Metallica got a number of nominations at the Grammy Awards last night and they won a couple of them. They won Best Metal Performance for My Apocalypse and Best Recording Package for Death Magnetic.

Producer on Death Magnetic, Rick Rubin also picked up the award for Producer of the Year and in addition to Metallica he worked with an eclectic bunch including Neil Diamond, Jakob Dylan, Dancing For The Death Of An Imaginary Enemy and Weezer. He has been credited with working his revitalizing magic on the band and contributing to their best album for years.

They also got nominated for Best Rock Instrumental with Suicide and Redemption but missed out to Peaches En Regalia by Zappa Plays Zappa Featuring Steve Vai and Napoleon Murphy Brock. Their other nomination was for Best Rock Album with Death Magnetic but in the end the award went to Viva La Vida by Coldplay.

Metallica have won a number of Grammies over the years but their last award came back in 2004 and it was Best Metal Performance for St. Anger. They have actually won 7 in total before last night’s show and they had been nominated for 13.

To win Best Metal Performance they beat DragonForce with Heroes of our Time, Judas Priest with Nostradamus, Ministry with Under My Thumb and Slipknot with Psychosocial.

These Grammy awards seem to reflect the general consensus that Metallica are back on form with Death Magnetic and after a lean period for the band things are looking up.