Slayer guitarist Kerry King with Anthrax axeman Scott Ian backstage at Golden Gods
photo by Jon Wiederhorn
"Holy f-ck, I've never seen a circle pit at an awards ceremony before" joked metal-bred comic Brian Posehn ("The Sarah Silverman Show"), who hosted the First Annual Epiphone Revolver Golden Gods Awards, which was held Tuesday night at Club Nokia in Los Angeles.
The reason Posehn has never seen it is because it hasn't happened -- at least not in the U.S. The Epiphone Revolver Golden Gods marked the first large scale metal awards show ever in the States, and all corners of the metal community united to pay tribute to the music that has fired up hearts, stirred souls and changed lives. The highlight of the night was headliner Megadeth, whose crushing, polished three-song set of "Peace Sells," "Sweating Bullets" and "Holy Wars" was virtuosic, kinetic and undeniably sincere -- the perfect cap to an evening of heavy metal celebration.
The band's lineup may be way different than the ones that played on the albums that originally featured those songs, but the group's core, frontman Dave Mustaine, is as edgy and determined as ever. And during the set, new axeman Chris Broderick (ex-Nevermore) proved can stand up against any of the band's past guitarists, whether plowing through the fist-in-face riffage, zigzagging through a progressive-thrash maze or launching into a jaw-dropping solo.
As climactic as Megadeth were, the other performers of the night also earned their spots on the stage. Killswitch Engage opened the show with three explosive numbers that balanced the precision of thrash, the aggression of hardcore and the fun of a keg party. Modern death metal band Suicide Silence stepped on wearing full tuxedos and proceeded to decimate any notions of civility with helicopter headbanging, grinding rhythms and maniacal energy. The band's set included "Price of Beauty," which was banned by MTV because of its excessive violence and a new tune called "Wake Up," which stacked up breakdowns like cars in a freeway pileup.
All That Remains got the crowd bouncing with its thrash-pop hit "Two Weeks" and the equally infectious "This Calling" and Hatebreed amped up the animosity with a four-song mini-set that crackled like a wildfire and reiterated the band's importance within the hardcore metal scene.
Of course, the performances were only half of the event. The rest of the show was a proper awards ceremony, with Stonehenge-shaped trophies being handed out to the winners of each category. Slipknot took home two of the awards, earning Monster Riff of the Year for "Psychosocial" and "Best Live Band." The latter award was presented by Slayer vocalist Tom Araya and guitarist Kerry King and during their acceptance speeches drummer Joey Jordison and bassist Paul Gray both credited Slayer for inspiring them as musicians and metal fans. Slayer later got their own award when guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman were named Most Mindblowing Guitarists; the trophy was presented by Guitar World editor in chief Brad Tolinski.
The Hottest Chick in Metal honors went to Bleeding Through keboardist Marta, who, in her acceptance speech, thanked her parents for years of piano lessons, then joked, "Without them, I wouldn't be a musician, I'd be just be another hot chick." The Album of the Year award went to Metallica's Death Magnetic, who were unable to attend.
Log on to HeadbangersBlog.com in the days ahead for tons of photos, video interviews, black carpet shenanigans and podcasts from the Epiphone Revolver Golden Gods Awards. And stay tuned to MTV2 for exclusive Golden Gods coverage, which will all lead up to the one-hour television debut of the event on May 2 on MTV2.
The Complete List of Golden Gods Awards:
* Most Awesomely Good Drummer: Vinnie Paul (Hellyeah/Pantera)
* Best Underground Band: Isis
* Metal Industry Award: The Rainbow Bar & Grill
* Album of the Year : Metallica
* Honorary Headbanger: Kat Von D
* Golden God: Dave Mustaine (Megadeth)
* Monster Riff of the Year: Slipknot
* Most Viral Video: Protest the Hero
* Most Metal Athlete: Shaun White
* Best Live Band: Slipknot
* Best New Talent: Suicide Silence
* Lifetime Achievement: Ozzy Osbourne
* Best International Band: Dethklok
* Reader’s Choice Award: Acacia Strain
* Most Mind-Blowing Guitarists: Jeff Hanneman & Kerry King (Slayer)
* Hottest Chick In Metal: Marta Peterson (Bleeding Through)
Comments