Today is my last installment of the “Looking Forward to the Grammys” series, and we are listening to the nominees for Best Metal Performance. I don’t listen to a lot of metal, and I’m not familiar with any of these artists.

Genesis, performed by Deftones. If you’re prone to seizures, you may not want to watch this video:

The Alien, performed by Dream Theater:

Amazonia, performed by Gojira:

Pushing the Tides, performed by Mastodon:

The Triumph of King Freak (A Crypt of Preservation and Superstition), performed by Rob Zombie:

Not really having a frame of reference, I struggled to evaluate these songs. To me, they all sounded remarkably similar.

The Triumph of King Freak didn’t appeal to me at all.

I didn’t know what to think of Genesis, so I watched the video that shows the lyrics. They’re actually pretty deep. I don’t care for the screaming, though.

The Alien has a driving rhythm and invigorating guitar riffs.

Again, I could not interpret the vocals of Amazonia, and had to refer to the lyric video. Very powerful. Proceeds from Amazonia benefit The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), who advocate for environmental and cultural rights of indigenous tribes in the Amazon who have suffered from deforestation, land loss, forced labor, violence, and harassment. I like that kind of artist activism.

Here are the lyrics to Pushing the Tides, if you’re interested.

My personal preference is for Amazonia. I hope Gojira wins the Grammy for Best Metal Performance.

I had also wanted to do a post on Album of the Year, but I didn’t get very far. I don’t subscribe to a music streaming service, since I’m old and prefer to play my CDs. I do have Amazon Prime, though, and I found a few of the albums on there. I listened to We Are by Jon Batiste, which was a pleasant half hour. I like the version of Cry on the album better than the live video I posted on Looking Forward to the Grammys, Part XI. I listened to Sour by Olivia Rodrigo, also a half hour, but I was disappointed by the number of f-bombs. Then I listened to Evermore by Taylor Swift, a full hour of wonderful songs. My goodness, she works hard, and she gives good value to her fans.

Not all of the Album of the Year nominees are on Amazon Prime. At first, I tried to listen to as many as I could, but the next one I chose was Planet Her by Doja Cat, and the first song was so explicit (and ever other song on the album was marked with an E) that I thought, Andrea, what are you doing to yourself? So I gave up. Of the three albums I listened to, I liked Evermore the best, but is it fair of me to say that it’s the best if I didn’t listen to all 10? Probably not.

Sunday we’ll find out who gets the Grammys. Here are my picks for the 13 categories I reviewed:

1. Best Music Video: Freedom, Jon Batiste
2. Song of the Year: A Beautiful Noise
3. Best Global Music Performance: Mohabbat, Arooj Aftab
4. Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance: Jireh
5. Best Dance/ Electronic Recording: Hero
6. Best Rock Song: Distance, Wolfgang Van Halen
7. Best Country Song: Cold
8. Best Traditional R&B Performance: Bring It On Home to Me
9. Best Improvised Jazz Solo: Humpty Dumpty (Set 2), Chick Corea
10. Best Gospel Performance: Help
11. Best American Roots Song: Cry
12. Best Instrumental Composition: Eberhard, Lyle Mays
13. Best Metal Performance: Amazonia, Gojira

Now it’s your turn. Which nominee do you think should win the Grammy for Best Metal Performance, and why? Please share in the comments below.

Have you read all the other parts of this series? Part I: Best Music Video, Part II: Song of the Year, Part III: Best Global Music Performance, Part IV: Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/ Song, Part V: Best Dance/ Electronic Performance, Part VI: Best Rock Song, Part VII: Best Country Song, Part VIII: Best Traditional R&B Performance, Part IX: Best Improvised Jazz Solo, Part X: Best Gospel Performance/ Song, Part XI: Best American Roots Song and Part XII: Best Instrumental Composition.