Best Drummer presented by Razor & Tie
Zach: While of course the A7X fans will come out in massive numbers for the Golden Gods, I’m sure the Mike Portnoy fanatics will as well. Hell, he might even get a few A7X fans voting for him thanks to his work on Nightmare (that certainly helped him win the award in 2011). And there’s no denying that Portnoy is still a monster of a drummer who deserves praise for it.
Matt: Portnoy has so many diehard fans that I have to put my money on him. Half of the reason people know who The Winery Dogs are is because he’s in the band (no disrespect to Sheehan and Kotzen). Plus, there’s the legion of bleating lambs that are his fans who say he is Dream Theater’s only drummer, so they could cast their vote just to try and prove a point.
Kodi: I’m not a drummer, but I LOVE the choices in this category! Any drummer not named The Rev in the throne for Avenged is worthy of a look, and I’d be fine with it if he won; with that said, The Rev casts a hard shadow to live in if your name isn’t Mike Portnoy. Brad Wilk did an amazing job filling Bill Ward’s shoes under fire, Chris Adler’s work with Protest The Hero was one of my favorite drumming performances of last year, and Matt Halpern should have already won this award twice. That said, no one else is getting this but Portnoy. It’s practically already decided.
Bram: Let’s hope Matt Halpern wins. By ‘hope,’ I mean just that, because I’m assuming many of the people that would vote for this award don’t know what Periphery is, either from a band standpoint or a dictionary one. I’m guessing Mike Portnoy wins, because Mike Portnoy. I don’t know that there are that many Winery Dogs fans out there, but there sure are Portnoy fans. So in conclusion, Portnoy.
Best Live Band
Zach: This may be the toughest category for me to determine a winner in. I’d love to see Gojira or The Dillinger Escape Plan win it (and I’m sure many would agree they both rightfully deserve it). However, Slayer will likely steal this one, even though we only saw half of the original lineup onstage last year. They’ll likely get a big push from it’s still loyal fanbase, and it’ll give Revolver a chance to honor Hanneman (who actually passed away the day of last year’s Golden Gods show).
Matt: There’s a lot of solid choices on this list, and while there will likely be a huge push for both Mötley Crüe and Slayer, I’d say the winner here is Lamb of God. Even though the whole saga of Randy’s arrest and trial is over, it’s still fresh in everyone’s minds. So fans may seek to honor the band in the only category they’re nominated in this year. It doesn’t hurt that Lamb of God really is one of the most explosive live shows you can see nowadays.
Kodi: Remember The Dillinger Escape Plan’s performance at last year’s Golden Gods? They could sneak away with this, and they are one of the best live bands of our generation, hands down. With that in mind, Gojira is the best live metal band on the planet right now, to the point that they even outgunned Slayer when I saw them together in November. Lamb of God will probably win this being fresh in everyone’s minds (and deservedly, they are amazing live), but seeing Gojira feels like seeing Metallica on the Justice tour in terms of sheer gravity and power.
Bram: I’m thinking that Dillinger has an outside chance. Last year’s performance at the awards probably shocked people into paying attention to them, and they’re definitely got the most energy of any of the other bands. Gojira are fantastic live, and would be a great one to have win, but I’m thinking Lamb of God will win because of the sympathy/Randy vote. The sympathy vote would probably be the only reason Slayer would win too, since it’s not like they have new music out or have really done anything particularly new from a live show point of view.
Song of the Year presented by Randall Amplifiers
Zach: As I mentioned, A7X are poised to be the big winners of the night. And I’d be more surprised if they didn’t snag this particular award, especially given its competition. The only other song that I’d say is even worth winning is Alice In Chains’ “Hollow.”
Matt: My thoughts are pretty much along the same lines as Zach except I think “Hollow” might have the edge. The only real reason is because the song has just been out longer with lots of airplay, so it has a chance of beating out A7X on this one.
Kodi: Avenged Sevenfold is going to win this, but “Hollow” is the only one of the six I’ve listened to repeatedly on purpose. And believe me, I’m OK with that.
Bram: Yeah, I can agree on Avenged winning. It’s the most memorable song that’s had the most exposure.
