In addition to This Is Gonna Hurt, the band also released an EP titled 7 this past December, which features seven stripped-down, acoustic arrangements of tracks from the band’s first two albums.

Last month, bassist Nikki Sixx took home the Paul Gray Best Bassist award at this year’s Revolver Golden Gods. For a full recap of this year’s event — featuring tons of great photos and inside stories — pick up the May/June issue of Revolver in our online store, or on newsstands now.

The evening featured surprise appearances including Johnny Depp playing guitar on two Marilyn Manson songs, “Sweet Dreams” and “The Beautiful People,” and Taylor Momen joining Manson for “The Dope Show;” Slipknot’s Corey Taylor and Machine Head’s Robb Flynn joining Trivium onstage to cover Metallica’s “Creeping Death;” Slash jamming with Alice Cooper on “Schools Out;” Dee Snider performing with the Black Veil Brides for an awesome rendition of “I Wanna Rock,” and more. Highlights also include Jack Black and Kyle Glass of Tenacious D presenting the Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award to prog-rock pioneers Rush and legendary Kiss rocker Gene Simmons taking home the “Golden God” award.

Following is a complete list of the 2012 Golden Gods Award Winners:

Riff Lord: Slash
Paul Gray Best Bassist: Nikki Sixx (Mötley Crüe, Sixx:A.M.)
Best Drummer: Jeremy Spencer (Five Finger Death Punch)
Best Guitarists: Jinxx and Jake Pitts (Black Veil Brides)
Golden God: Gene Simmons (Kiss)
Comeback of the Year: Slipknot
Best International Band: X Japan
Album Of The Year: Korn’s The Path of Totality
Most Dedicated Fans: Avenged Sevenfold
Most Metal Athlete: CM Punk (WWE Wrestling)
Best Vocalist: Amy Lee (Evanescence)
Best Live Band: Avenged Sevenfold
Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award: Rush

For more info on the events, and to vote for your favorite artists or purchase tickets, click here.

America’s only hard-rock and heavy-metal award show is back for 2012!  The fourth annual REVOLVER GOLDEN GODS AWARD SHOW presented by Epiphone^® will take place Wednesday, April 11, at Club Nokia in Downtown Los Angeles. For the first time ever, the event will be broadcast live in its entirety on Xbox LIVE, as well as on the Xbox and Revolver Facebook pages. Tickets go on sale today Wednesday, February 15 at 5 p.m. PST, via Ticketmaster, click here.

“Our exclusive collaboration with Revolver Magazine on the Golden Gods event shows just how far Xbox LIVE has come as an entertainment destination,” said Ross Honey, GM of Xbox LIVE Entertainment & Advertising. “We’re excited to deliver this live original content to all Xbox LIVE members globally.”

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.”

Hosting duties for the GOLDEN GODS awards show will be handled by FOZZY frontman and WWE pro-wrestling legend Chris Jericho, who returns for the third consecutive year. The nominees in 11 different categories, plus the recipient of this year’s prestigious “Golden God Award,” were revealed today at a press conference held at the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles. Host Chris Jericho was on hand, along with Alice Cooper, Munky (Korn), Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society), Vinnie Paul (Pantera, Hellyeah), James Michael (Sixx:A.M.), Vinny Appice (Heaven & Hell, Kill Devil Hill), Black Veil Brides, Mike Portnoy (Adrenaline Mob), John Moyer (Disturbed, Adrenaline Mob), Michael Starr (Steel Panther), Wendy Dio (wife of Ronnie James Dio) and pro motocross rider Brian Deegan to announce the nominees.

Beginning today, fans everywhere can cast their vote to decide who will take home the awards for “Best Guitarist” (presented by Epiphone^®), “Best Drummer” (presented by Drum Workshop^®), “Best Vocalist” (presented by Rockstar Energy Drink^®), “Album of the Year” (presented by Marshall Amplification^®), “Best Live Band” (presented by Samson/Zoom^®), “Most Metal Athlete,” “Comeback of the Year” (presented by Eagle Rock Entertainment^®), “Riff Lord,” “Paul Gray Best Bassist” (presented by Dean Markley^®), “Best International Band” (presented by Musicians Institute^®) and “Most Dedicated Fans.” Voting starts today at: www.GoldenGodsAwards.com and ends on April 1. The complete list of nominees in each category is listed below.

The Golden God Award, given to one special honoree a year who embodies the spirit of hard rock and metal, will go to KISS demon Gene Simmons, whose band will release their highly anticipated 20^th studio album, “Monster,” this year. (Previous honorees include hard-rock and metal legends Alice Cooper, Rob Halford of JUDAS PRIEST and Dave Mustaine of MEGADETH.) Simmons commented, “It’s an honor and privilege to accept the Golden God Award. A God is only as powerful as the faithful who worship him. Signed GOD OF THUNDER.”

Adding to the celebration, The 2012 REVOLVER GOLDEN GODS AWARDS SHOW will feature one-of-a-kind special performances and collaborations that honor both the past, present and future of heavy music. The night’s hard-rocking musical performances will include sets by MARILYN MANSON (in his first U.S. performance in nearly three years); iconic GRAMMY-winning guitarist SLASH featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators; EVANESCENCE; SIXX:A.M. featuring Nikki Sixx of MÖTLEY CRÜE, James Michael, acclaimed rock producer and songwriter, and DJ Ashba of GUNS N’ ROSES (in their first performance in almost four years); and 2011 Best New Band Golden God Award winner BLACK VEIL BRIDES, who will perform their only U.S. show of 2012 so far. More performers will be announced in the coming weeks.

“Every year, the Revolver Golden Gods grows bigger and more badass. The 2012 edition is without question the most epic one yet, from the performers and presenters to the nominees and honorees,” states Revolver Editor in Chief Brandon Geist. “And this year, with the GRAMMY Museum launching its tie-in ‘Golden Gods: The History of Heavy Metal’ exhibit, and Xbox LIVE broadcasting the show around the world as it goes down in its entirety, the event will truly encompass the full timeline of heavy music and span the globe. Epic, indeed.”

“Epiphone and I are thrilled to participate in the Golden Gods Awards Show and celebrate some of music’s best talents – including this year’s performers from our Epiphone/Gibson family Nikki Sixx and Slash,” said Jim Rosenberg, President of Epiphone. “We are excited to share this year’s event with Epiphone players and metal fans across the globe with the show’s inaugural live broadcast.  Every year, the show gets better and better!”

Cast your vote now atGOLDENGODSAWARDS.COM.  The nominees for the 2012 REVOLVER GOLDEN GODS AWARDS presented by Epiphone^®  are:

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

For more information on tickets for the REVOLVER GOLDEN GODS AWARDS please log on to: http://www.ticketmaster.com/

About REVOLVER Magazine:

Revolver is the No. 1 hard-rock and heavy-metal destination in the world. In print for over 10 years, the magazine takes readers into the studio, onto the stage, and behind the scenes, providing in-depth information, mind-blowing original photography, and hilarious insights they can’t find anywhere else. The home of The Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock, Revolver also features horror movies, mixed martial arts, tattoos, action sports, and more. The cover of the magazine was recently named by Billboard to be the #1 place to get maximum exposure as a hard-rock artist. Revolver sponsors over 20 hard-rock tours each year, including the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. Its website (www.revolvermag.com) features exclusive interviews, music and video, photo-shoot outtakes, and contests. Revolver is also the official partner of Phunware for RevolverTV, the main home of hard rock and heavy metal programming on all mobile phones, producing new features weekly on over 200 mobile networks including the latest versions of Android and iPhone.

About Xbox Live:

Xbox LIVE is the online entertainment service for your Xbox 360, connecting you to an ever-expanding world of games, movies, TV, music, sports and social entertainment. Xbox LIVE lets you play the best games, enjoy one of the world’s largest on-demand libraries on any console, listen to millions of songs and share the fun with friends around the world. Xbox LIVE is also the exclusive home of controller-free online entertainment through Kinect, making your Xbox 360 more intuitive and interactive than ever before. With an active community of more than 35 nearly 40 million people across 35 countries, Xbox LIVE, together with Xbox 360, provides you with instant access to the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, wherever you are. More information about Xbox LIVE can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/live.

About Epiphone:

Recognized worldwide as a leader in musical instrument design, quality and innovation since 1873, the Epiphone Company produces every major type of fretted instrument including electric and acoustic guitars, mandolins and banjos, as well as amplifiers. Epiphone’s new “Prophecy” guitars are designed specifically for advanced players of rock and metal with a focus on speed, tone and reliability. Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, Epiphone is part of the Gibson family of brands. For more information visit www.epiphone.com.

About The GRAMMY Museum:

Paying tribute to music’s rich cultural history, this one-of-a-kind, 21st-century Museum explores and celebrates the enduring legacies of all forms of music, the creative process, the art and technology of the recording process, and the history of the premier recognition of excellence in recorded music—the GRAMMY Award. The GRAMMY Museum features 30,000 square feet of interactive and multimedia exhibits located within L.A. LIVE, the downtown Los Angeles sports, entertainment and residential district. Through thought-provoking and dynamic public and educational programs and exhibits, guests will experience music from a never-before-seen insider perspective that only The GRAMMY Museum can deliver.  www.grammymuseum.org

“We were inspired to create 7 after experiencing the incredible reaction people had to the messages within the songs on both The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and This Is Gonna Hurt,” vocalist James Michael explains.

“Our goal with this EP was to take songs that our fans were already intimately familiar with and present them in a way that shifted the focus. I’ve always loved hearing a song with all of the production stripped away because it exposes the raw emotions that were present at its infancy…7 will give our fans a glimpse into the heart of what drives Sixx:A.M.”

7 Track Listing:
“Lies of the Beautiful People” (Acoustic)
“This is Gonna Hurt” (Acoustic)
“Life is Beautiful” (Acoustic)
“Help is on the Way” (Acoustic)
“Sure Feels Right (Acoustic)
“Pray For Me” (Acoustic)
“Accidents Can Happen” (Acoustic)

Brandon Geist
Editor in Chief

Morbid Angel, Illud Divinum Insanus
“It doesn’t come out til June 7, but, dude, the new Morbid Angel album, their first with original vocalist David Vincent in 16 years, is fucking awesome—and wacky as all shit. There are classic-sounding church-burners like ’10 More Dead’ and ‘Nevermore,’ but then there are also stripped-down, almost nu-metally chant-alongs like the totally badass ‘I Am Morbid’ and Rob Zombie-ish industrial-metal stompers like ‘Radikult.’ You gotta hear it to believe it.”

Sixx:A.M., This Is Gonna Hurt
“I was pretty much hooked on Sixx:A.M.’s hit single, ‘Life is Beautiful,’ as soon as I heard it back in 2007. It’s just too damn catchy. And this new album is full of similarly hooky, hard-rock anthems that have already been stuck in my head for weeks just from hearing them in demo version. In particular, the title track and ‘Live Forever,’ which has a soaring chorus worthy of Muse, are pretty much irresistible.”

Down, NOLA
“Wow, how bummed I am about missing Down’s recent NYC show? Phil Anselmo gets his head sliced open by Pepper Keenan’s guitar during their second song and ends up performing the whole show with blood-streaming down his face, GG Allin-style. Bad. Ass. (I hear that after the show Phil was told he needed to get staples but refused them.) Relistening to Down’s classic debut album is small consolation for missing the gory epicness, but holy crap, does it still crush. ‘Hail the Leaf’!”

Bathory, Blood Fire Death
“Every few months I come back to this album and it always blows me away—a Viking metal classic, through and through. My favorite track is ‘Dies Irae.’”

Morbid Angel, Illud Divinum Insanus
“That’s right. I’ve heard it. Some of it will absolutely knock your socks off. And the song with the Celtic Frost referencing title—’I Am Morbid’—is a reverent nod to extreme metal’s forefathers.”

Sister, “Bullshit & Backstabbing”
“We premiered this track by the Swedish sleaze metallers earlier this week, and I gotta say—I can’t get it out of my head. It reminds me of ’80s Swedish glam metallers Shotgun Messiah right before they became an industrial-metal group.”

Josh Bernstein
Creative Director

Municipal Waste, Hazardous Mutation
“From ‘Bangover’ to ‘Guilty Of Being Tight,’ Virginia’s Municipal Waste, lay waste to 15 thrash-crossover classics here. Fast, aggressive, precise, and actually fun. With a cover painted by Ed Repka, how can you lose?”

Sex Pistols, The Great Rock & Roll Swindle
“After getting to meet the coolest Sex Pistol ever at the Golden Gods (hint: not Johnny or Sid), I had to dig out my old Great Rock & Roll Swindle album and check out some of the deeper cuts. For a band that only released one real album, this collection of B-sides, demos, covers, and oddball disco and classical versions of their hits is truly insane and should find a home in anyone’s music library.”

FEAR, The Record
“Their first, their best. Lee Ving still sounds dangerous, insane, racist, and frankly one of the best and most compelling frontmen ever. I can see why the SNL execs freaked out in 1981 and banned them for life…”

Josh Hart
Web Producer

Explosions in the Sky, Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
“It’s amazing in this age of short attention spans that a band that routinely writes 8-10 minute long instrumentals could have a Top 20 album, just over a month after a headlining show at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall. ‘Trembling Hands’ and ‘Be Careful, Creature’ are favorites.”

Atomic Rooster, Atomic Rooster
“Progressive (don’t let that word scare you off) rock from the early ’70s featuring members of the Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Later releases may have been heavier, but the first album will probably always be my favorite.”

Eisbrecher, Eisbrecher
“Those unfamiliar with the German industrial music scene (what, are you living under a rock?) might be surprised to know there are actually quite a few bands in the Rammstein vein floating around Deutschland. There are definitely more than a few copycat albums that will send you running for your copy of Mutter, but Eisbrecher’s self-titled effort ain’t half bad, even by Rammstein standards.”

Jimmy Hubbard
Photography Director

A Storm Of Light, As The Valley of Death Becomes Us, Our Silver Memories Fade
“Fourth record from A Storm of Light and easily my favorite. After three great records, it sounds like these guys really figured out their own sound and it’s a lot different than I was expecting. Still has a lot of the Neurosis, Isis vibe, but kind of has a cool industrial thing going on. These guys touring with Tombs is going to make an awesome bill.”

Indian, Guiltless
“Another awesome band from Chicago and another awesome sounding album produced by Sanford Parker (Nachtmystium, Minsk, Buried at Sea). Great, brutal doomy metal, great organic sounding record. Band also features Will Lindsay of Wolves in the Throne Room and Nachtmystium.”

The Black Dahlia Murder, Ritual
“I have been listening to a lot of Black Dahlia Murder recently, mostly because we just finished an awesome feature on them. (Wait ’til the next issue!) But, yep, as I expected, this record is great! Sounds like BDM, with a bit more black metal influences, sounds like someone has been listening to a little Deathspell Omega….”

To celebrate the careers of Nikki Sixx and Mötley Crüe,

“Wild Side”

“Whenever I’m getting ready to hit Sunset Strip in Hollywood, I blast this song to pump me up! I know if this song starts my night, it’s going to be a crazy one and who knows where I’ll wake up the next morning!”