Metal Performance at the Grammys – Readers Poll

The 56th Annual Grammy Awards just announced their first metal performer in quite some time as Metallica will be joining the festivities on Jan. 26 in Los Angeles. The band will perform alongside classical music pianist Lang Lang at "music's biggest night." Even though this may seem like an odd collaboration, fans should remember that Metallica has a history with classical music, performing with an orchestra for their 'S&M' album.

While it is nice to have some representation on the actual Grammy broadcast for a metal band, we want to know what other metal act you feel should have the opportunity to grace the Grammy stage. The best place to start would be the Best Metal Performance Grammy nominees, where Anthrax, Black Sabbath, Dream Theater, Killswitch Engage and Volbeat with King Diamond are all vying for this year's golden gramophone.

Given the Grammys love of collaborations, how cool would it be to see Anthrax performing 'T.N.T.' perhaps with the song's originators AC/DC or to see the new school meets old school collaboration of Volbeat and King Diamond on 'Room 24' performed live? And if ever there were a time to have Black Sabbath play, wouldn't this be it? Dream Theater are the type of master craftsmen the Grammys typically fawn over and Killswitch Engage's reunion with Jesse Leach is the type of buzz generating event that would draw some eyeballs (though admittedly this might have been better closer to when the reunion first occurred).

Other possibilities include such high profile veteran metal acts as Motorhead, Megadeth and Iron Maiden who enjoyed solid years or red hot modern acts like Avenged Sevenfold and Five Finger Death Punch coming off the biggest years of their careers.

We've given you some options. Now let us know which of these acts you feel deserves to perform on the main broadcast at the Grammys.