The Metal Hammer Golden God Awards 2016 in association with Fireball

Voting now open - www.metalhammer.com/awards

2016 just got bigger and louder as we celebrate 30 years of Metal Hammer!

Monday June 13th 2016

NEW VENUE - Eventim Apollo, London

#GoldenGods #metalhammersmith

Images - http://bit.ly/GoldenGodImages

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 Videogame

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 Lemmy.

For media enquiries please contact Ben Pester at Pester PR on ben@PesterPR.co.uk or +447968 144 230

For sponsorship please contact Helen Walledge, TeamRock Commercial Director, on helen.walledge@teamrock.com, +44 (0)20 3034 0793 or +44 (0)7903 535 852

Editors Notes:

About Metal Hammer:

Metal Hammer is the heavy metal bible. Based in the UK, published monthly, and distributed internationally, it is now in its 30th year of publication, and its coverage of the world of metal – from the cutting edge to the extreme – is unparalleled. With almost 1.6million Facebook followers, 424,000 Twitter followers, and its unprecedented coverage of the global metal scene – from India to Indonesia to South America – it is truly the world’s premier metal magazine.

About TeamRock:

TeamRock is the global home of rock and metal music. It connects rock fans with incredible content on a range of platforms and is already the go-to destination for fans and artists alike. Owner of the leading rock and metal brands TeamRock, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Prog and The Blues, TeamRock engages with fans through websites and apps for mobile and desktop, digital and print magazines, radio and gaming. TeamRock is backed by Harwood Private Equity.

About Heavy Metal Truants

Heavy Metal Truants, a TeamRock-sponsored charity, was co-founded by Alexander Milas and Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood. Now in its fourth year, it consists of an annual 170-mile bicycle ride from London to Download Festival and the annual Monster Rock Auction. To date they have raised £232,000 for Teenage Cancer Trust, Childline, and Nordoff Robbins. (www.heavymetaltruants.com. All Metal Hammer Golden God Awards profits from ticket sales will be donated to the Heavy Metal Truants.

About CTS EVENTIM:

CTS EVENTIM AG & Co. KGaA, listed in the MDAX index (ISIN DE 0005470306), is Europe’s market leader in the ticketing field with activities in 23 countries. More than 100 million tickets for more than 200,000 events are marketed annually via EVENTIM group systems. In addition to more than 20,000 stationary outlets in Europe, EVENTIM distributes tickets via call centres and online platforms including eventim.de, eventim.co.uk, oeticket.com, ticketcorner.ch, ticketone.it, lippu.fi and many more.

Also an important part of EVENTIM group is the segment of live entertainment, incorporating the planning, organisation and promotion of concerts, concert tours, festivals and other live events. Majority stakes in several of the most important concert promoters in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, long time proven relationships to national and international artists, successful open air festivals and numerous other events secure an outstanding market position for EVENTIM group in the European concert and entertainment industry.