge” / Meshuggah “Nothing”
2003
KoRn – “Here to Stay”
· P.O.D. – “Portrait”
· Slipknot – “My Plague”
· Stone Sour – “Get Inside”
· Rob Zombie – “Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Kroovy)”
Should have been: Children of Bodom “Hate Crew Deathroll” / BLS “The Blessed Hellride” / Nevermore “Enemise of Reality|” / KoRn “Take a Look in the Mirror”
2004
Metallica – “St. Anger”
· Korn – “Did My Time”
· Marilyn Manson – “Mobscene”
· Spineshank – “Smothered”
· Stone Sour – “Inhale”
Should have been: Slipknot Vol. 3. “/ In Flames “Soundtrack to Your Escape” / BLS “Hangover Music Vol VI.” Probot “Probot” / Killswitch Engage “The End of Heartache”
2005
Motörhead – “Whiplash”
· Cradle of Filth – “Nymphetamine (Overdose)” (featuring Liv Kristine)
· Hatebreed – “Live for This”
· Killswitch Engage – “The End of Heartache”
· Slipknot – “Vermilion”
Should have been: Nevermore “This Godless Endeavor” / Gojira “From Mars to Sirius” / Origin “Echoes of Decimation” / Mudvayne “Lost and Found”
2006
Slipknot – “Before I Forget”
· Ministry – “The Great Satan (Remix)”
· Mudvayne – “Determined”
· Rammstein – “Mein Teil”
· Shadows Fall – “What Drives the Weak
Should have been: In Flames “Come Clarity” / BLS “Shot to Hell” / Celtic Frost “Monotheist” / Agalloch “ Ashes Against the Grain”
2007
Slayer – “Eyes of the Insane”
· Lamb of God – “Redneck”
· Mastodon – “Colony of Birchmen”
· Ministry – “LiesLiesLies”
· Stone Sour – “30/30-150”
Should have been: Watain “Sworn to the Dark” / Dillinger Escape Plan “Ire Works” / Between the Buried and Me “Colors”
2008
Slayer – “Final Six”
· As I Lay Dying – “Nothing Left”
· King Diamond – “Never Ending Hill”
· Machine Head – “Aesthetics of Hate”
· Shadows Fall – “Redemption”
Should have been: Gojira “The Way of All flesh” / Meshuggah “obZen”
2009
Metallica – “My Apocalypse”
· DragonForce – “Heroes of Our Time”
· Judas Priest – “Nostradamus”
· Ministry – “Under My Thumb”
· Slipknot – “Psychosocial”
Should have been: Behomoth “Evangelion” / Amorphis “Skyforger” / God Dethroned “Passiondale” / Havok “Burn”
2010
Judas Priest – “Dissident Aggressor” (live)
· Lamb of God – “Set to Fail”
· Megadeth – “Head Crusher”
· Ministry – “Señor Peligro” (live)
· Slayer – “Hate Worldwide”
Should have been: Witchery “Witcvhkrieg” / Dark Tranquility “We Are the Void” / Dimmu Borgir “Abrahadabra / Annihilator “Annihilator”
2011
Iron Maiden – “El Dorado”
· Korn – “Let the Guilt Go”
· Lamb of God – “In Your Words”
· Megadeth – “Sudden Death”
· Slayer – “World Painted Blood”
Slayer should have won.
Should have been: Dir En Grey “Dum Spiro Spero” / Anthrax “Worship Music” / The Black Dahlia Murder “Ritual”
2012-2013 they combined hard rock and metal – which was a bad move.
2012
Foo Fighters – “White Limo”
· Dream Theater — “On the Backs of Angels”
· Mastodon — “Curl of the Burl”
· Megadeth — “Public Enemy No. 1”
· Sum 41 – “Blood In My Eyes”
Should have been: Gojira “L’Enfant Sauvage” / Meshuggah “ Koloss” / Enslaved “RIITIIR”
2013
Halestorm – “Love Bites (So Do I)”
· Anthrax — “I’m Alive”
· Iron Maiden — “Blood Brothers” (live)
· Lamb of God – “Ghost Walking”
· Marilyn Manson – “No Reflection”
· Megadeth – “Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)”
Should have been: Black Sabbath “13” / Power Trip “Manifest Decimation”
2014
Black Sabbath – “God Is Dead?”
“T.N.T.” — Anthrax
“The Enemy Inside” — Dream Theater
“In Due Time” — Killswitch Engage
“Room 24” — Volbeat, featuring King Diamond
Should have been: At the Gates “At War with Reality” / Behemoth “The Satanist”
2015
Tenacious D – “The Last in Line”
· Anthrax – “Neon Knights”
· Mastodon – “High Road”
· Motörhead – “Heartbreaker”
· Slipknot – “The Negative One”
Should have been: Shining “IX – Everyone, Everything, Everywhere Ends” / High on Fire “Luminiferous” / Cattle Decapitation “The Anthropocene Extinction”
2016
Ghost – “Cirice”
· August Burns Red – “Identity”
· Lamb of God – “512”
· Sevendust – “Thank You”
· Slipknot – “Custer”
Should have been: Meshuggah “The Violent Sleep of Reason” / Gojira “Magma” / The Dillinger Escape Plan “Dissociation”
2017
Megadeth – “Dystopia”
· Baroness – “Shock Me”
· Gojira – “Silvera”
· Korn – “Rotting in Vain”
· Periphery – “The Price Is Wrong”
Should have been: Obituary “Obituary” / Immolation “Atonement” / Body Count “Blood Lust” / Enslaved “E” / Dying Fetus “Wrong One to Fuck With” / Code Orange “Forever”
2018
Mastodon – “Sultan’s Curse”
· August Burns Red – “Invisible Enemy”
· Body Count – “Black Hoodie”
· Code Orange – “Forever”
· Meshuggah – “Clockworks
Should have been: Rivers of Nihil “Where Owls Know My Name” / Ministry “AmeriKKKant” / High on Fire “Electric Messiah” / Hate Eternal “Upon Desolate Sands”
2019
High on Fire – “Electric Messiah”
· Between the Buried and Me – “Condemned to the Gallows”
· Deafheaven – “Honeycomb”
· Trivium – “Betrayer”
· Underoath – “On My Teeth”
Should have been: Periphery |Periphery IV: Hail Stan| / Knocked Loose “A Different Shade of Blue| / Leprous |Pitfalls”/ Borknagar “True North” / Korn “The Nothing” / Demon Hunter “War and Peace”
2020
Tool – “7empes
· Candlemass – “Astorolus – The Great Octopus” (featuring Tony Iommi)
· Death Angel – “Humanicide”
· I Prevail – “Bow Down”
· Killswitch Engage – “Unleashed”
Should have been: Haken “Virus” / The Ghost Inside – “The Ghost Inside” / Naglfar “Cerecloth”
2021
Body Count – “Bum-Rush”
· Code Orange – “Underneath”
· In This Moment – “The In-Between”
· Poppy – “Bloodmoney”
· Power Trip – “Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)” (live)
Should have been: Gojira “Fortitude” / Hypocrisy “Worship” /Volumes “Happier?” /Jinjer “Wallflowers”
2022
Dream Theater – “The Alien”
· Deftones – “Genesis”
· Gojira – “Amazonia”
· Mastodon – “Pushing the Tides”
· Rob Zombie – “The Triumph of King Freak (A Crypt of Preservation and Superstition)”
Should have been: Lorna Shore “Pain Remains”
2023
Ozzy Osbourne – “Degradation Rules” (featuring Tony Iommi)
· Ghost – “Call Me Little Sunshine”
· Megadeth – “We’ll Be Back”
· Muse – “Kill or Be Killed”
· Turnstile – “Blackout|
Should have been: Sanguisugabogg “Homicidal Ecstasy” / Suffocation “Hymns of the Apocrypha” / Periphery “Djent Is Not a Genre”
I have tried to understand who exactly the recording Academy voters are, and if I actually even care to have the true “best” metal be honored.
We are a community and a culture that many do not understand, and maybe that is just fine.
In a perfect world the Grammy’s would honor all genres and sub genres in the following categories:
- Best album
- Best record (for the producers, writers, etc.)
- Best new artist
Metal really isn’t an all-inclusive title to represent the plethora of genres and sub genres anyway. And perhaps the “academy” isn’t actually qualified. It certainly appears not over the last 30 years.
In a perfect world, IF the Grammy’s were to treat metal like they do pop or rap, they should consider the main categories of metal.
Below is the most comprehensive list of metal genres and sub genres. Did I miss any? What do you think about the Grammy’s representation of metal?
- Alternative metal
- Atmospheric black metal
- Avantgarde death metal
- Avantgarde metal
- Beatdown hardcore
- Black metal
- Blackened crust
- Blackgaze
- Brutal death metal
- Celtic metal
- Christian metal
- Crossover thrash
- Crust punk
- Crust punk
- Cyber metal
- Cybergrind
- D Beat
- Dark metal
- Death metal
- Death n roll
- Death/doom
- Deathcore
- Deathgrind
- Djent
- Doom metal
- Drone metal
- Electrogrind
- Electronicore
- Epic metal
- Experimental metal
- Folk metal
- Funeral doom
- Funk metal
- Glam metal
- Goregrind
- Gothic metal
- Grindcore
- Groove metal
- Grunge
- Hardcore
- Heavy metal
- Industrial black metal
- Kawaii metal
- Krishnacore
- Latin metal
- Math metal
- Mathcore
- Melodic death metal
- Melodic hardcore
- Melodic metalcore
- Metalcore
- Metallic hardcore
- National socialist black metal
- Neoclassical metal
- Neue deutsche harte
- New wave of traditional heavy metal
- Nintendocore
- Nu metal
- Occult metal
- Old school death metal
- Pagan metal
- Pirate metal
- Porno grind
- Post black metal
- Post hardcore
- Post metal
- Power metal
- Powerviolence
- Progressive death metal
- Progressive metal
- Progressive metalcore
- Punk metal
- Punk rock
- Rapcore
- Raw black metal
- Red and anarchist black metal
- Screamo
- Shred metal
- Slam death metal
- Sludge metal
- Speed metal
- Stoner metal
- Symphonic black metal
- Symphonic metal
- Symphonic metal
- Technical death metal
- Technical thrash metal
- Thrash metal
- Traditional heavy metal
- Unblack metal
- Viking metal
- War metal
