A Random Rant On Metal Awards

by Kevin Woron

The Grammy Awards finally got it right when it comes to Heavy Metal and their category of “Best Metal Performance.”

This year the nominees were; El Dorado by Iron Maiden, Let the Guilt Go by Korn, In Your Words by Lamb of God, Sudden Death by Megadeth and World Painted Blood by Slayer.  I’ll be a spoiler here and tell you that Iron Maiden’s victory was well deserved, but as with any of these awards at this level, it was more about their body of work than just one song.

Contrary to popular belief, there aren’t a lot of high level (read National/International) award shows that have a “Best Heavy Metal” category.  The Brits don’t give one, neither do the Dutch, Norwegians,  Swedes….the list goes on. (Please prove me wrong – I can only stay an “expert” if you hold my feet to the fire)

Canada’s own Juno awards used to have one.  From 1991 when it was called the “Best Hard Rock/Metal Album” Juno, then the “Hard Rock Album of the Year” from 1992 to1993  and then it morphed into “Best Hard Rock Album” for two years, until becoming the ubiquitous “Rock Album of the Year” in various names until now.

There are a number of suspicions as to why the category went away from Metal/Hard Rock.  One has to do with the numbers of Metal/Hard Rock bands signed to Canadian major labels.  That can be quickly debunked when you look at the number of nominees that come from independent labels in other musical genres.  Another one surrounds a limo accident involving a member of one of the nominated bands (I know the details and if you want them it will cost you a beverage of your choice – or search the internet – it is out there).  One more involves the fear of CARAS (Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Science) that the category would become the “RUSH” category, with only one band constantly winning the award.  (To be fair – they had been burned with the male and female artist awards which are now merged into the single Artist of the Year award) Some will point out that the award hasn’t disappeared, just evolved.

Some Metal fans will argue that any award is just homogenizing the genre and making it mainstream.  Or to quote Marx (Groucho, not Karl), “I Don’t want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member.”  And that’s fair comment, I mean just take a look for photos of Megadeth or Slayer going the Grammys in suits – hardly rebellious and standing with Metal’s unwritten code of standing outside the mainstream.

The Canadian Independent Music Awards, or Indies have a metal category which looks like what I would see if the Junos still recognized Metal.  You can see the list here. The awards will be presented on March 12th.  And they’ve been around for 10 years as a part of Canadian Music Week in Toronto.

There are a number of regional award shows that do include Metal.  The East Coast Music Awards has a loud category.  The West Coast Music awards doesn’t.  Alberta just started it’s own Alberta Metal Awards last year.  Calgary Beer Core gives away a Best Metal award during their awards shows.  These smaller awards shows tend to be more fun and are great for their locales, while giving the bands a better opportunity to promote themselves.

I was recently put in touch with a member of the Electronic committee from CARAS and at first probably came off as whiny and petulant, for which I have apologized to her.   What she made me realize is if we in the community WANT a Metal category back in the Junos, we as a community MUST do the footwork and do what other groups have done to get their music genres recognized.  That includes putting our money where our mouths are and buying memberships in CARAS.  And it can’t just be those who want to be on the committee or vote, but the members of the very bands we want recognized.  And there’s no guarantee that the band’s will be on the broadcast.  There are currently 40 awards and only the big 5 get on the broadcast.  So does the award mean anything if it doesn’t get any other press than some print media and a mention during the broadcast when the announcer says, “In Awards Presented Earlier”?

So do awards mean anything?  Are fans happier to see regional awards?  Do Canadian Metalheads want to see a Metal category back in the Junos, or are they happy with the Indies?  Are Canadian Metalheads ready to step up to do the work to get a Metal Juno back?  So many questions, can we come up with the answers?

The ball as they say is in our court…