Avenged Sevenfold dominated the 2011 Revolver Golden Gods last month, both onstage and in the fan-voted awards, so it makes sense that they should grace the cover of the new Golden Gods issue of the magazine, which is currently on newsstands and available online here. The band members took home the Best Vocalist, Best Guitarists, and Album of the Year trophies, and their six-song headlining set was the talk of the evening, climaxing in collaborations with Duff McKagan, of Loaded, Velvet Revolver, and Guns N’ Roses fame, on GN’R's “It’s So Easy,” and Vinnie Paul, of Hellyeah and Pantera, on the latter band’s “Mouth for War.” That crushing performance will be broadcast as part of VH1 Classic’s hour-long Revolver Golden Gods special, which features highlights from the three-hour show and premieres on Saturday, May 28 at 10 P.M. ET (watch the trailer here). Here, A7X frontman M. Shadows looks back at the momentous night.
REVOLVER What did you think of the Golden Gods?
M. SHADOWS Oh, great. It was really nice seeing all our friends. We didn’t get to necessarily hang out and enjoy it as much as I wanted to because we were in between tours. I would’ve liked to go and relax and hang out and watch the show and not have to leave at 6 in the morning [the next day] for tour. But it was really a blast. We had a great time. It was really nice to see a lot of our fans there, and we saw friends from other bands. We had a really great time.
Vinnie told us he had second thoughts about playing “Mouth for War.” Did he mention that to you guys?
Yeah, you know, he hit me up and said, “Hey, man, maybe we should just play ‘Walk.’” He was like, “I don’t know, I haven’t played ‘Mouth for War’ in a long time.” And I was like, “Really? Let’s just try it. Let’s do it.” And he was like, “Man, I don’t know.” So we kind of let him get up there [at sound check] and feel it out, and I think he felt a little uncomfortable jumping on Arin’s drum set not knowing what it was all going to be about. But he worked it out, and he started playing through it, and we jumped in with him and played it. And we ran it after, again, after rehearsals, and it was all great. But I think he was just a little nervous about going up there and playing a song he hasn’t played since, like Ozzfest, the Ozzfest they did out in Dallas. But it was all good.
M. Shadows performing with Avenged Sevenfold at the 2011 Golden Gods
What did you think of the performance of the song?
I thought it was great. I thought it was fun, you know. We go out there every night, and we expect to be on point, on top of our game. I think the only thing was, it was a little weird not playing on our gear because everything was on tour. It was out in Louisiana [where the first date of the Welcome to the Family tour kicked off]. So that’s always scary, coming into a situation where you’re dealing with a new guitar rack and new guitars and weird drums, and all sorts of stuff, this and that. It turned out great, it was a fun time, and hopefully it translates when it’s on VH1 Classic.
Were there any musicians you got to hang out with at the show that stand out?
I wasn’t there for very long because I always warm up before singing. And I was in our hotel room making sure my vocals were going to be OK. So when I got there, the one thing that shocked me was that Robert Trujillo and Lars [Ulrich of Metallica], they came into our room and started watching the Lakers game with us. They popped open a beer, and that was one of the coolest things ever. Just to be able to chill with the guys, Metallica, being like, “Hey, what’s up? What are you guys doing?” and being all buddy-buddy. We could just chill, watch the Lakers game. It was a really surreal and cool experience because we just love those guys and it was really nice to do that.
You guys didn’t get to soundcheck with Duff. How do you think the performance went?
It was great. I think we were more nervous than him. Because we were like, “We haven’t tried it with you yet.” And it was bizarre that we didn’t put anything together. And we kept asking him, and he was like, “Yeah, I know how to play it.” And we were like, “Yeah, we know how to play it, too, but it’d be good if we could at least run through it once.” And then he’s like, “Oh, I’ll sing the vocals with you, too.” And we were like, “All right.” So all that stuff was on the fly. And I thought it went great. I was really surprised as well. Obviously, he knew how to play the song perfectly, but I was more worried about us, not him, playing it with him. But I thought it was great, he’s a great guy, and it went really smoothly. I wish everything could go that easily.
The 3rd annual REVOLVER GOLDEN GODS AWARDS presented by Epiphone– America’s only hard-rock and heavy-metal award show–announced this year’s winners last night at Club Nokia in Downtown Los Angeles. Highlights from the REVOLVER GOLDEN GODS AWARDS will be broadcast on VH1 Classic on Saturday, May 28.
The full list of winners and presenters for the 3rd ANNUAL REVOLVER GOLDEN GODS AWARDS is as follows:
- Hunted: The Demon’s Forge® Golden God Award: Alice Cooper (presented by Rob Zombie)
- Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award: Mötley Crüe (presented by Corey Taylor of Slipknot/Stone Sour.)
- Honorary Headbanger Award: William Shatner (presented by Scott Ian of Anthrax and The Damned Things and comedian Brian Posehn)
- 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)
- Drum Workshop® Best Drummer Award: Mike Portnoy for his work with Avenged Sevenfold (presented by Vinnie Paul of Pantera/HellYeah)
- Best New Band Award: Black Veil Brides (presented by Duff McKagan of Loaded/Velvet Revolver/Guns N’ Roses)
- Most Metal Athlete Award: Skateboarder Mike Vallely (presented by Chino Moreno of Deftones)
- Rockstar Energy® Best Vocalist Award: M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold (presented by Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless and Sebastian Bach)
- Samson/Zoom® Best Live Band Award: Rammstein (presented by Charlie Benante of Anthrax and Mike Portnoy)
- Eagle Rock® Comeback of the Year Award: Murderdolls (presented by David Coverdale of Whitesnake)
- Affliction® Album of the Year Award: Avenged Sevenfold (presented by Jerry Cantrell and Mike Inez of Alice in Chains)
Presented by REVOLVER, America’s leading hard-rock and metal magazine, and hosted by CHRIS JERICHO (WWE, Fozzy, Dancing With the Stars), the award show featured special appearances by ALICE COOPER, MÖTLEY CRÜE, ROB ZOMBIE, actor WILLIAM SHATNER, GEEZER BUTLER (Black Sabbath/Heaven & Hell), DUFF McKAGAN (Loaded/Velvet Revolver/Guns N’ Roses), COREY TAYLOR (Slipknot/Stone Sour), STEVE JONES (Sex Pistols), DAVE NAVARRO (Jane’s Addiction), CHINO MORENO (Deftones), VINNIE PAUL (Pantera/HellYeah), SCOTT IAN (Anthrax/The Damned Things), DAVID COVERDALE (Whitesnake/Deep Purple), STEVEN ADLER (Guns N’ Roses), MAX CAVALERA (Soulfly/Cavalera Conspiracy/Sepultura), JAMEY JASTA (Hatebreed/Kingdom of Sorrow), TAYLOR MOMSEN (The Pretty Reckless, TV’s Gossip Girl), MIKE PORTNOY (Dream Theater/Avenged Sevenfold), GILBY CLARKE (Guns N’ Roses), and members of ALICE IN CHAINS, FOO FIGHTERS, MEGADETH, STATIC-X, DETHKLOK, FEAR FACTORY, MACHINE HEAD, WE ARE THE FALLEN, MURDERDOLLS, SUICIDE SILENCE, and WINDS OF PLAGUE. The evening also featured appearances from comedian BRIAN POSEHN, skateboarders MIKE VALLELY and CHRIS COLE, MMA fighters DAN HARDY and JOSH BARNETT, WENDY DIO (wife of Ronnie James Dio) and many more.
Live performances for the 2011 REVOLVER GOLDEN GODS AWARDS included musical sets by ALICE COOPER (their first LA appearance in 40 years, fresh off their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame), LOADED (featuring DUFF McKAGAN of GUNS N’ ROSES and VELVET REVOLVER), Elvis Presley/Johnny Cash-inspired metal group VOLBEAT, host CHRIS JERICHO’s band FOZZY, fast-rising metalcore newcomers ASKING ALEXANDRIA, and hometown heroes AVENGED SEVENFOLD who closed out the night with a blistering set.
Special collaborations last night included: AVENGED SEVENFOLD performing PANTERA’s “Mouth for War” with Vinnie Paul and GUNS N’ ROSES’ “It’s So Easy” with DUFF McKAGAN, STEVE JONES and COREY TAYLOR performing JUDAS PRIEST’s “Electric Eye” with LOADED. SEBASTIAN BACH performing SKID ROW’s “Youth Gone Wild” with ASKING ALEXANDRIA. SCOTT IAN of ANTHRAX performing DUSTY SPRINGFIELD’s “I Only Want To Be With You” with VOLBEAT. MAX CALAVERA, JAMEY JASTA, and MIKE VALLELY joining DEVILDRIVER for a salute to BLACK FLAG.
“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
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The Taking, the new album from Duff McKagan’s Loaded, is currently streaming in its entirety over at AOL Music. The album, the follow-up to the band’s 2009 debut, Sick, hits shelves tomorrow, April 19.
As previously reported, Corey Taylor (Slipknot, Stone Sour) and Steve Jones (Sex Pistols) will be performing live with Duff McKagan’s Loaded on Wednesday, April 20, at the Revolver Golden Gods Award Show at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. Be sure to tune in Saturday, May 28, on VH1 classic to catch the entire awards show, including this performance, and keep an eye out for Revolver‘s review of The Taking to appear on the site tomorrow.
The Taking tracklisting:
‘Lords Of Abaddon’
‘Executioner’s Song’
‘Dead Skin’
‘We Win’
‘Easier Lying’
‘She’s An Anchor’
‘Wrecking Ball’
‘King Of The World’
‘Cocaine’
‘Your Name’
‘Follow Me To Hell’
Brandon Geist
Editor in Chief
Type O Negative, World Coming Down
“Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of Pete Steele’s shocking death. So I’ve been listening to this, one of his band Type O Negative’s best, doomiest, and most under-appreciated albums. Rest in peace, Pete. Love you to death.”
Morbid Angel, Domination
“In anticipation of the forthcoming new album from the greatest Floridian death-metal band of them all (IMHO), their first since reuniting with classic vocalist David Vincent, I dusted off my favorite Morbid Angel record, Domination. Some fans aren’t into the industrial touches and the slower tempos, but as far as I’m concerned, all of these just make the band sound that much more evil. ‘Caesar’s Palace,’ in particular, simply destroys.”
A Pale Horse Named Death, And Hell Will Follow Me
“I have to be honest: I’m still stuck on this album, Week 3 and counting. And as long as the NYC weather continues being this unseasonably cold and gray, I suspect I’ll stick with it.”
Kory Grow
Senior Editor
Anthrax, Spreading the Disease
“I was cleaning out my shower last weekend, and I cranked this while doing so. Probably my favorite Anthrax record, personally, Spreading the Disease has great thrashers like ‘Madhouse’ and ‘Aftershock’ that inspire extra cleanness.”
Molested, Blod-Draum
“A Norwegian death-metal classic from the mid ’90s. Aside from being one of the heaviest death-metal bands, they used unusual instruments like the mouth harp and violin. It topped my list of True Norwegian Death Metal from a couple of years ago, and I still listen to it often.”
Duff McKagan’s Loaded, The Taking
“Easily the strongest Loaded record so far, The Taking has been in steady rotation on my iPod since I got the promo. It doesn’t sound like any of Duff’s other bands—Guns N’ Roses or Velvet Revolver—but has lots of cool hooks and even a few Alice in Chains–like vocal parts.”
Josh Bernstein
Creative Director
Whitesnake, Slide It In
“David Coverdale’s whirlwind tour of the Revolver offices this week had me digging back into the Whitesnake catalog to enjoy some classics. ‘Slow An’ Easy’ is like a lost track of Zepplin’s Presence.”
Guns N’ Roses, The Spaghetti Incident?
“I don’t care what people say, I love this record and the covers literally match my own personal list of favorite songs. Good to hear Duff sing a few tracks, too. Maybe he’ll dust off one of these tunes at the 2011 Revolver Golden Gods?”
Sleigh Bells, Treats
“OK, so this album isn’t necessarily metal, but it’s written and produced by a guy from Poison the Well. And it also might be the best and most refreshing album I’ve heard in this past year. It really sounds fucking huge.”
Josh Hart
Web Producer
Iggy Pop, A Million in Prizes: The Anthology
“What a fucking range on this guy. Iggy was someone who was always ahead of the times (until the ’80s when he was trying to play catch-up, but we’re not going to talk about those dark times right now), from setting the stage for punk rock to producing wildly experimental albums with David Bowie in Berlin. This anthology had to be two discs and 40-plus songs to even come close to providing a good portrait of Iggy’s storied career.”
Opeth, Blackwater Park
“Is it time for new Opeth now? How about now? Now? What about now? Like a hyperactive child in the backseat of a car on the way to Disney World, I’m getting pretty impatient waiting for Mikael Åkerfeldt to lay another slab of heavy on us. Blackwater Park will have to get me through to the fall, when Opeth’s new album is expected out”
Pain of Salvation, Scarsick
“This is such a weird album, you can’t help but love it. The first two tracks sounds like really heavy additions to The Real Thing-era Faith No More’s catalog.”
Stephen Goggi
Art Director
Piebald, If It Weren’t for Venetian Blinds It Would Be Curtains for Us All
“It’s not funny like ‘HaHa’…”
Metallica, Ride the Lightening
“‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ will always remind me of high school wrestling matches.”
Q + Not U, Power
“They were one of my favorite bands and they always put on good shows. This is a great album.”
Cody Thomas
Editorial Intern
Between the Buried and Me, The Great Misdirect
“I’m covering New England Metal Fest this weekend, so I had to crank BTBAM to prepare. I honestly think this is their best album. Each song is so distinctly awesome in it’s own way. I’m pumped for their set on Day 3 of the fest.”
Opeth, Deliverance
“Day 1 was yesterday, and the lineup was 95 percent metalcore bands, which means I heard a lot of breakdowns. About 10 straight hours of them. I had to put on some prog to put all the metalcore back into perspective. Deliverance is dark, brutal, and gorgeous all at the same time.”
Neurosis, Given to the Rising
“I don’t think I need to say much to justify listening to Neurosis. It’s crazy how they pumped out classic after classic, including this, their latest.”