Veteran British rock bands Motorhead and Black Sabbath were crowned the kings of heavy metal on Monday, winning the top accolades at the UK's top metal music awards, the Metal Hammer Golden Gods.
Motorhead, best known for its 1980 hit "Ace of Spades", received the Golden Gods awards at the 11th annual ceremony for making a significant contribution to the rock and heavy metal industry over nearly four decades.
Black Sabbath won the award for best album for "13" which soared to No. 1 in the British charts on Sunday, giving the band its first number one album in nearly 43 years which is a record interval between chart-toppers.
The band, which is scheduled to begin a U.S. tour this summer followed by concerts in South America and Europe later in the year, also won the award for best UK band.
"From honoring the lords of our world Black Sabbath and the crown princes of rock and roll Motorhead as well as today's most cutting-edge acts, there's simply no other event like it," said Alexander Milas, editor of Metal Hammer magazine that organizes the annual awards.
Motorhead frontman Lemmy, 67, who is the sole constant member of the band set up in 1975, received the Golden Gods award from members of Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver, and Loaded bassist Duff McKagan.
The best new band award went to Bleed From Within who formed in 2005 while the best international band was named as the U.S.'s Stone Sour from Des Moines, Iowa.
French metal band Gojira, previously known as Godzilla, won the award for best live band while the best song prize went to the American rock band Coheed and Cambria for "Dark Side Of Me".
(Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)