THE ONLY TRUE METAL AWARDS OF 2012
10TH ANNUAL METAL HAMMER GOLDEN GODS – THE BIGGEST CELEBRATION OF ROCK AND METAL MUSIC IN THE WORLD
IRON MAIDEN, BILL BAILEY, ANTHRAX, LAMB OF GOD AMONG THOSE HONOURED
11/06/12 The Metal Hammer Golden Gods comes with notoriety attached and last night’s 10th anniversary party (11th June 2012), did not disappoint. In its incredible history, some of the biggest names in metal have played, been honoured and most importantly, rubbed shoulders with the metalheads who love their music.
The Orange Amplification Presents The Metal Hammer Golden Gods In Association With Hobgoblin put the fans right at the heart of the experience. The hardcore fans and bands descended on The O2 Arena straight after the Download Festival to end the weekend of rock with the world’s greatest metal awards. They are perfectly tuned to what the core fanbase cares about, which is why the Golden Gods’ Gong is so sought after by the bands.
The Golden Gods are not your typical industry-focused, sit-down-enjoy-your-meal-and-raise-a-glass-to-the-winners kind of awards ceremony! They are what metal fans love and want – plenty of live bands and a celebration of great music. In fact, over its 10-year history, the Golden Gods have played host to over 20,000 people and 75 performing bands!
Opening the awards last night was a full stage show from Watain, setting the tone for a night of debauchery and mayhem. Metal pioneers Biohazard along with Sweden’s finest metal exports Ghost and Sabaton interwove live sets with the awards. Anthrax – a member of the ‘Big Four’ and arguably one of the most important and influential thrash metal bands of all time – closed the 2012 awards with a mindblowing performance.
WWE icon Chris Jericho, who also played on the legendary pre-party boat HMS Hammer with his band Fozzy, was the evening’s host, and with the help of some guest presenters including Killswitch Engage and guitar-wielding legend Gus G, presented the evening’s awards.
Amongst those honoured was comedian Bill Bailey for Spirit Of Hammer, rock royalty Saxon for Best British Band, metal juggernaughts Iron Maiden for Best Event and lord for the evening was legend Joey DeMaio of Manowar who picked up The Golden God Award. The vast majority of the winners were voted for by the readers of Metal Hammer and www.metalhammer.co.uk and in full they were:
Best Underground Band Watain
Best New Band The Defiled
Dimebag Darrell ‘Shredder’ Devin Townsend
Best UK Band Saxon
Best Live Band Rammstein
Best Event Iron Maiden Conquer The UK (Again)
Best International Band Lamb Of God
Metal As Fu*k Anthrax
Breakthrough Artist Ghost
Spirit Of Hammer Bill Bailey
Best Album Mastodon ‘The Hunter’
Best Drummer Vinnie Paul
Inspiration Roadrunner Records
Icons Fear Factory
Riff Lord Robb Flynn & Phil Demmel – Machine Head
The Golden God Joey DeMaio – Manowar
Video Of The Year Trivium ‘In Waves’
There was also an award for Best Download Festival Moment, to coincide with the festival, also celebrating its 10th anniversary. The award was voted for through www.downloadfestival.co.uk and was for the greatest Download moment of the past 10 years. With highlights proving to be an embarrassment of riches, the winner was Slipknot for their now-legendary Saturday night headlining slot in 2009, which was perhaps the ultimate triumph for one of the greatest bands of their generation. This was presented to Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor by Metal Hammer editor Alexander Milas onstage at the Download Festival.
Alexander Milas, Editor of Metal Hammer magazine, says: ”Ten playing bands, two boats, 18 awards, and nearly 2,000 fans, and completely heavy metal – there’s just nothing like the Metal Hammer Golden God awards. This wasn’t just the 10th anniversary of the event. It’s also the 25th anniversary year for our magazine, and tonight we partied with the legends, the new blood, and most importantly the fans, without whom our world wouldn’t exist. Here’s to another 10, and another 25. Chin-chin.”
**ENDS**
For more information please contact Ben Pester, Communications Manager at ben.pester@futurenet.com or 0207 042 4035 and 07737 138 384
Editors Notes:
About Metal Hammer Magazine:
Metal Hammer is the heavy metal bible. Based in the UK, published monthly, and distributed internationally, it is now in its 25th year of publication, and its coverage of the world of metal – from the cutting edge to the extreme – is unparalleled. With 300,000 Facebook followers, 100,000 Twitter followers, and its unprecedented coverage of the global metal scene – from India to Indonesia to South America – it truly is the world’s premiere metal magazine.
About Orange Amplification:
Founded in 1968 by Cliff Cooper, Orange Amps have always been a pioneering force in guitar amplification and built their reputation on delivering high quality without compromise on construction and tone. Known as the best British guitar amplifier manufacturer for both design and build, the company were awarded The Queens Award for Enterprise and International Trade in 2006 and 2009, the highest award that the Queen can confer on a UK company and it is recognised throughout the world.
Contact:
USA info@orangeusa.com or outside USA info@omec.com
Tel ; +44 208 905 2828
Fax ; +44 208 905 2868
About Hobgoblin:
What’s the matter Lagerboy… afraid you might taste something? Hobgoblin beer continues to lead the crusade against bland and fizzy beer – bringing taste to the nation. Hand crafted at the award winning Wychwood Brewery in Oxfordshire since 1988, this full – body dark ruby ale is full of mischievous character. An infusion of dark roasted malts delivers a delicious toffee malt flavour – one to tingle the taste buds. This is no pint of ‘ordinary’!
About Future:
Future plc is an international media group and leading digital publisher, listed on the London Stock Exchange (symbol: FUTR). Founded in 1985 with one magazine, today we have operations in the UK, US and Australia creating 200 specialist publications, apps, websites and events. We hold market-leading positions in Games, Film, Music, Technology, Cycling, Crafts and Automotive. Our biggest-selling products include TechRadar, T3, Total Film, BikeRadar, MusicRadar, Classic Rock, GamesRadar and Official Xbox Magazine. TechRadar is the UK’s number one consumer technology website. Future sells 2.9 million magazines each month; we attract more than 34 million monthly unique visitors to our websites; and we deliver over 100 digital editions and bespoke apps on tablet. Future exports or syndicates publications to 89 countries, making us the UK’s number one exporter and licensor of magazine content. Future is the Association of Online Publishers’ Consumer Digital Publisher of the Year.