The Metal Hammer Golden God Awards 2018 in association with Monster Energy was once again the ultimate celebration of the past 12 months of rock and metal from around the world. Ozzy Osbourne was on hand to collect the evening’s main accolade, The Golden God Award, and an incredible full-production set from Parkway Drive closed the ceremony.

Taking place at Indigo at The O2, London on Monday, June 11, Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta hosted this unique and special night, which was, like all Golden Gods shows, all about the fans. There were no tables, no sit-down dinners, no industry backslapping – this was a room full of genuine fans who have voted in their hundreds of thousands to see their favourite bands be victorious.

“The Golden Gods aren’t just the biggest metal awards on the planet – they’re the only music awards that put our community at the very heart of it all,” says Metal Hammer Editor, Merlin Alderslade. “Thank you to everyone who came out to support the awards and who continue to support the magazine. What a night. Same again next year, yeah?”

With a career dating back almost five decades, Ozzy Osbourne’s status sees him rightly revered as one of the most important – and, at times, infamous – figureheads in all of rock and metal, which is why he was presented with 2018’s Golden God accolade. The Prince Of Darkness himself came to the event, fresh from his headline set at the Download Festival on Sunday (June 10) to accept his accolade.

On receiving the award, Ozzy said, "What an immense honour it is to be getting a second Golden God Award after Sabbath picked one up last year. The fans who have supported me and this music mean everything to me, which is why getting this award is so special.”

Previous acceptees of the Golden God included Motörhead legend Lemmy, Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine and Rob Zombie amongst others.

Parkway Drive are one of the most exciting live bands on the planet, and they closed the show with a blistering full-production set. This was an incredibly intense and intimate show for the band that headlined Download Festival’s Zippo Encore Stage on Saturday (June 9) and last year played two nights at the prestigious, 5,000-capacity Brixton Academy as part of their world tour.

As ever, the awards ceremony was woven together with live performances, making this five-artist bill one of the most exciting of the year. Synthwave sensation Carpenter Brut opened the show playing alongside Baroness, Myrkur and Meshuggah. In previous years, there have been headline sets from Motörhead, Mastodon, Anthrax and Steel Panther to name but a few.

The evening's awards once again honoured the very best new and established artists from around the globe, as well as the events and record labels that make this genre the force it is. Japan’s latest metal sensations, Lovebites, won Best New Band sponsored by Röad Crew. The all-female power metal crew have taken their motherland by storm and look set for world domination! Wolves In The Throne Room won Best Underground Band sponsored by Relapse Records. The American black metallers released their sixth full-length studio album, ‘Thrice Woven’, in September to critical acclaim.

Judas Priest, like fellow Brummies Black Sabbath, are one of the forefathers and most important bands in rock and metal, and they were winners of the Best British Band sponsored by Nuclear Blast. Next year is their 50th anniversary, and they are still as relevant and immense today as the day they began! Best Live Band sponsored by Monster Energy was won by Italy’s multi-award-winning gothic metallers, Lacuna Coil. Best International Band went to Sweden's melodic death metallers Arch Enemy, who co-headlined a sold-out North America tour in 2017 with Trivium and released their acclaimed 10th studio album, ‘Will To Power’.

US-based Sumerian Records have been a driving force for modern metal bands and this year won the Best Independent Label. Winner of the Best Event sponsored by Spinefarm Records needs no introduction and is without doubt one of the most respected festivals in the world: Download. Taking place the weekend before the Golden God Awards, the festival’s headliners this year were Avenged Sevenfold, Guns N’ Roses and the Golden God himself, Ozzy Osbourne.

Breakthrough sponsored by Sumerian Records this year went to Code Orange, who released their third album, ‘Forever’, in 2017 through Roadrunner Records, which propelled their career and saw them nominated for a Grammy for the album’s opening track of the same name. Wes Borland, Limp Bizkit guitarist and the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative and industrial metal bands Black Light Burns and Big Dumb Face, was this year's Riff Lord sponsored by Chapman Guitars.

Lebanon's Kaoteon have been arrested and have found huge opposition to their music from authorities and religious groups in their own country. Despite this, they are at the forefront of a growing metal scene in Beirut and are taking the metal world by storm. They are the worthy winners of the Global Metal Award sponsored by Century Media. The Inspiration Award sponsored by uDiscover was won by Sweden’s Meshuggah, who were formed more than 30 years ago, and Best Album sponsored by Roadrunner Records went to Denmark’s Myrkur for her second album, 'Mareridt', and both artists performed live on the night.

Spirit Of Hammer sponsored by Sliptrick Records went to Jessica Pimentel, who plays Maria Ruiz in ‘Orange Is The New Black’ and is also the lead singer of metal band Alekhine's Gun and backing vocalist in the band Brujeria. Spirit Of Hammer is an award for those who hold the principles and passion of metal and what Metal Hammer stands for! Icon sponsored by Zippo Encore doesn’t get bigger than Maynard James Keenan. Vocalist of Tool, Puscifer and A Perfect Circle, he has sold millions of records around the world and recently released A Perfect Circle’s fourth album, ‘Eat the Elephant’, their first in 14 years, which debuted at number four in the US Billboard Top 100.

The full list of winners:

Best New Band sponsored by Röad Crew - Lovebites    
Best Underground Band sponsored by Relapse Records - Wolves In The Throne Room
Best British Band sponsored by Nuclear Blast - Judas Priest
Best Live Band sponsored by Monster Energy - Lacuna Coil
Best International Band - Arch Enemy        
Best Independent Label - Sumerian Records
Best Event sponsored by Spinefarm Records - Download Festival
Breakthrough sponsored by Sumerian Records - Code Orange    
Riff Lord sponsored by Chapman Guitars - Wes Borland
Global Metal sponsored by Century Media - Kaoteon
Inspiration sponsored by uDiscover - Meshuggah
Best Album sponsored by Roadrunner Records  - Myrkur 'Mareridt'
Spirit Of Hammer sponsored by Sliptrick Records - Jessica Pimentel
Icon sponsored by Zippo Encore - Maynard James Keenan
Golden God sponsored by LouderSound.com - Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne – The Prince Of Darkness and one of the most iconic names in rock music – is to be honoured as 2018’s Golden God at The Metal Hammer Golden God Awards 2018 in association with Monster Energy. This is the evening’s most prestigious accolade that honours the most inspirational, important and groundbreaking artists in rock and metal.

The awards ceremony will take place at Indigo at The O2, London, on Monday, June 11, capping off what is always the UK's biggest weekend in rock and metal. This is an awards ceremony all about the fans, and tickets are on sale now for just £11.25. As well as the awards presentations, there will be live performances from Baroness, Meshuggah, Carpenter Brut and Myrkur, with an incredible headliner to be announced imminently. Tickets are available at https://goldengods.eventbrite.co.uk.

With a career dating back almost five decades, Ozzy Osbourne’s status sees him rightly revered as one of the most important – and, at times, infamous – figureheads in all of rock and metal.

In 1969 he founded the legendary Black Sabbath alongside Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward, with the four men inventing and going on to popularise the genre of music that would come to be known as heavy metal. Ozzy’s original tenure with the band produced some of the greatest albums in metal’s long history, initially fronting the band for 10 years and eight albums.

After his departure from Sabbath in 1978, he released his debut solo album, Blizzard of Ozz, which was met with global critical and commercial acclaim. In all, Ozzy has released 11 solo records and nine with Black Sabbath – including the band’s 2013 reunion album, 13 – resulting in sales of more than 100 million. His touring schedule has been unrelenting, playing sold-out shows in stadiums and arenas around the world for almost 50 years solid, and it shows no signs of waning – he’s currently in the middle of the No More Tours 2 Tour that will see him headline Download festival on June 10.

Ozzy Osbourne says, "What an immense honour it is to be getting a second Golden God Award after Sabbath picked one up last year. The fans who have supported me and this music mean everything to me, which is why getting this award is so special. I will see you all down there."

Previous recipients of the Golden God Award include Motörhead legend Lemmy, Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine and Rob Zombie amongst others.

“It just doesn’t get any bigger than this,” says Metal Hammer Editor, Merlin Alderslade. “The Prince Of Darkness, the most iconic name in heavy metal, a man without whom these very awards, this very magazine – hell, our very culture – would quite simply not exist. Seeing Ozzy walk out on that stage at the Indigo on June 11 is going to be unmissable. We can’t wait to share what will be a very special moment with you all. All aboard!”

Metal Hammer is the biggest and best heavy metal magazine on the planet, and Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta will host this year’s ceremony. This is the 16th annual Metal Hammer Golden God Awards.

Metal Hammer put on this show for the people who truly matter: the fans. As well as the awards, which are a combination of reader-voted and editorially chosen, there will be live music from the aforementioned Baroness, Meshuggah, Carpenter Brut and Myrkur, plus the show’s headliners, who will be announced on June 1. In previous years, there have been headline sets from Motörhead, Mastodon, Anthrax, Steel Panther and many more.

For more than 30 years, Metal Hammer has been the biggest heavy metal magazine on the planet, and after a turbulent end to 2016, and their resurrection in 2017, they threw the party of all parties for their readers at this year’s Golden God Awards 2017 in association with Orange Amplification.

Taking place at IndigO2 at The O2, London on Monday, June 12, WWE megastar Chris Jericho hosted this unique and special night, which was, like all Golden Gods shows, all about the fans. There are no tables, no sit-down dinners, no industry backslapping – this is a room full of genuine fans who have voted in their hundreds of thousands to see their favourite bands be victorious. The night celebrated the best of heavy metal from the past 12 months as well as performances from some of the world’s most exciting bands.

“After a difficult end to last year in which the future of our magazine looked uncertain, we couldn’t have thought of a better way to celebrate our comeback,” says Metal Hammer Editor Merlin Alderslade. “From the one and only Chris Jericho returning to host our awards for a record-breaking third time, to seeing legends like Tony Iommi, Tom Morello and Chuck D walk out on stage, to honouring the contemporary names who make our scene great, it was the kind of evening that only the Golden Gods can provide. As always, though, the most important thing was the metal community coming together again – and we salute everyone who has supported us in the last year and beyond, be it by coming to the show, buying our magazine or simply spreading the good word of heavy. Horns up!”

The godfathers of metal, Black Sabbath, collected the evening's main honour: the Golden God award presented by Roadrunner Records. Founding member and metal legend Tony Iommi was on hand to collect the gong in the year that saw the end of the band’s final, 81-date world tour and glittering 49-year career.

Mastodon headlined the evening’s ceremony with a blistering live set in what was one of their most intimate performances in years. Following the release of their acclaimed ‘Emperor Of Sand’ album in March, the band’s stock has risen monumentally to become one of the world’s must-see live acts, proven by them winning Best Live Band presented by Monster Energy.

Opening the show were riff veterans Orange Goblin, one of the UK’s most vital and important metal bands. Frontman Ben Ward, along with his partner Sandie Soriano, were behind the incredible campaign to raise money for TeamRock (Metal Hammer’s then parent company) staff following the closure of Metal Hammer, Classic Rock and Prog magazines – and rightly the team behind those magazines felt that Ben and Sandie deserved the Defender Of The Faith award presented by Orange Amplification.

Sweden’s Avatar brought their catchy ‘circus metal’ and enthralling theatrical live show to the proceedings. This truly unique band were also voted Breakthrough Band Of The Year presented by World Of Tanks, proving they are a band on the up. Completing the live line-up were blues rock legends Clutch, simply one of the greatest live bands heavy music has ever seen!

One of the evening’s most sought-after awards is Album Of The Year and this year it was awarded to ‘Magma’ by Goijra. The follow-up to 2012’s critically acclaimed ‘L'Enfant Sauvage’, ‘Magma’ was one of the most hotly anticipated albums of the past 12 months and also topped Metal Hammer’s end-of-year critics’ poll.

Exodus are true legends of the game. Founded in 1979 in California, they were one of the pioneers of thrash metal. A mainstay in ‘Greatest Thrash Metal Bands Of All Time’ lists, they inspire and influence bands to this day and were rightly crowned 2017’s Inspiration presented by Spinefarm Records, an award presented on the night by fellow thrash icon Mille Petrozza of Kreator.

This year’s Icon presented by uDiscover Music award went to The Dillinger Escape Plan. Currently on a world tour, the band announced earlier this year that they will be disbanding following their Tokyo date in October. In their 20-year career they’ve released six acclaimed albums and are regarded as the pioneers of mathcore.

Best International Band presented by Nuclear Blast went to Avenged Sevenfold, who continue to sell out arenas around the world, pushing the boundaries of rock and metal. Best UK Band went to Architects, whose 2016 album ‘All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us’ broke the Top 15 of the UK charts and capped off a significant and difficult year for the band.

Rap metal supergroup Prophets Of Rage picked up the Spirit Of Hammer award. This is an award for those who hold the principles and passion of metal and what Metal Hammer stands for in their daily lives. The group consists of three members of Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave (bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk), two members of Public Enemy (DJ Lord and rapper Chuck D) and rapper B-Real of Cypress Hill. On announcing the band, Morello stated, "We're an elite task force of revolutionary musicians determined to confront this mountain of election year bullshit, and confront it head-on with Marshall stacks blazing." Need we say more about them collecting this year’s Spirit Of Hammer gong?!

Iron Maiden’s role-playing mobile game, 'Legacy Of The Beast', took the Best Game accolade, with Eddie himself making an appearance via VT to collect the award. Formed in 2015, UK death metallers Venom Prison have been making a serious impact on the scene and beyond, and they picked up Best New Band. Doom metallers Pallbearer, who released their third album, ‘Heartless’, in March, have received huge critical acclaim since their inception in 2008 and picked up the Best Underground award.

Once again the guitarists got the plaudits that they deserve – after all, where would music be without the incredible axemen and women we love to worship?! This year, Airbourne’s kamikaze guitarist Joel O’Keeffe picked up the Dimebag Darrell ‘Shredder’ award, and tour de force Devin Townsend was rightly awarded Riff Lord presented by Century Media.

The Metal Hammer Golden God Awards in association with Orange Amplification winners are…

• Best New Band: Venom Prison
  
• Best Underground Band: Pallbearer
• Best UK Band: Architects
• Breakthrough Band presented by World Of Tanks: Avatar
• Best Live Band presented by Monster Energy: Mastodon
• Best International Band presented by Nuclear Blast: Avenged Sevenfold
• Best Independent Label: Nuclear Blast
• Dimebag Darrell 'Shredder': Joel O'Keeffe
• Best Game: 'Legacy Of The Beast' by Iron Maiden
• Riff Lord presented by Century Media: Devin Townsend
• Inspiration presented by Spinefarm Records: Exodus
• Best Album: ‘Magma’ by Gojira
• Icon presented by Udiscover Music: The Dillinger Escape Plan
• Defender Of The Faith presented by Orange Amplification: Ben Ward & Sandie Soriano
• Spirit Of Hammer: Prophets Of Rage
• Golden God presented by Roadrunner Records: Black Sabbath

Metal Hammer would like to thank all of our sponsors, without whom our awards would not be possible:

Orange Amplification
Monster Energy
BMG Catalogue
Century Media
Roadrunner Records
Nuclear Blast
Spinefarm Records
World of Tanks
uDiscover Music

Following the release of one of the year’s biggest and most critically acclaimed albums in ‘Emperor Of Sand’, Atlantan metal behemoths Mastodon will be headlining this year’s Metal Hammer Golden God Awards in association with Orange Amplification – one of only two confirmed live shows they have in the UK this year, the other being the main stage at Download Festival.

Taking place at the IndigO2 at The O2, London on Monday, June 12, and with a capacity of just 2,000, the Golden God Awards show will be one of Mastodon’s most intimate performances in years, as one of metal’s most celebrated bands make their Golden Gods live debut.

A very limited number of tickets are available for just £10 and go on sale at 3pm on Friday, April 28. These are being sold on a first come, first served basis and once they’re gone, they’re gone! Go to https://goldengods2017.eventbrite.co.uk and don’t miss out!

“We told you we had something special planned, and trust us when we say this is going to be very special indeed,” says Metal Hammer Editor Merlin Alderslade. “We wanted to bring something truly one-off to the IndigO2 as a way to say thank you to our amazing readers for the support they’ve shown us this year, and Mastodon are not just oe of the biggest bands we’ve ever had play our awards, but one of the greatest metal bands of this or any era. Expect minds to be blown, heads to be banged and beers to be raised. See you down the front.”

Opening the show will be riff veterans Orange Goblin, one of the UK’s most vital and important metal bands – and a group of men who seriously know how to throw a party. Following them are one of the most unique bands in modern metal, Sweden’s Avatar, whose catchy industrial metal stomp is backed by one of the most enthralling, theatrical live shows in the scene today. Also joining this year’s bill are the mighty Clutch, stoner rock legends and one of the greatest live bands heavy music has ever seen.

For more than 30 years, Metal Hammer has been the biggest heavy metal magazine on the planet, and this would not have been possible without our incredible, passionate community. The Golden God Awards is our chance to raise a glass with those very fans while celebrating the great and the good of our world. Forget your sit-down dinner, this event is voted for and attended by the fans.

Fozzy frontman and WWE megastar Chris Jericho – who also appeared at this year's Wrestlemania event in front of 70,000 people – will be coming straight from playing this year's Download Festival to host.

Voting is open now at http://2017.goldengods.teamrock.com. The full list of nominations is as follows:

• Best New Band

Zeal & Ardor
Venom Prison
Brutai
Puppy
Ocean Grove

• Best Underground Band

Perturbator
Neurosis
Royal Thunder
Pallbearer
Anaal Nathrakh

• Best UK Band presented by BMG Catalogue
  

Bury Tomorrow
Architects
While She Sleeps
Tesseract
Orange Goblin

• Best International Band presented by Nuclear Blast
  

Metallica
Opeth
Alter Bridge
Avenged Sevenfold
Korn

• Breakthrough
  

Code Orange
Creeper
Oathbreaker
Ho99o9
Avatar

• Best Live Band presented by Monster Energy
  

Steel Panther
Letlive
Killswitch Engage
Mastodon
Ghost

• Dimebag Darrell ‘Shredder’
  

Joel O’ Keeffe (Airbourne)
Kiko Loureiro (Megadeth)
Phil Manansala (Of Mice & Men)
Ben Bruce (Asking Alexandria)
Ben Weinman (The Dillinger Escape Plan)

• Best Independent Label
  

Nuclear Blast
Cooking Vinyl
Deathwish
Season Of Mist
Basick

• Game Of The Year
  

The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
Overwatch
Mass Effect: Andromeda
Iron Maiden: The Legacy Of The Beast
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Editorial-chosen awards include Riff Lord presented by Century Media, Defender Of The Faith presented by Orange Amplification, Album Of The Year, Icon, Inspiration, Spirit Of Hammer and The Golden God.

The Metal Hammer Golden God Awards in association with Fireball blew the roof off a sold-out Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith last night, and honoured the very best of the past 12 months’ metal and rock from around the globe.

Hosted by Hatebreed’s Jamey Jasta, this unique and special night is all about the fans. There are no tables, no sit-down dinners, no industry backslapping – this is a room full of genuine fans who have voted in their hundreds of thousands to see their favourite bands be victorious. Plus, all profits from the Golden Gods ticket sales went to Heavy Metal Truants, an annual charity cycle ride, sponsored by TeamRock, from London to Download Festival to benefit Nordoff Robbins, Teenage Cancer Trust and Childline.

One of the most celebrated drummers of the past 30 years and former member of Slipknot, Joey Jordison was announced as 2016’s Golden God, following in the footsteps of Dave Mustaine, Lemmy and Marilyn Manson. Among other winners were Asking Alexandria for Best UK Band, whose 2016 album ‘The Black’ entered the US Billboard Top 10 and UK Official Chart Top 15. Iron Maiden’s Number One album ‘The Book Of Souls’ won Album Of The Year. Ghost, Sweden’s iconic and internationally celebrated occult rockers, won Best International Band. Sixx:A.M.’s Nikki Sixx picked up Icon, thrash metallers Anthrax won Inspiration and Lamb Of God picked up Best Live Band.

Interwoven with the award presentations were live sets from Grammy Award-winners Halestorm, French metal innovators Gojira and the immense and unwavering Amon Amarth, in what were the only UK summer shows for any of the bands outside of festival appearances.

Closing the evening was A Salute To Lemmy - a monumental celebration of the life of one of music’s biggest icons. Lemmy was, and will always be, a godfather of rock. A renegade, an innovator, an icon and an inspiration, there is no doubt that our music scene would look very different today if it wasn’t for him. A Salute To Lemmy was a unique celebration of the man. Saxon, one of Britain's greatest rock bands – who in their own right have sculpted and inspired the world of rock today and influenced generations of bands – performed Lemmy’s three favourite Saxon songs and were then joined onstage by Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell and drummer Mikkey Dee and performed Motörhead’s ‘Ace Of Spades’, ‘Born To Raise Hell’ and ‘Overkill’.

"There's only one publication in the world capable of putting such a broad range of talent under one roof, and that's Metal Hammer," says Alexander Milas, Metal Hammer's editor-in-chief. "For our 30th anniversary we pulled out all the stops, but it's really our Salute To Lemmy that's hit the loudest note. His legend will always live on."

This year, TeamRock and the Metal Hammer Golden God Awards teamed up with Pinewood Live to film the event. Pinewood Live is part of the Pinewood Studio Group, a leading provider of studio and related services to the global creative industries, synonymous with world-class British and international film and television productions.

The 2016 winners are…

• Best New Band - Creeper
  
• Best Underground - Enslaved
• Best UK Band - Asking Alexandria
• Best International Band - Ghost
• Breakthrough - Beartooth
• Best Live Band - Lamb Of God
• Best Independent Label - Prosthetic Records
• Dimebag Darrell ‘Shredder’ - Lzzy Hale
• Best Album - ‘The Book Of Souls’ Iron Maiden
• Riff Lord - Phil Campbell
• Inspiration - Anthrax
• Icon - Nikki Sixx
• Global Metal Band - Chthonic
• Golden God - Joey Jordison
• Best Video - Parkway Drive

Enslaved have won a Metal Hammer Golden Gods Award in the category of "Best Underground"!

Ivar Bjørnson, Kjetil Grutle & Enslaved collectively had this to say:-


"Can you believe it??? We won the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Award for best Underground! Thanks to.. you for voting for us, Euronymous for spotting us, Osmose for carrying us forward and Nuclear Blast for where we are now. And a special thanks to Tonje Peersen for managing the chaos that is us between 2005 and 2015 and Simon Füllemann for taking over and bringing us up to right here!" -

And there's more with Enslaved re-issuing "Vikingligr Veldi" - for the first time ever on vinyl this September!
 
The re-issue of "Vikingligr Veldi" will co-incide with Enslaved's 25 European Tour and will be available in a LIMITED Enslaved 25 Webshop edition and a regular edition!

The astonishing new layout was done by Z. Bielak (Ghost, Mayhem, etc.) and includes four brand new illustrations specially made for this legendary album.

Z. Bielak has stayed true to the ideals of the era (it was originally scheduled for release in 1993); this 2LP Gatefold with illustrated pockets has been respectfully remastered for vinyl by Iver Sandøy; preserving every bit of original dynamics.

"We have been waiting since the day we recorded it, and at last it is happening! It has been a challenging journey, and it has demanded a lot of patience and understanding from all parts involved. The day we hold the finished product in our hand will be as sacred a day for us as the day we finished recording it". - Ivar and Enslaved

Enslaved`s 1st full-length album was co-produced with the legendary Pytten in Grieghallen, Bergen, Norway. This album has lyrics in Icelandic, and is a tribute to the Norse landscape, history and mythology. The songs are matching these themes with long horizontal songscapes, dense atmospheres and winds from the past.  

More details will be revealed soon!

https://www.facebook.com/enslaved/?fref=ts

The Metal Hammer Golden Gods are back and bigger than ever, with more metal loaded than your daily iron intake, this year the awards are heading to the Hammersmith Apollo.

French label Season Of Mist are both extremely honoured to have been nominated for Best Independent Record Label again at this year's Metal Hammer Golden God Awards. #goldengods #metalhammersmith

CEO Michael Berberian not only sees this as an achievement for the label admitting that "there are years of hard work, dedication, and simply an extreme passion for exciting music involved in building this label to the point where we are at now", but going to explain that this is a childhood dream come true as "the real reason for me wanting this trophy is of course that I never won one as a kid."

In addition, one of their clientele has been nominated for the 'Best Underground Band' category.

Rotting Christ are understandably pleased with the news, what with more than 27 years of endless dedication and sacrifice for the metal underground, there can hardly be a better and more deserving than those hard working Greeks.

Voting has already started at this link: www.metalhammer.com/awards

So if you think these two wonderful entities deserve to win, you know what to do, visit the link and cast your vote!

This year, Metal Hammer magazine celebrates its 30th anniversary, and the Golden God Awards 2016 are going to be the biggest ever! Taking place on Monday June 13th, this year's awards are moving to a new home at the legendary Eventim Apollo (formerly Hammersmith Apollo) for the first time in the event’s history.


Tickets are available in two ways:

Simply vote for this year's winners at www.metalhammer.com/awards to be in with a chance of winning a pair of tickets - voting is open NOW.  

Alternatively, tickets are available to buy now for £6.66 at www.eventim.co.uk/goldengods. TeamRock and Eventim UK, the official ticketing partner of the Golden Gods, will donate all profits from ticket sales to the charity Heavy Metal Truants in aid of Nordoff Robbins, Teenage Cancer Trust and Childline.


Each Golden God Awards ticket includes a FREE 3-month TeamRock+ membership worth £11.97, giving unlimited access to full magazine content online from Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Prog and The Blues Magazine as well as exclusive content, events and offers.


The Metal Hammer Golden God Awards in association with Fireball is the heaviest awards show in the world, and the only one that truly involves the fans. There are no tables. This event is unique and brings the fans shoulder-to-shoulder with the bands and artists. One giant mosh pit celebrates the evening's winners, alongside live performances from some of rock's most exciting and influential bands. Previous years’ performances have come from Motörhead, Anthrax, Machine Head, Steel Panther and Ghost to name just a few, and this year's live performances will be announced imminently.


Steeped in musical history, the Eventim Hammersmith Apollo is one of the most iconic music venues in the world, and over the years has played host to the world's most important bands, including the mighty Motörhead, who named their iconic ‘No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith’ live album after the venue. The album famously reached Number 1 in June 1981, 35 years to the month of this year's awards, making the Apollo the perfect venue to pay tribute to the life and legacy of Motörhead's iconic frontman, Lemmy. There'll be more on this celebration to be announced soon.


"The Metal Hammer Golden Gods are our way of saying thank you to the genuine fanatics out there who've supported us for 30 years," says Metal Hammer editor-in-chief and TeamRock Executive Director Alexander Milas. "It's a party, it's an award show, it's a horn-throwing salute to the great and good of our community who've made our music the greatest cultural phenomena of the 20th, and now, 21st centuries. It's only fitting that we're holding them at the Eventim Hammersmith Apollo. As a cultural landmark and a living institution, it's hosted some of the greatest, most iconic artists of our age, including the dearly departed Lemmy Kilmister who we'll be paying tribute to on the night. With the help of our friends at Eventim we'll be putting proceeds from our £6.66 cover charge towards TeamRock's very own charity, the Heavy Metal Truants, whose annual cycling pilgrimage from London to Download Festival has already raised £232,000 for Teenage Cancer Trust, Nordoff Robbins and Childline. It's not just going to be a great night, it's going to support some great causes, too."


Simon Presswell, CEO EVENTIM UK, says:

"We are delighted to have been appointed ticketing partner to The Metal Hammer Golden God Awards. The Golden Gods are an institution in the metal community and it’s a real honour to be involved in this very special year where we will not only see the mighty Lemmy Kilmister remembered, but the proceeds on the night will go to a number of hugely important charities.”


There are 17 awards in total, with 10 fan-voted:

Fan-voted:

Best New Band - Honouring the new noise that's been making our jaws drop

• The Black Queen
• Black Peaks
• Creeper
• Cane Hill
• Heck

Best Underground - Hailing the bands who are doing great things beneath metal's crusty surface

• Tribulation
• Sunn O)))
• Rotting Christ
• Myrkur
• Enslaved

Best UK Band - More evidence that the UK scene is on fire right now

• Tesseract
• The Prodigy
• Asking Alexandria
• Cradle Of Filth
• Architects

Best International Band - Kicking ass around the world – the bands that have dominated the globe this year

• Babymetal
• Killswitch Engage
• Amon Amarth
• Ghost
• Slayer

Breakthrough - High-fiving the bands blazing trails and cruising into metal's upper leagues

• We Came As Romans
• Deafheaven
• Beartooth
• Northlane
• Avatar

Best Live Band - Through showmanship or smashing stages, fistbumps for these venue-wrecking heavyweights

• Nightwish
• Parkway Drive
• Anthrax
• Lamb Of God
• Bring Me The Horizon

Dimebag Darrell Shredder Award - Think guitar heroics are for golden oldies? We honour these modern day six-string mavericks

• Alpha (Ghost)
• Lzzy Hale (Halestorm)
• Kristan Dawson (Bury Tomorrow)
• Graham 'Pin' Pinney (Sikth)
• Joe Duplantier (Gojira)

Best Independent Label Repping for the people on the frontlines of the world's metal scenes

• Holy Roar
• UNFD
• Basick
• Prosthetic
• Season Of Mist

Best Video - Giving props to the bands that have gone beyond the call of visual duty

• Parkway Drive – Vice Grip
• Iron Maiden – Speed Of Light
• Slayer – Repentless
• Anthrax – Blood Eagle Wings
• New Years Day – I'm About To Break You

Best Videogam - Dedicated to the games that have turned our digits to mush over the past 12 months

• Until Dawn
• Star Wars: Battlefront
• Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
• Destiny: The Taken King
• Fallout 4

Editorial Awards (non voted):

• Best Album - Dedicated to the very best album released during the last year, this remains one of the most prestigious awards of the night, with previous winners including everyone from Faith No More to Lamb Of God.

• Riff Lord - Every great metal band has a great guitarist, but who is a true god on the axe? This year's winner will be joining the likes of Slash, Dave Mustaine and last year's winner, Brian May!

• Inspiration - Awarded to an artist who isn't just a hero to us, but to the countless bands that have been inspired by them over the years. Twisted Sister, Paradise Lost and Tom G Warrior are just some of the previous winners.

• Icon - When a heavyweight transcends their own scene to become a true symbol of everything we love about heavy music – a true measuring stick for metal itself.

• Global Metal Award - Dedicated to bands who have had to fight twice as hard to get their art recognised in their homeland – a symbol of metal's ability to break down all boundaries.

• Spirit Of Hammer - A special award given to a person or people who understand and embody everything we hold dear in metal. See previous, legendary winners including Sir Christopher Lee and Brian Blessed!

• The Golden God - The Big One. An award given only to the mightiest, most important names in our world – those that have come to define heavy music over the past 40 decades – names such as previous winners Dave Mustaine, Kerry King, Joey DeMaio and the one and only Lemm