By Greg Pratt

The Grammy nominations for this year have been announced, and all metallic eyes cast a nervous glance over to the metal category… don’t sweat it, it’s all good stuff. SLAYER, JUDAS PRIEST, MEGADETH, MINISTRY and LAMB OF GOD round out the metal nominees (METALLICA are over in the, ahem, hard rock category). We caught up with Lamb Of God drummer Chris Adler to get his reaction to this, their second Grammy nom (first was in ’06, for the band’s last disc, Sacrament).

“It feels kind of odd, to be honest,” he says. “We were nominated in 2006 and that felt odd at the time as well. For an aspiring metal band, the Grammys aren’t necessarily something you’re shooting for. Not because you don’t want one, but just because it’s so outside reality.”

And while, sure, the Grammys aren’t exactly the truest thing in town, Adler says that it’s flattering to be recognized by such a huge institution in music. Plus, apparently, it’s a bizarrely good time going to these things.

“I’m personally thrilled about it,” says Adler. “I’m really looking forward to going out there. Not so much because I plan on winning or losing, but once the metal category is over, the rest of the day is just filled with these weird plastic people that I never see any other place. I’m really looking forward to the after-party. Last time we ended up at an after-party with ‘WEIRD’ AL YANKOVIC, SMOKEY ROBINSON and BEYONCÉ. It just gets totally nuts, man.”

And as for who Adler thinks will be walking away with the award, he admits he’d love his band to but there is one certain Big Four band he’s rooting for.

“I really think Megadeth deserves one,” he admits. “They’ve been nominated seven times and never walked away with one. That is a band that, to me, really helped define the genre and the music that we play. I think they’re really well overdue and deserving of it.”

Like Megadeth, Lamb Of God has never got a Grammy, but the guys have had no shortage of other accolades tossed their way. It could be easy to let that stuff get to your head, but not if you do like Adler does—keep it tucked away.

“I’ve got a box in the basement where I’ve got all these really nice framed things with my name etched in different types of metals telling me how well this thing has done or sold. It’s not that I don’t care about them; I care about them greatly. But I feel like if I put them up all around my house and surround myself with this idea of success I’ll get lazy. I enjoy the idea of getting up and feeling the need to be motivated to make tomorrow better than today was. I want that work ethic in my life and I don’t want to suppress it or water it down by convincing myself that I’ve done enough.”

And, real quick, a Lamb Of God update for the faithful to end off. The faithful can get ready to get stoked, as Adler reveals the band will be working on another of their extremely popular DVDs this year.

“I think our DVDs do better than our records do,” laughs Adler. “This year we’re going to some pretty cool places - China, Russia, South Africa, South America. So we’re going to be filming ourselves in very strange circumstances. I just hope nobody goes to jail, and if they do, it doesn’t cost much to get out (laughs).”