In an unsurprising turn of events, Metallica has been declared the winner for “Best Metal Performance” in 2023. Up against fellow nominees Spiritbox, Ghost, Disturbed, and Slipknot, Metallica claimed victory for their song “72 Seasons”. This would be the 9th time Metallica has won a Grammy since they won their first in 1989.
There isn’t really much to say about this event, considering that nearly every single time Metallica has been nominated for a Grammy in the heavy metal category, they have won. Under different circumstances, I would’ve hotly debated the choice to give the Grammy to Metallica, but considering what they were up against, I’d say they made the right choice. Spiritbox put out possibly one of the worst pieces of modern metal to date with their song “Jaded”. The lyrics are very vaguely about love and written in a style very much not metal. The guitar riffs are decent but the lack of a solo, bad lyrics, and weak groove of the song definitely hurt “Jaded” a lot. As far as Ghost is concerned, there isn’t much to say. They put out a half-hearted cover of Iron Maiden’s “Phantom Of The Opera.” I appreciate the effort but it just wasn’t their style. “Hive Mind” sounds like a generic Slipknot song in terms of composition and riffs, though I will say that the message conveyed in the lyrics is cool–telling people who talk about stuff like they’re a part of it, but have nothing to do with it to buzz off. “Bad Man” is Disturbed’s latest attempt at trying to stay relevant. The lyrics are lazy, the rhymes are weak, the riffs are generic, and –as always– David Draiman can’t actually sing this live. All of these songs nominated were bad. Though, I think that out of all of them, it was the best choice to pick Metallica. The riffs on “72 Seasons” (not just the song, but the album as a whole) are killer, but are held back by subpar composition choice and lazy soloing. But enough about how the song is, we’re here to see what happened at the Grammys!
Actually looking at what Metallica did there, there isn’t really much to speak of. Bassist Robert Trujillo showed up alone to accept the Grammy, joking that he lives in the area. When asked why James, Lars, and Kirk could not be there, he replied “they’re with their families”. It may not have been the message they wanted to send, but it’s hard not to take this as being “we don’t care.” Which makes sense, considering how many Grammys Metallica have won.
Cover photo credits to Gareth on Flickr