AND THE NOMINEES FOR THE 2011 REVOLVER GOLDEN GODS AWARDS ARE…

So Revolver are doing their Golden Gods awards for the third year in a row on April 20 in L.A. (read our coverage from previous years here, here, here, and here) and the nominees have been announced.

Now, the first thing you will notice is that the nominees are more or less fairly ridiculous. For example, if these awards are to be believed, than Disturbed’s Dan Donegan is a better guitarist than Misha Mansoor, and Times of Grace (which is really just Killswitch Engage), We Are the Fallen (which is really just Evanescence), and The Damned Things (which is a supergroup) are all new bands.

That being said… I do not get particularly offended by these nominations the way I do with the Grammys. I think that’s because I know there are people who take the Grammys seriously, and think those awards actually mean something, whereas the only people who pay attention to the Golden Gods are already metal fans who either a) know that this is really just an excuse to throw an awesome party and have a big event promoting metal as a genre, or b) are eleven years old.

So check out the noms after the jump, and try not to get your panties in a twist. You should also be aware that Alice Cooper, Duff McKagan, DevilDriver, Asking Alexadria, Volbeat, and Fozzy are all performing, and that Motley Crue are getting the Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award. (Their lifetime achievement: still being alive.)

So, about those nominees…

Epiphone Best Guitarist(s):

• John 5 (Rob Zombie)
• Dan Donegan (Disturbed)
• Gus G (Ozzy Osbourne, Firewind)
• Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance (Avenged Sevenfold)
• Janick Gers, Dave Murray, and Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden)
• Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom)

Drum Workshop Best Drummer:

• Tommy Clufetos (Ozzy Osbourne)
• Abe Cunningham (Deftones)
• Joey Jordison (Rob Zombie)
• Roy Mayorga (Stone Sour)
• Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden)
• – Mike Portnoy

Best Vocalist:

• Glenn Danzig (Danzig)
• Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden)
• Chino Moreno (Deftones)
• Ozzy Osbourne
• M. Shadows (Avenged Sevenfold)
• Corey Taylor (Stone Sour)

Affliction Album of the Year:

• Avenged Sevenfold, Nightmare
• Black Label Society, Order of the Black
• Deftones, Diamond Eyes
• Ozzy Osbourne, Scream
• Stone Sour, Audio Secrecy
• Volbeat, Beyond Hell/Above Heaven

Samson Zoom Best Live Band:

• Avenged Sevenfold
• Gwar
• Iron Maiden
• Megadeth
• Rammstein
• Sevendust

Most Metal Athlete:

• Chris Cole (pro skateboarding)
• Dan Hardy (MMA fighting)
• Toni Lydman (NHL)
• The Miz (WWE wrestling)
• Jeremy Shockey (NFL football)
• Mike Vallely (pro skateboarding)

Best New Band:

• Asking Alexandria
• Black Veil Brides
• The Damned Things
• The Pretty Reckless
• Times of Grace
• We Are the Fallen

Eagle Rock Comeback of the Year:

• Accept
• Faith No More
• Murderdolls
• A Perfect Circle
• Soundgarden
• System of a Down

-AR