9 Times The Grammy Awards Chose Its Metal Poorly

The 2003 and 2004 nominee lists suffer in similar fashion as they are far too much a product of the commercial state of heavy metal at the time. That is not to say that any of the nominees are terrible on their own, but with strong showings from the likes of Lamb of God, Dimmu Borgir, Anthrax, Opeth, Lacuna Coil and so many more during the consideration period, the final list is underwhelming.

Of the two winners, Metallica’s “St. Anger” is easily the bigger offender over Korn’s “Here To Stay”. Metallica’s previously mentioned foray into the contemporary resulted in an attempt to “return to their roots” with St. Anger, though the result was a far cry from their boasts, proving to be a misguided interpretation of what heavy metal had become.

Prior to the release of the album, guitarist Kirk Hammett was quoted as saying “that once this album drops and people hear it everywhere, I just have this suspicion that bands are gonna get heavier and start playing faster again.” Meanwhile, heavy metal had long since been doing so, with or without them, making Metallica’s win for a travesty of the genre a matter of adding insult to injury.