Metal Injection

Every year, the Revolver Golden Gods Awards ends up being the biggest party of the year when it comes to metal. We always run into a lot of big names on the red black carpet. The last few years a truncated version of the show has aired on either VH1 Classic or MTV2. They would slice a three and a half hour show down to 45 minutes, so natually a lot of stuff was left out. Keeping with the times, Revolver announced that the fourth iteration of the only hard rock & heavy metal award show would be broadcast in it's entirety on Xbox Live and on the Revolver and Xbox Facebook pages. That's a pretty interesting broadcasting strategy, and one that I think will ultimately result in more viewers for the award show.

As for the details, the event happens at the Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles on April 11th, 2012 and will feature performances by Marilyn Manson, Slash, Evanescence, Sixx AM and Black Veil Brides. The show will once again be hosted by Fozzy frontman and WWE superstar Chris Jericho. Gene Simmons will receive the honorary Revolver Golden God award. Fans can vote in all the categories. Here are this year's nominees:

Best Guitarist, presented by Epiphone^®

• Jinxx and Jake Pitts (Black Veil Brides)
• Zoltan Bathory and Jason Hook (Five Finger Death Punch)
• Willie Adler and Mark Morton (Lamb of God)
• Robb Flynn and Phil Demmel (Machine Head)
• Dave Mustaine and Chris Broderick (Megadeth)
• Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu (Trivium)

Best Drummer, presented by Drum Workshop^®

• Charlie Benante (Anthrax)
• Jeremy Spencer (Five Finger Death Punch)
• Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters)
• Chris Adler (Lamb of God)
• Brann Dailor (Mastodon)
• Tomas Haake (Meshuggah)

Best Vocalist, presented by Rockstar Energy Drink^®

• Sebastian Bach
• Andy Biersack (Black Veil Brides)
• James Durbin
• Amy Lee (Evanescence)
• Ivan Moody (Five Finger Death Punch)
• Jonathan Davis (Korn)

Album of the Year, presented by Marshall Amplification^®

• Anthrax, Worship Music
• Evanescence, Evanescence
• Five Finger Death Punch, American Capitalist
• Foo Fighters, Wasting Light
• Korn, The Path of Totality
• Lamb of God, Resolution
Best Live Band, presented by Samson/Zoom^®

• Avenged Sevenfold
• Foo Fighters
• Guns N’ Roses
• Judas Priest
• Seether
• Tool

Most Metal Athlete

• Gina Carano (MMA fighting)
• Brian Deegan (pro motocross)
• Evan Longoria (MLB baseball)
• Dirk Nowitzki (NBA basketball)
• Mitch Petrus (NFL football)
• CM Punk (WWE wrestling)

Comeback of the Year, presented by Eagle Rock Entertainment^®

• Anthrax
• Dream Theater
• Evanescence
• Ministry
• Slipknot
• Van Halen

Riff Lord

• Scott Ian (Anthrax)
• Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society)
• Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters)
• Munky (Korn)
• Slash
• Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen)

Paul Gray Best Bassist, presented by Dean Markley^®

• Frank Bello (Anthrax)
• Michael Anthony (Chickenfoot)
• Fieldy (Korn)
• David Ellefson (Megadeth)
• Nikki Sixx (Sixx:A.M.)
• Wolfgang Van Halen (Van Halen)

Best International Band, presented by Musicians Institute^®

• Behemoth
• Lacuna Coil
• Rammstein
• Sepultura
• Meshuggah
• X Japan

Most Dedicated Fans

• Asking Alexandria
• Avenged Sevenfold
• Black Veil Brides
• Evanescence
• Falling in Reverse
• HIM

The event will also act as the kickoff for a special metal wing in the Grammy museum. Here are the details:

Also on April 11, The GRAMMY Museum, next door to Club Nokia, will open its new exhibit Golden Gods: The History of Heavy Metal. Mounted in coordination with Revolver, the exhibit will feature never-before-displayed artifacts including instruments, stage props, handwritten lyrics, clothing and costumes, alongside original album artwork, posters and live-performance and interview footage. The exhibit will also feature a variety of interactive displays. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Revolver to tell the story of metal,” states GRAMMY Museum Executive Director Bob Santelli, “and offer fans the opportunity to engage with their favorite artists in such a personal way.”