Episode III of the Revolver Golden Gods Awards

Yesterday downtown Los Angeles was dressed in black for a Metallic freak show, in which the elite of Heavy Music was present for Episode III of the Revolver Golden Gods Awards. As soon as we arrived to the "Black Carpet" there were kids waiting anxiously to greet all their heroes and to perhaps get their idols signatures. Then add hundreds of reporters wanting to squeeze in an interview with some of the most prolific names in Heavy Music and you have a headbangers paradise.

The crowd went absolutely bezerk when Sebastian Bach arrived, which called the attention of those that were just passing by. Seeing their faces was absolutely priceless! Imagine you are having a family lunch and all of a sudden you see al these kids wearing black, looking like they came from war, and next thing you know Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper, and Geezer Butler swing by. While those people had no idea what was happening, it was evident that for one day downtown Los Angeles was hell!

Here are some of the maniacs we got to interview while at the "Black Carpet":

- Alan Robert (Life Of Agony)
- Anthrax
- Chino Moreno (deftones)
- Chris Jericho (Fozzy)
- David Coverdale (Whitesnake)
- Duff McKagan (Loaded)
- Geezer Butler & Wendy Dio (Black Sabbath & Heaven and Hell)
- Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed, Kingdom of Sorrow, Jasta)
- Robb Flynn & Dave McClain (Machine Head)
- Shawn Crahan (Slipknot)
- Tony Campos (Static X)
- Vinnie Paul (Hellyeah)
- Wayne Static (Static X)

Once the "Black Carpet" was closed for business everyone rushed inside for the awards show. The event was hosted by Chris Jericho, who's band Fozzy kicked off the night of Heavy Music paradise. From there on, the large crowd who showed up at Club Nokia got a good cocktail of Heavy Music. Here are some of the highlights of the night, when it comes to the performances:

- The original Alice Cooper band played a ferocious set full of attitude, good music and were received with the horns up by all attendees. These guys proved that the older they get, the better they sound.

- History was written when Avenged Sevenfold brought on stage Duff McKagan to perform "It's So Easy" and Vinnie Paul to perform "Mouth For War" with them.The crowd lost their minds and are still looking for their sanity. We don't think they will ever find it.

- Devil Driver's tribute to Black Flag featuring skateboarder Mike Vallely, Brazilian musical terrorist Max Cavalera, and Hardcore legend Jamey Jasta, was absolutely insane. This was the first time the circle pit was in full effect.

- Duff McKagan's Loaded brought the masses the perfect segue to the more intense performances of the night, and delivered an epic cover of Judas Priest's "Electric Eye" featuring Corey Taylor and Steve Jones. In our opinion Corey stole the show!

- Asking Alexandria were joined by Sebastian Bach and were on fire while performing Skid Row's "Youth Gone Wild". Bach proved that he is one hell of a singer, and one hell of a guy!

- Volbeat brought their Danish power to the masses, and proved why they are one of the best bands to have recently shown their faces and fists in the Heavy Music world. During their set they were joined by Scott Ian from Anthrax and together they performed Dusty Springfield’s “I Only Want To Be With You”.

Now that we have that out of the way, here are the GOLDEN GODS of 2011:

\m/ - Hunted: The Demon’s Forge® Golden God Award: Alice Cooper (presented by Rob Zombie)

\m/ - Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award: Mötley Crüe (presented by Corey Taylor of Slipknot/Stone Sour)

\m/ - Honorary Headbanger Award: William Shatner (presented by Scott Ian of Anthrax and The Damned Things and comedian Brian Posehn)

\m/ - Epiphone® Best Guitarists Award: Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance of Avenged Sevenfold (presented by Robb Flynn of Machine Head and Wayne Static of Static X)

\m/ - Drum Workshop® Best Drummer Award: Mike Portnoy for his work with Avenged Sevenfold (presented by Vinnie Paul of Pantera/HellYeah)

\m/ - Best New Band Award: Black Veil Brides (presented by Duff McKagan of Loaded/Velvet Revolver/Guns N’ Roses)

\m/ - Most Metal Athlete Award: Skateboarder Mike Vallely (presented by Chino Moreno of Deftones)

\m/ - Rockstar Energy® Best Vocalist Award: M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold (presented by Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless and Sebastian Bach)

\m/ - Samson/Zoom® Best Live Band Award: Rammstein (presented by Charlie Benante of Anthrax and Mike Portnoy)

\m/ - Eagle Rock® Comeback of the Year Award: Murderdolls (presented by David Coverdale of Whitesnake)

\m/ - Affliction® Album of the Year Award: Avenged Sevenfold (presented by Jerry Cantrell and Mike Inez of Alice in Chains)

Stay tuned for all of our EXCLUSIVE interviews! \m/

“Lady Gaga tweets about it. James Durbin brings it on American Idol. And our host Chris Jericho represents it on Dancing With the Stars. Metal is taking over the mainstream, and the Revolver Golden Gods is its biggest, baddest celebration. If you missed the party, punch yourself in the balls… Or pick up the Golden Gods issue of Revolver on May 24, tune in to VH1 Classic on May 28, and we’ll see you next year!” –Revolver magazine Editor-in-Chief Brandon Geist

Related links:
Revolver Golden Gods Awards: Episode III