Battle Royal is having a Gatling gun put to your head and being forced to choose between Star Wars and Star Trek, Alien vs. Predator, Freddy vs. Jason, Marvel vs. DC, no metal forever in Heaven vs. Priest’s Demolition eternally in Hell. These are the sorts of decisions that truly build character. And in the case of Battle Royal, these are the kinds of choices that force you to binge on hours of great music that conceivably helped shape you into the terribly impressive metal nerd you are today.

Previous BRs have pitted Slayer vs. Metallica (80s only), Judas Priest vs. Iron Maiden (GASP) and Suffocation vs. Immolation (brutalation!), and our latest encounter hopes to be equally as… Wrongful.

But Opeth vs. Enslaved? Is that even a fair fight? The internet doesn’t seem to think so:

Opeth’s Facebook following: 1,436,665
Enslaved’s Facebook following: 265,941

Opeth’s Twitter following: 168,000
Enslaved’s Twitter following: 45,000

Most would agree that the odds ain’t exactly in Norway’s favor. Adding to the issue: is a match-up between death and black metal even appropriate? Stripped to the core, that’s basically what’s on tap.

But wait! Look up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s… It’s…

It’s a really high dude in a Gentle Giant shirt listening to endless King Crimson and ELP records.

Prog is clearly the equalizer here. While both bands crawled from very different primordial pools in the Bronze Age of heavy metal, a mutual love of the sort of progressive rock that developed from the 60s psychedelic scene has helped to soften and “weirden” the edges of both projects to a degree where it’s now become completely and wonderfully prudent to see Opeth and Enslaved sharing the stage across our (largely not-so) green and (often not-so) pleasant lands.

But is a shared appreciation and influence from Mahavishnu Orchestra, Camel and Atomic Rooster enough to give Enslaved an attractive snowflake’s chance in the helliest of Hell against a powerhouse like Opeth? Of the two bands, Enslaved is more likely to be considered “still on an upswing,” at least with regard to actual heavy metal, even if 2015’s In Times seemed to disgruntle almost as much as it managed to satisfy. Conversely, the scoundrels in Opeth continue to defile their roots in favor of pushing the band’s overall sound further and further into a rock terrain that’s mostly “heavy” in the same sense that hippies used to refer to the Vietnam war.

Despite any indication of a feasible imbalance, we’re here to pit two Generals of progressive extreme metal against one another, because it should be a great fight based on the quality of the cumulative output. At the least, the resulting selection will be agonizing enough for most interested parties to wish for death, which we’re about to confirm in our blurbs below.

Is the runestone loaded into Davidssøn’s sling powerful enough to topple the Swedish Goliath? We’ll soon find out.

[Captain]

THE CONTENDERS:

• OPETH: 
  • Formed in Sörskogen, Stockholm, Sweden in 1990
  • Twelve full-lengths: Orchid [1995], Morningrise [1996], My Arms, Your Hearse [1998], Still Life [1999], Blackwater Park [2001], Deliverance [2002], Damnation [2003], Ghost Reveries [2005], Watershed [2008], Heritage [2011], Pale Communion [2014], Sorceress [2016]
• Enslaved:
  • Formed in Haugesund, Norway in 1991
  • A handful of significant EPs and splits, plus thirteen full-lengths: Vikingligr veldi [1994], Frost [1994], Eld [1997], Blodhemn [1998], Mardraum: Beyond the Within [2000], Monumension [2001], Below the Lights [2003], Isa [2004], Ruun [2006], Vertebrae [2008], Axioma Ethica Odini [2010], RIITIIR [2012], In Times [2015]

ZACH DUVALL:

Oof. This is the toughest yet for me. Opeth and Enslaved, while coming from different countries and scenes, have always been strongly aligned in my mind for reasons far beyond the obvious extreme metal-progressive rock melding. You see, I was a late bloomer. It wasn’t until my early-mid 20s that I really started to get a taste for extreme metal. Opeth and Enslaved were there to help ease me into all things growl and blast.

In short, Blackwater Park was a revelation. When I heard it, I had no idea that such sounds could be mixed, or that they could be combined with such magical success. I worked backwards into Opeth’s earlier works, and learned about other bands that shared that great period of 90s experimentation (Tiamat and The Gathering are two of the most significant). My life was forever changed for the better. Without Opeth, this never happens, and in spite of this great awakening, it is still the music of Blackwater Park and Orchid and Still Life and the rest of their classics that remain the largest part of that bond. Mikael Åkerfeldt is a genius, pure and simple. And you know what else? I still love the band. Heritage was a stinker, sure, but they more than made up for it with the sublime Pale Communion and the not-quite-as-good-but-still-great Sorcerer. I am just fine with Prog Rock Opeth.

As for Enslaved, they opened up the world of black metal to me. They were my first favorite black metal band, although I got into the band through their more progressive, experimental albums such as Isa. I was quick to embrace Vikingligr veldi, however, and through that came all of the Second Wave and beyond. As with Opeth, the music of Enslaved still remains the strongest part of this bond, despite how much I love Emperor and Darkthrone and Satyricon et al. The weirdness of Isa, the smoothness of Ruun, the cross-genre fury of Mardraum, the arena blackened prog of Axioma Ethica Odini, the mastery of Hordanes Land (despite Ivar Bjørnson being about 16 when it came out) — it all meant and means huge things to me. Such connections are eternal.

Beyond the extreme/prog association and what both bands did for me personally, another massive factor exists: consistency. Each band is only really guilty of one poor album (Heritage and In Times, and that’s the only answer), with everything else ranging from very good to immaculate.

So how does one pick between two bands that are not only two of metal’s all time greats and innovators, but also represent two of the biggest watershed (nyuk) moments in my life as a music fan? Easy, resort to raw emotions. And how does one do that? Get drunk. When I’m putting together a late night playlist with friends, several beers into the festivities, both Enslaved and Opeth typically join the fray. But one song is not only among the most ever played, but finds its way as the final song of the night very often. That song is “Blackwater Park.”

Zach’s choice: OPETH

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MANNY-O-WAR:

These Battle Royals are never easy. They see us torturing ourselves by pitting two of our favorite bands against each other in a winner-take-all, Kickboxer 3: The Art of War, pit-style combat. Of course, the bands themselves aren’t fighting. Rather, it’s a bunch of middle-aged men of mediocre intelligence and subpar looks (aka the staff at Last Rites) arguing about minor imperfections, ranking discographies and looking into the intricacies of splits, demos and EPs. Opeth v. Enslaved was no different. A few of our crew members passed away from battle-related injuries and more than a few friendships were strained, tested and ultimately broken. The kind of fractures that can only be cured by a weekend-long drinking getaway full of metal snuggles and sweatpants.

So, get to the point Manny, amirite? Well, of all the Battle Royals that we have done, this one was, by far, an easy snap-decision for me. Recognizing everything that Mikael Åkerfeldt has done for heavy music, and all the risks he’s taken — most of which have paid off — it’s without hesitation, and without remorse, that I declare Enslaved the winner by TKO.

The Enslaved discography is, for me, pretty much unrivaled in metal. With only one miss, In Times, the boys have pumped out metal across the spectrum of progression, experimentation, black, viking and clean. And, with very few exceptions, all of it has been great, with Below the Lights perhaps best highlighting the diversity with which Enslaved attacks their compositions.

It seems like nothing is off the table with regard to ideas and trials for these guys. Maybe it’s Ivar Bjornson’s jovial nature, humility and willingness to work with others that allows their group compositions to take such magnificent shape, because whether it’s Grutle Kjellson or Herbrand Larsen (before he made the insane decision to leave the band) writing alternate, well-balanced aspects, Ivar’s vision is ultimately a group vision that leads to breathtaking conclusions that are not only enjoyable to audibly digest, they are musically perfect. Dissonance balances with clean passages, heaviness balances with lighter-than-air atmosphere, and each track is carefully engineered to walk the listener through a forest of emotions.

Early in their career, when Enslaved was mostly straight-forward black metal, they produced some of the best of the genre. Eld is a masterpiece that the band still pulls off flawlessly live. As they progressed into the viking era, Blodhemn saw progression and a willingness to compromise, and perhaps a vision toward the future sound of Enslaved. It was only two years later that Mardraum: Beyond the Within was released, knocking metal back on its ass. Enslaved had raised the bar monumentally. Even if they took a step back on Monumension, the band powered into their later career with Below the Lights, which will forever hold a place in the top-tier of the pantheon of metal greats. Isa, Ruun, Vertebrae and Axioma Ethica Odini cover a six year span and provide little snippets of what are almost companion albums. The band is forever stepping forward and rarely taking time off, touring relentlessly across their entire career.

2012 saw the release of RIITIIR, which they pronounce with awesome rolling R’s. There was hesitation — the cover was a photograph, which was a departure from their previous works, but much like the production on the album itself, the artwork was clean and glossy. RIITIIR even featured a massive amount of clean vocals, comparatively. When all was said and done, Enslaved had dropped an album that could easily be considered most any band’s best work, but for them, it was yet another masterpiece landing amongst a nearly unbeatable discography.

In my opinion, the band’s only misstep came in 2015 with In Times. And it’s only a misstep because of Enslaved’s enormous potential and the expectations (some might say pressure) we place on them with each subsequent release. That pressure now lies squarely on their shoulders once again with the imminent delivery of their fourteenth LP simply titled E. I expect great things from that album, as I always have from Enslaved, as they are a band that always manages to get the hairs on my neck and hands to stand at attention.

Manny’s choice: ENSLAVED

///

KK:

The Last Rites Battle Royal exercise is, if anything else, a great excuse to blast through two massive discographies and compare them to one another. It’s a refreshing break from sorting through new music that has yet to truly sink into our increasingly limited brains and just enjoy the things that drove us to fall in love with metal in the first place. What makes this Battle Royal so unlike any of the others is that, well, how does one compare any band to Opeth’s brand of sometimes black-leaning progressive death rock? And what viking-black-prog outfit could hold a candle to even one quarter of Enslaved’s soon-to-be fourteen album discography? For over two decades now, Opeth and Enslaved have cunningly lured music by the hand through the seas of unfamiliar and uncharted territory, and both have uncovered entire new worlds of sound. Which of the two would I want to live in? Well hell, Charlie, that ain’t no easy choice. It really comes down to peaks and plateaus, doesn’t it?

Enslaved’s origins come from the frostbitten fjords of the second wave of black metal, and over the years, the band has played through the dark winter and gracefully ushered in the embrace of Scandinavia’s seldom-setting Summer sun. With very careful footing and increased injections of Pink Floyd, Enslaved’s progressive brand of black metal has been a slow, gradual evolution, and as a result, the band has rarely experienced a misstep. Opeth’s evolution has been a bit more pronounced from album-to-album, and it’s brought listeners genre-defining classics as well as complete letdowns. While I’ll die swearing by My Arms, Your Hearse as Opeth’s crowning achievement, Still Life is a guitarist’s wet dream, Blackwater Park obliterated any notions we had as to the limitations of heavy metal, and Deliverance has solidified Mikael Åkerfeldt’s legacy as one of the greatest songwriters in the history of anything involving a guitar. So as we all sit around our Last Rites picnic table and drink Chartreuse, pineapple rum and lord only knows what else, does it really matter if one of us thinks Damnation is a bullshit album? Or if “Black Rose Immortal” is way too long? Or if any complete album after Ghost Reveries is even worth a shit?

Looking at everything Enslaved has done from Vikingligr veldi to their most recent album’s sample track, listeners are presented with a masterful plateau of progressive perfection that changes slope slightly, but never drastically. The band’s progress has been very gradual, and it was probably fully-realized on Isa, even if the vast majority of the albums that followed were no less exciting. It’s a big, beautiful discography filled with nothing but rewards for the keen ear. Opeth’s discography is filled with highs, lows, and lots of pointless fucking singles and boxed sets as of late. But hell, so is life. It’s a sad thing… losing faith in one of your favorite bands, and its not a stretch to say mine has been completely gone for about ten years. Enslaved, on the other hand, probably has one or two more progressive black classics hiding up its sleeve, and that makes this the most difficult Battle Royal yet. Hell, I didn’t even know which band I would choose until right this very moment. But here I sit, stuck in a crevice from which I may never escape, with wind in the form of recycled prog-rock riffs and salty water in the form of terrible album covers slapping me in the face before they collide with the rocks. But I’m looking up at a mountain and its peak goes above the clouds. And on its peak, I can hear the distant melodies of “Demon of the Fall,” “Dirge for November,” and “Harlequin Forest.” And all I can do now is smile knowing I climbed to the top of that fucker a few times, and that experience alone made everything else worth it.

KK’s choice: OPETH

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CAPTAIN:

I was introduced to the world of Opeth through My Arms, Your Hearse back in 1998. My initial reaction was laughter directed squarely at the goofy title, but that snickering was quickly crushed beneath the weight of the record’s near-perfect atmosphere that balanced beauty and grimness like an elegantly attired corpse. It remains my favorite Opeth album today, and listening to it in preparation for this piece elicited the same level of seduction as it did twenty years ago, which is testament to its importance in my overall Heavy Metal Timeline.

In truth, I haven’t listened to Opeth in quite a while—something that unfortunately happens with a number of great bands when you’re in the business of getting slaughtered by new releases every day. Battle Royal is great in that it forces our crew (and hopefully you) to hard-reconnect with records in your past in an attempt to re-conjure the emotions that left you thoroughly charmed during first contact. For me, this meant reawakening infatuations with Morningrise, My Arms/Your Hearse, Still Life, Blackwater Park and Deliverance, all of which carved sizable imprints on the brain many moons ago. Knife to my throat, I’ll admit right here and now that I do not believe Enslaved has a five-album stretch of equal strength, although I’d confirm that Isa, Ruun, Vertebrae, Axioma Ethica Odini and RIITIIR make a damn strong case.

But as great as songs like “Ridicule Swarm,” “Return to Ygdrasill” and “Entroper” are, they’re not quite up to the Herculean level of “Demon of the Fall,” “Godhead’s Lament” or “Bleak.” Harsh, for certain, but true. Then I hear a song like “Ethica Odini” and my entire premise gets shot to shit. Damn you, Battle Royal; damn you to Hell.

Luckily, voting against Opeth, which I’m about to do, doesn’t negate or lessen the impact of the above-mentioned albums in the least; it simply demonstrates just how valuable I consider the current and active Enslaved’s significance to be on heavy metal today, and it rightly emphasizes how big an influence their current yield will continue having as we move into the immediate future. The relatively muted effort of In Times notwithstanding, Enslaved are doing so much more with the progressive influence in their modern output, and they’re preserving what I consider to be an absolutely crucial balance between “the lovely and the ugly” that’s infinitely more interesting and challenging when compared to the contemporary minstrel era of Opeth that produced Heritage, Pale Communion and Sorceress.

As much as it pains me to admit, at this point in time, Enslaved ARE and Opeth WERE, and what the former is producing in the modern age is great enough that I find myself returning to it as often as the records that were part of the latter’s remarkable prime, so Enslaved gets the nod by an inch. I sure am grateful to have them both, though, and being dead in a ditch is the only thing that will keep me from listening to them for the rest of my days.

Captain’s choice: ENSLAVED

///

DAN OBSTKRIEG:

Ideally, instead of sinking into pits of despair and regret by forcing ourselves to choose one or another of these sterling bands, we would step back and marvel at the 25 or so albums they have collectively produced. And really, no matter what side you land on, that’s really something: though sounding very little like each other, Opeth and Enslaved have arguably trod similar arcs, provoked similar passions, and created similarly engrossing sound-worlds. (Yes, sound-worlds. Kiss my ass.)

But beyond that, there are so many different ways to compare the bands that it’s almost overwhelming. Although neither band has released an outright bad album, their respective worst albums are illustrative: Opeth’s Damnation is a damp towel of an album that is mystifyingly overvalued by so many, and yet, as an intentional side-step/companion piece to Deliverance, it did not particularly indicate a derailing, with Ghost Reveries bringing the band to their widest prominence (both via a new contract with not-yet-desperately-floundering Roadrunner and via a set of wickedly smart tunes). Enslaved’s In Times is less of a departure from their sound than Damnation was for Opeth, but without hearing the upcoming E, it’s difficult to know if it was an unfortunate misstep or the first sign of a gathering decline. Regardless, In Times is, well, just plain boring — modern progressive Enslaved by the shiny, rote numbers. Nevertheless, it murders Damnation. Murders it dead.

The bands’ best albums are harder to compare, in part because both are masterpieces in their own right. Blackwater Park is remarkable not only because it is nearly flawless, but because it somehow managed to improve from and build on the already outrageously good albums which preceded it. Isa, on the other hand, is a potent distillation of the black metal fury of Enslaved’s early days and the mottled experimentation of Mardraum and Monumension, while at the same time marking an inflection point toward the increasingly expansive progressive metal that has become their recent hallmark. Blackwater Park ekes out the win, however, because its songwriting is just so mindbogglingly great and vivid and complete.

We could go on (Logo? Thor’s hammer in Enslaved’s logo sure as hell trounces Opeth’s… fancy O that looks like it’s been embroidered with butterflies?) and on (Stage banter? Mikael Akerfeldt is one of the most understated yet hilariously charismatic frontmen in recent metal’s history.) and on (Opeth’s world-beatingly righteous streak of albums from Orchid through Deliverance is unmatched by just about any band in the past thirty years), but ultimately, it simply comes down to feeling. My brain says Enslaved, but my heart says Opeth. A big part of that is the overall affect (call it gestalt if you want to be a dick [note: I do]) of each band: Opeth is music of the earth, while Enslaved is music of the cosmos. These days, I feel like walking in the woods and tilling the soil while it lasts, so Opeth is the one true harvest.

Dan’s choice: OPETH

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OPETH

The filthy Swedes take the crown! The sparkling Swedes! The talented Swedes! The Swedes.

As is surely the case for most metal fans with a vested interest in this particular battle, an outcome such as this could very well be expected, but either choice is (delightfully and) emotionally draining. We’re clearly fortunate to have both Opeth and Enslaved in our lives, and the fact that they’re both active means there’s always a possibility that the tables could turn in the future. All that’s left to do now is hear how YOU would vote, so we welcome your comments here, on our Facebook page, or through our companion Twitter poll below. And keep your ears peeled for the new Enslaved album, E, due October 13th through Nuclear Blast.

Battle Royal returns! Polls are open from now until Sunday night. @OfficialOpeth vs. @EnslavedBand: Cast your vote! https://t.co/OsTGqQz4NZ

— Last Rites (@YourLastRites) September 1, 2017

• • •

Here are two potent primers to help get the fires crackling:

Long may Enslopeth reign!

The post Battle Royal: Opeth vs. Enslaved – Two Bands Enter, One Band Leaves appeared first on Last Rites.

When the idea for this particular Battle Royal first bubbled up, the initial plan was to perhaps take our first swing at an eye-gouging, folding-chair swinging, illegal chop-to-the-throat throwing, barbed-wire is A-okay having CAGE MATCH between Suffocation, Immolation, Cannibal Corpse and Incantation. It was a fiendishly enticing concept at first blush, but a decision was ultimately made to pare down the savagery because hammering through approximately forty records and attempting to piece together an actual fair fight was just too much. Plus, despite walloping faves from the two latter bands (particularly Incantation’s latest works), Suffo and Immo remain this particular crew’s favorites of the NY scene that first ripped into the spotlight in the early 90s. Perhaps that in and of itself seems unfair. But then, Battle Royal ain’t exactly meant to be fair, as evidenced by previous bouts ‘twixt Metallica & Slayer and (still gasping) Iron Maiden vs. Judas Priest.

So, here we are again – another round of good-natured fisticuffs pitting two New York titans of death metal against one another in a swirling maelstrom of crushing riffs, wolfish barks, and fifty megatons of H.E.A.V.Y. for us to weigh in on in a conceivably intelligent way.

Naturally, once again, the metal world is lucky to have both bands involved in this unjust brawl, particularly if you enjoy having your pathetic body caved in by a wall of noise that hits like a careening D-train with a New Yawk chip on its fuggin’ shoulder. And really, why the Hell wouldn’t you?

The Contenders!

SUFFOCATION:
Human Waste EP [1991] Effigy of the Forgotten [1991] Breeding the Spawn [1993] Pierced from Within [1995] Despise the Sun EP [1998] Souls to Deny [2004] Suffocation [2006] Blood Oath [2009] Pinnacle of Bedlam [2013]

• Formed in 1988 in Long Island, New York
• 7 albums and 2 EPs spanning 25 years

IMMOLATION:
Dawn of Possession [1991] Here In After [1996] Failures for Gods [1999] Close To A World Below [2000] Unholy Cult [2002] Harnessing Ruin [2005] Hope and Horror EP [2007] Shadows in the Light [2007] Majesty and Decay [2010] Providence EP [2011] Kingdom of Conspiracy [2013]

• Formed in 1988 (1986, if you include Rigor Mortis) in Yonkers, New York
• 9 albums and 2 EPs spanning 25 years

DAN OBSTKRIEG:

Picking a favorite band between Immolation and Suffocation isn’t just cruel and unusual, it’s damned near impossible. First off, you can begin a bio of both bands exactly the same way: X is a pioneering death metal band from New York that released its debut album in 1991, influenced countless bands of admirers and imitators, is arguably responsible for an entire subgenre of death metal, and to date has never released a bad album. But even more important than any of that is that it just feels wrong to pick between the two, given how thoroughly their development is intertwined with the very DNA of death metal. And on a more personal note, the trickiest thing is that no matter how objectively I try to compare the two bands, the real truth is that my favorite is almost always whichever of them I am listening to at the moment.

Nevertheless, because we are a bunch of ruthless jerks who consented to this head-to-head matchup, let’s do this thing properly. Suffocation gets an early leg up because Effigy of the Forgotten presents a more fully-formed sense of the band’s style than Dawn of Possession does for Immolation. However, Suffocation also reached their career pinnacle (Pierced from Within) earlier than did Immolation (with Close to a World Below), and their absence in the late 90s/early 00s meant that not only has Immolation thus far racked up nine albums to their seven, but also that Suffocation was almost entirely absent precisely at the time when Immolation became the hulking, oppressive, intimidating death metal powerhouse with their four album run from 1996 – 2002. And although the brilliant Souls to Deny likely bests any of Immolation’s four albums from 2005 onward, yours truly was never much persuaded by either Suffocation or Blood Oath, meaning that on the whole, Immolation’s four-album run from the underrated Harnessing Ruin through Kingdom of Conspiracy is still stronger than Suffocation’s four-album run from Souls to Deny through the late-career peak Pinnacle of Bedlam.

It bears repeating: neither band has made a bad album. Still, the real magic of these bands can’t be captured in any sort of tit-for-tat discographical reckoning. Instead, the true point of comparison between the two bands is something far less tangible. Suffocation has always been a more enjoyable band, and even though on a note-for-note basis their work is significantly more technical and demanding than Immolation, it is nevertheless more easily digestible. And Immolation, for as dissonant and technical and lurching as they can be, are a weird, offputting band that hides their weirdness in plain sight. And where Suffocation is clearly without match when it comes to moving your body and snapping your neck with the most cleverly deployed and deviously stupid slams out there, Immolation mostly wants to move your body in order to ensorcel your soul.

As you can imagine, your favorite knuckleheads at Last Rites have been having a lot of fun behind the scenes as we all divebomb through the catalogs of these two titans of the form. Here’s the truest thing that I have come to think about the two bands: for as flailing and frantic and chaotic and whiplashing as Suffocation can be, whenever they sound that way, it’s mostly the result of production choices or individually technical performances. When Immolation sounds flailing and frantic and chaotic, it’s because the band’s compositions themselves are barely controlled chaos. Whether the band is at the height of its dense, claustrophobic churn (as on Here in After or Close to a World Below) or exploring the more focused contrasts of thick riffs and lumbering shifts (as on Harnessing Ruin, Providence, or Majesty & Decay), Immolation exudes menace, conviction, invention, simmering anger, and explosive rage.

Immolation wins; let Earth receive Her kings.

Dan’s Pick:
IMMOLATION

MICHAEL WUENSCH:

I had a clear-cut winner in mind when I first walked into this damn thing, but Battle Royal Ep 3 has proven to be much more difficult than initially expected. Suffocation and Immolation prevail on a top-shelf that manages to surpass simply being considered “important,” and most anyone who counts themselves an old-school NY death metal devotee likely binges on full discographies for days when the Immo/Suffo fever strikes. I love both bands with an intensity that’s fortified by being lucky (and fossilized) enough to have seen them dating back to death metal’s infancy – A Day of Death: Buffalo, NY, 1990 – and I have grown up consuming their combined works with all the vigor of a bulldog happening upon an abandoned stash of White Castle sliders.

Immediate gridlock noted, the most practical way to approach a contest such as this is by comparing/contrasting vital elements common to both bands. Few would argue that the two have experienced benefits and hindrances at the hand of production choices, with a slight advantage going to Immolation for never having released something quite as glaring as Breeding the Spawn. Riffs score a win of equal measure for both – Suffocation literally slams home a victory in terms of brutality, and Immolation does so due to Vigna’s ability to successfully conjure pure evil through jagged dissonance. And while one would have to throw a notch in Suffocation’s favor for The Tank’s unparalleled vocal approach (studio and stage), Immolation evens the score by consistently blood-eagling angels through oodles and oodles of sinfully enticing solos.

So, in the end, in an effort to oblige a sudden-death tiebreaker, a person must dig a little deeper into the feelsies realm for a gut instinct component that yields a final victor. And what better place to dig than the origin stories? Or at least what feels like the origin stories. Immolation, to me, has always felt like a band that walked into death metal the same way I did: after spending the mid-to-late 80s endlessly cranking records such as Awaken the Guardian and Fatal Portrait. Barracuda riffing aside, there’s always been a very old-school heavy metal feel behind the overall Immolation delivery. By contrast, Suffocation seemed to have suddenly beamed in from the planet Slamiter and just commenced to laying waste to the population as a result of an atmosphere of brutality initiated by Earthlings inadvisedly spinning From Enslavement to Obliteration and Altars of Madness.  A sort of “If you spin it, THEY WILL COME” War of the Worlds sort of vibe. There’s a reason Mike Smith’s abilities on a record like Effigy of the Forgotten seem inhuman – HE IS AN ALIEN. They are all aliens. Suffocation is made up of aliens from Slamiter who have since become comfortable eating NY slices and doing drunken karaoke on cruise ships.

Even if I don’t particularly care for a significant portion of the brutal slam units that hail Suffocation as Supreme Progenitor, my vote is cast their direction simply because they did what essentially every band at that time set out to do – push brutality levels over the edge – and they did it better than everyone. Hell, they still do it better than everyone. In this edition of Battle Royal, my vote goes toward brutal innovation. SMASH, kill, destroy.

SUFFOCATION

ZACH DUVALL:

Back for another bout of “Needlessly State Your Preference Between Two Bands That Are Indescribably Important In Your Life!” For me personally, this is the toughest choice yet. Let’s examine the tape:

In one corner, we have Suffocation, the absolute forefathers and still-reigning champs of all things technical and brutal in the death metal realm. From Terrance Hobbs’ squeaky-sliding riff savagery and Frank Mullen’s guttural, deep growls to those ultimate, still unrivaled SLAMS, Suffo has been a whirlwind of mind-boggling musicianship their entire career. But their personality, coming largely from Frank, is what pushes them up that extra level and keeps them above their clones. Brutal goofballs with the chops to back it up.

Facing them, we have Immolation, a band that not only took the whole anti-religion aspect of metal into (usually) logical, (mostly) intelligent territory, but were for a good decade also among the most innovative and evolving. Their development in the 90s from more standard, but still awesome death metal into a thinking man’s version is something most bands wouldn’t dare attempt. But with a guitarist as unique as the ever-twitchy Robert Vigna, and a lyricist as talented as Ross Dolan, they arrived at one of the genre’s true high water marks in Close to a World Below and have maintained a strong record since. Deathly serious, with the chops to back it up.

So you might say this is tough. (Did I mention that they’re both among the greatest live acts, too?). Close to a World Below is likely my favorite album by either band, but I don’t like any two Immolation albums as much as I do the combo of Effigy of the Forgotten and Pierced From Within. But make a choice I must… A lot of bands try to ape Suffocation, and some of them do a pretty good job even if they never quite match the band in total brutal glory. But for all the acts that rip off Immolation, none of them come close to their masters in terms of pure emotional weight. For a genre of music as inherently silly as death metal, that has to be seen as a pretty monumental achievement.

Immolation gets the vote, by the tiniest of split-ends in Ross Dolan’s majestic mane.

IMMOLATION

MANNY-O-WAR:

We’re dealing with two absolute legends, which makes for a difficult, borderline cruel, choice.

These two kings of death metal are so good that they both land squarely in the discussion for best death metal band of all time. They are also responsible for moving the focus of the New York music scene out of the awful hardcore (borderline rap crossover) phase and into the more pleasing, rotten waters of death metal.

In 1991, Immolation produced one of death metal’s best albums of all time with Dawn of Possession (and then came close again with 2000’s Close to a World Below). But for me, the stronger complete catalog resides in camp Suffocation. I say this knowing full well how terrific Immolation’s catalog is. I’m even aware of how great their 2017 effort, Atonement, is. In fact, I’m nearly tearing up over here trying to make a choice between these to absolute beasts.

So, what helps me to choose Suffocation by the smallest of knife blade margins? First off, Effigy of the Forgotten provides one of the best vocal performances in death metal history, and likely marks a turning point in harsh vocals. Also, for my money, Pierced From Within might be the best death metal album of all time, slightly edging out Dawn of Possession. Even all the way into 2006 and their self-titled record, Suffocation was making absolutely perfect death metal. Hell, 2009’s Blood Oath is an ass-kicker, despite what some might have you believe. And while the production on Breeding the Spawn is nearly unforgivable, the tunes plain ROCK. Thankfully, Suffocation thought to redo some of the best tracks for future releases.

This isn’t to say Immolation hasn’t had a tremendous career themselves, because they absolutely most certainly have. For me, this wafer thin mint of a choice ultimately comes down to three things. First, vocals. It’s hard for me to choose any band’s vocals over Suffocation. Second, drumming. Again, Suffocation is the clear winner. Not only for drum performance, but also for drum production. Third, guitar solos. Although brief in their practice, Suffocation’s noodling and whammy bar whining and diving is just plain perfect.

SUFFOCATION

DAVE SCHALEK:

This is a tough one. Both Immolation and Suffocation are seminal death metal bands with huge influences on the genre. Neither band has a weak link in their respective catalogues (more on that later), even with a few early releases suffering somewhat due to suspect production. Each delivers the goods in a live setting every single time, and with considerable professionalism, polish, and enthusiasm. Each has been able to weather lineup changes over the years. Each appears to have made the most of its business acumen by remaining on the rosters of solid, respected labels, and by touring at regular clips throughout basically the entire western world over the course of decades. Stability is key to each band’s successes, and it shows in the creative output of each. Each band has cool merchandise, each has cool iconography, and, Hell, each is from New York.

So, what’s the deciding factor? Simple. Theme and subject matter; therefore, the winner, hands down, is Immolation. Immolation attacks religion like virtually no one else in death metal. The starting point is a scathing critique of the hypocrisy, the sanctimonious bullshit, and the outright absurdity of religion in ALL forms, and it is done so without resorting to all sorts of silliness and outright stupidity. Although not explicitly stated, I get the impression that Immolation lumps Satanism in with all other religions in that it’s just as stupid and absurd as, say, Catholicism. All of it is done creatively and with clearly enunciated vocals from Ross Dolan. Critics may claim that Immolation has a one track mind with respect to its lyrical output, but I, for one, welcome it wholeheartedly. Metal does itself a disservice by equating its attacks on organized religion with periodically embracing Satanism, which is just as absurd (even though I appreciate the parody).

If we’re going to evaluate each band musically, it’s hard to find fault with either. Each band is distinctive, and immediately recognizable. You may have heard a ton of brutal death metal bands over the years, all descended from Suffocation, for example, but you immediately know Suffocation when you hear it. Same goes for Immolation with its layered brutality on top of the twists and turns.

If Suffocation has a weak link in its catalogue, it’s probably Blood Oath, which is, well, a bit bland compared to the band’s other output. If Immolation has a weak link in its catalogue, it’s probably Failures For Gods, and the ONLY reason that I say that is because of the muddy production, which just ruins the drumming for me. So much so that you just can’t ignore it like you can, say, with Breeding The Spawn.

Immolation wins the battle.

IMMOLATION

ANDREW EDMUNDS:

Man, we never make these easy on ourselves, do we? I guess that’s the point, but just once, can’t we do one that’s simple, like Napalm Death vs. some crappy band like Burzum…??

Anyway, here we are again, with another hair-splitting exercise in picking favorites between two absolutely monstrous bands. Unlike the Maiden vs. Priest article we ran some months back, though, I will say that this one is a bit more cut and dried for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love both bands, but when it comes down to it, there’s a simple metric that matters, and that’s this: I’ve known Suffocation longer – they were one of the first death metal bands I ever heard. I love them dearly, and there’s no denying both the depth and scope of their influence and the absolute devastation of their live show.

Where Immolation goes the route of malevolent atmosphere, Suffocation goes for sheer brutality, pairing their technical expertise with relentless beatdowns . Through seven stellar albums now, Suffocation hasn’t once let up, hasn’t slowed down, hasn’t relinquished the crown. Terrance is still spitting out absolutely crushing riffs, and Frank is still spitting out some of the greatest growling ever, as well as some of the most brilliantly bizarre stage banter… (And those machine-gun fingers…? Classic.) Suffocation is the epitome of live death metal, and let no one tell you differently, but they’re far more than just a live band – beyond the beatdowns, there’s a musical depth on these records, a strength that even the greatest of their peers never mustered. The riffs twist and turn in unexpected manners; no matter who’s behind the kit, the rhythms shift and shift again, sometimes seemingly at random, but always perfectly. The whole band skitters and stutters and then slams into a full-on death metal wallop that almost no other group could execute so perfectly…??

I was maybe 18 the first time I heard Pierced From Within, and it leveled me then. It levels me now, and these days it has to compete with my late arrival to the godly Effigy Of The Forgotten, or the later arriving Souls To Deny, or the stellar Despise The Sun EP… Suffocation may have bred the spawn of a million mediocre slam-death bands, but when it comes down to it, they’re the gods of brutality, and that’s all that really matters.

SUFFOCATION

KONRAD KANTOR:

Does a parent ever just say, “Fuck it, I like one kid more than the other!”? I mean… how else is one supposed to choose between Suffocation and Immolation in a duel-to-the-death among New York death metal giants? It’s a difficult battle on the surface as well as beneath, but let’s start with the basics.

On one hand, Immolation has been more productive with its album output, whereas Suffocation went nearly a full decade between Pierced from Within and Souls to Deny. Immolation’s sound has also not been affected as much by lineup changes in the vocal and drum departments, as many cite the departure of Suffocation’s Mike Smith as a monumental loss, which it is. However, Suffocation expanded the scope of the genre in both technicality as well as brutality. While fully understanding that “most influential” doesn’t always mean “best,” it sure-as-hell means something when you can look at bands as different as Nile is from Necrophagist and still say they were both cut from Suffocation’s cloth. Immolation has been less influential, as the band emulates a style that was already put into place by Morbid Angel, and maintained by a plethora of other bands. But god dammit if the band isn’t just so good at portraying that style of death metal so consistently, including in a live setting.

The bottom line is that it all comes down to personal preference. While the two bands capture both heart and mind, Suffocation leans toward intellectual, thought provocative song construction, whereas Immolation handles the more visceral, emotional side of things. As someone who grew up spending a lot of time in the ocean, I can’t help but look at it this way: If Suffocation showcases all of the bountiful brutality the ocean has to offer –– whether it be sharks sensing blood and snatching fish off of spears from kilometers away (sometimes biting off divers’ arms in the process of taking the grouper off their spears), poisonous fish, electric eels, man o’ war or simply things devouring other things –– Immolation is the feeling you get when you are attempting to duck dive under an eight foot wave alone, during a storm, and you see the sand being sucked into its pipeline as you realize there is nothing left to do but brace yourself as the wave sucks you up and its current rips you apart like a pack of wild hyenas fighting over dinner as you begin to suffocate, not knowing which direction is up. Shit, both sound like great options if you like death metal, but if you ask me, we don’t just live to enjoy metal; we yearn to be eviscerated by it.

IMMOLATION

K. SCOTT ROSS:

New York death metal. What a massive sound. Compared to Floridian or Swedish death, the NYC style is a more impenetrable fog; dark, menacing, and inevitable. And of course 1991 was only the beginning, with Immolation’s Dawn of Possesion and Suffocation’s Effigy of the Forgotten being only the first bricks in fantastic discographies that are still expanding twenty-six years later. But when it comes to who can wear the crown of true New York death metal supremacy, for me it’s clear: Suffocation.

The most immediate difference between the bands, and this is relevant for every listening jag, is that Immolation writes albums, but Suffocation writes songs. “Infecting the Crypts,” “Catatonia,” “Synthetically Revived,” “Mass Obliteration.” Those are just tracks from the first EP (granted they’ve all be recorded twice). The sound of Suffocation is one that I can immediately pull into my head and experience. Their riffs are as twisting and jagged as their band logo.

It isn’t just the guitar riffs either. Mike Smith’s particular style of blasting forever thickened the sound of death metal; you hear Suffo-blasts everywhere from Hate Eternal to Job for a Cowboy. Suffocation is a prime influence for both brutal death metal and deathcore, and despite how any one individual might feel about those two genres, being on the family trees for bands as dissimilar as Omninoid and Whitechapel at the very least speaks to the mind-infecting powers of your music. Immolation’s music tends to surge and push inwards, making a fiery mass instead of a throny wall. This element is best seen in bands like Ulcerate and Portal, and despite my personal love for those bands, they’re not the ones in this battle, Immolation is.

I don’t want to give an impression that Immolation isn’t an impressive band. Close To A World Below is a thunderous declaration against religion that few other bands have stated better. But to my ears, at least, Ross Dolan has only that one straight line of attack. Frank Mullen’s vocals are just as twisted as the music that he bellows over. He’s somehow managed to keep singing about the same nonspecific dark creepiness for nearly thirty years without it becoming self-parody like some Floridian bands. Just compare “Suspended In Tribulation” from Pierced From Within, “Surgery of Impalement” from Souls to Deny, and “Come Hell or High Priest” from Blood Oath. Frank isn’t just shouting a bunch of horror movie or anti-Christian tropes. He’s interweaving an incredible vocabulary in and out of the lines the guitars, bass, and drums are playing. Instrumental Suffocation would be as incomplete as if they were missing a guitarist.

Look, I don’t have anything bad to say about Immolation. The band is incredible however you slice it. But it’s just plain that Suffocation is all that and more. Long Island beats Yonkers. New York kings.

SUFFOCATION

SUFFOCATION

JEREMY MORSE:

First, credit must be given to Suffocation for inventing brutal death metal, practically singlehandedly. To think that an album with the pulverizing intensity of Effigy of the Forgotten came out in 1991 is still difficult to grasp, given where most of the rest of death metal was at the time. That being said, my vote is for Immolation.

Suffocation, for all its innovation in brutality, is a one-trick pony. When I want brutality, Suffocation is one of the first bands I look to, but I don’t look to them for much of anything else. Immolation, on the other hand, is a much more dynamic, multidimensional band –– at times approaching Suffocation’s visceral ferocity, but with a cerebral component that Suffocation largely lacks. Where Suffocation essentially created its sound by taking established death metal techniques and playing them twice as fast and twice as heavy anyone else, Immolation actually broadened the genre’s sonic palette. The band has been widely recognized for harnessing the power of dissonance, but the group also has quite unique rhythmic and melodic sensibilities. Robert Vigna has made an art of playing the wrong notes at exactly the right time to create some of the sickest, most deeply unsettling death metal ever made. Even without Ross Dolan’s blasphemous lyrics, Immolation’s music screams “evil” with every note.

With Suffocation, you know you’re only going one place: to the back alley to get seven shades of shit kicked out of you, and there isn’t anything wrong with that. With Immolation, however, you’re going on a guided tour through every plane of Hell –– from agonizing torment to soul-crushing desolation; from lakes of fire to mountains of madness.  And when you are done in Hell, Immolation might just bear you up on leathery wings to rattle the gates of Heaven, just to watch the angels piss themselves.

IMMOLATION

So it’s IMMOLATION by a smoldering hair atop a broiling angel’s pate. New York is destroyed. What adds a particularly compelling afterthought to this battle is the fact that both bands plan to release new material in 2017 that will likely bolster each act midst the eternal assault. Immolation’s Atonementis nearly out the door – February 24th through Nuclear Blast Records – and Suffocation’s still unnamed full-length no. 8 is just waiting for vocals to be laid down. All that’s left to do now is hear how YOU would vote, so we welcome your comments here, on our Facebook page, or through our companion Twitter poll below. And if you just can’t get enough of either band, feel free to (re)visit the Devil’s Dozen articles we’ve done for both:

The post Battle Royal: Suffocation vs. Immolation – Two Bands Enter, One Band Leaves appeared first on Last Rites.

In the first installment, we cruelly pitted Metallica against Slayer based ONLY on their 80s output. The result was a dirty tie amongst the LR crew who voted, which is obviously unacceptable, so we left matters to our esteemed Twitter followers to settle the score. Once the dust finally settled, Metallica walked away the clear victor, leaving Slayer fanatics to weep in the dust with nothing but openly bleeding odes carved into their forearms and a hope to fight another day.

This time, we’re asking(/forcing) our periodically wise crew and kind readers to pick between two more ultimate fighters – Judas Priest and Iron Maiden – and we’re including the ENTIRE studio discography. Wait… What? Our beloved Priest against our sacred Maiden? Say it ain’t so! Oh yes, it most painfully is so. Very often fights are unfair – just ask poor Billy Kramer. Go with Meryl Streep, Billy! She’s won three Academy Awards! And if you don’t know who Billy Kramer is, just have a few more Schlitzes and concentrate on the task at hand.

An unquestionable fact: bout number two is meaner than our first battle, mostly because we’re asking you to consider the entire enchilada – highlights, lowlights, warts and pearls, of which there are many to consider. The truth of the matter is all the particulars could be picked apart ad nauseum, but we really wanted this round to stress a “you’ve got a gun to your head and two minutes to state your argument” sort of approach. Gut instincts are good. Gut instincts often lead to survival. AND GREAT PERIL.

In the end, we’re obviously very lucky to have both Priest and Maiden, and it’s equally fortunate that they’re still active as champs amidst a vast sea of contenders constantly scrapping to find a path to a similar pinnacle. Honestly, the only true losers in this battle are the people who don’t care. And for those with an active aversion for the pair, we won’t even toss the crumbs of crumbs to you bums in the dungeons.

The Contenders!

JUDAS PRIEST:
Rocka Rolla [1974] Sad Wings of Destiny [1976] Sin After Sin [1977] Stained Class [1978] Killing Machine/Hellbent For Leather [1978/1979] British Steel [1980] Point of Entry [1981] Screaming for Vengeance [1982] Defenders of the Faith [1984] Turbo [1986] Ram It Down [1988] Painkiller [1990] Jugulator [1997] Demolition [2001] Angel Of Retribution [2005] Nostradamus [2008] Redeemer Of Souls [2014]

• Formed in 1970 in Birmingham, England
• 17 albums spanning 40 years
• Debatable high-point 4-streak: Sad Wings Of Destiny, Sin After Sin, Stained Class, Killing Machine/Hell Bent For Leather
• Debatable low points: Point Of Entry, Ram It Down, Demolition, Nostradamus

IRON MAIDEN:
Iron Maiden [1980] Killers [1981] The Number Of The Beast [1982] Piece Of Mind [1983] Powerslave [1984] Somewhere In Time [1986] Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son [1988] No Prayer For The Dying [1990] Fear Of The Dark [1992] The X Factor [1995] Virtual XI [1998] Brave New World [2000] Dance Of Death [2003] A Matter Of Life And Death [2006] The Final Frontier [2010] The Book Of Souls [2015]

• Formed in 1975 in London, England
• 16 albums spanning 35 years
• Debatable high point 4-streak: The Number Of The Beast, Piece Of Mind, Powerslave, Somewhere In Time
• Debatable low points: No Prayer For The Dying, Fear Of The Dark, Virtual XI

MANNY-O-WAR:

As a male with a penchant for narcissism and over-confidence, my gut reaction is something I trust completely. So, when presented with Judas Priest vs. Iron Maiden and being asked to pick which band was/is “better” my gut instinctively screamed MAIDEN, YOU FOOL! But, my gut was also very hungry. And, since I am now a responsible adult, I decided to sit down and think about a few factors.

First, I thought about the frontmen. For the sake of brevity, let’s just call it Rob Halford vs. Bruce Dickinson (and not concern ourselves with the earliest of Maiden years, even though Killers is likely my #1, or the self-imposed hiatus of Halford from Priest in the mid 1990s). For my ear, it’s not much of a competition. Dickinson is as charismatic as they come but he just doesn’t have the pipes of Halford (and neither did Paul Di’Anno). So, vocally, as well as lyrically, Judas Priest gets the nod. Halford’s work on Sad Wings of Destiny and Sin After Sin alone are enough to catapult him to legend status.

Second, I thought about ballads. Again, a point for Judas Priest here. Tracks like “Last Rose of Summer” and “Dreamer Deceiver” show a maturity, and a touch for subtlety, even at a young age for the band. For my money, Iron Maiden never got to that level of balladry. Rather, Maiden’s ballad work was fantastical, silly and sometimes comical in its narrative.

Finally, because we’re going for brevity here, a brief discussion of the entire careers. Judas Priest, even with their clunkers (and their non Halford days) provide a more palatable career. Comeback albums like Painkiller and their post 2014 work Redeemer of Souls are downright good. Even Priest’s worse-than-clunkers, admittedly Nostradamus and Demolition, provide completely passable bar music. When Maiden begins to hit their clunker era (and this is shockingly NOT their most recent four releases) their songs tend to become exceedingly long. For example, multiple tracks on Virtual XI near the ten minute mark rendering them nearly unlistenable. Even prime era Maiden, ballads like “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” exceed thirteen minutes and present a challenging listen.

Thus, it is with a heavy heart that I deliver my vote to Judas Priest. I will now spend multiple hours in the bathroom cutting myself as punishment for saying anything negative about Iron Maiden.

Manny’s Pick:
JUDAS PRIEST

ZACH DUVALL:

When thinking on this ageless debate, my gut tells me Maiden no matter how much I adore both bands (which is a whole lot). However, I thought I’d step back and tackle it in a more quantifiable form much in the same way baseball writers look at full careers when determining hall of fame votes. So, a few big questions: Who was great first? How long was each band’s peak? How great was said peak? How badly did they injure themselves and for how long? And finally, how great were their recoveries?

Priest came first, obviously, and along with bands like Scorpions were helping to make the 70s a truly metal decade between Sabbath’s revolution and the true rise of the NWOBHM.

As for peaking… It’s pretty much solid public opinion that Iron Maiden’s peak lasted from their self-titled debut through Seventh Son, so seven albums over eight years. As for Priest, I’m going to argue that they were peaking (or close enough to peaking that it doesn’t matter) for eight of their first nine albums. So, Rocka Rolla through Defenders, with a slight docking of points for Point of Entry. Slight edge to Priest here.

But quality of this peak? Iron Maiden’s initial seven album run is the greatest streak in heavy metal history and one of the best in the history of rock, period, so they take this one pretty handily.

Then there are the injuries resulting from poor music and huge lineup changes (the temporary departures of Bruce and Halford). But within the lean years, each band had bright spots. As a full album, Turbo is often unfairly criticized, and is probably better than anything Maiden did from No Prayer through Virtual XI. However, those four lesser Maiden albums are better than Priest’s lowest moments, and nothing Priest did after Defenders is as good as “Fear of the Dark.” Further, when Bruce rejoined Maiden, he performed some of the Blaze-era material live, showing the full quality of tracks like “Sign of the Cross.” Halford wasn’t even willing to touch “Cathedral Spires” with his pipes. While neither injury eras are great, Maiden weathered their self-imposed storm a tad better.

But the recoveries? Priest had one major comeback with Painkiller, and a pretty inconsistent run after Halford’s return (Angel of Retribution was decent, Nostradamus was an unmitigated disaster, and Redeemer of Souls their best since Painkiller). However, since the re-addition of Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith, Iron Maiden has released five good-to-spectacular albums and retaken their throne at the top of heavy metal’s Mount Olympus. Maiden gets this point, hands down.

So that’s a 3-2 win for Iron Maiden, which does not surprise me in the least. Now I’m going to go back to never allowing these bands to compete in my mind again, ever. Love them both to pieces.

Zach’s Pick:
IRON MAIDEN

CAPTAIN:

It would be precisely impossible to try and quantify the amount of valuable hours I’ve spent with Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. My first exposure to the prior occurred after coming across “The Ripper” while listening to a Saturday morning hard rock show that I regularly recorded to cassette back in the early 80s. And it was Powerslave’s inescapable siren-song of an album cover that first drew me in for Maiden. The years that followed found me gobbling up as much as I could from both bands, but like most any metal fan, my meager allowance mostly went toward keeping up with the current and leaving the past for later. So at the time, it was Screaming for Vengeance, Defenders of the Faith and Turbo that went head-to-head with Piece of Mind, Powerslave and Somewhere in Time. Those are six fantastic albums, as far as I’m concerned, including the often maligned JP entry from ’86. But I became increasingly nerdy as I entered my teens, and Iron Maiden felt more in tune with the introverted dreamer in me who needed countless escapes from everyday life. Epic Maiden songs that focused on mythology, science fiction and fantasy (with an increasing disregard for brevity) spoke to me on a utopian level, and the fantastical imagery that came alongside the price of admission was, to put it mildly, second to none. Of course, Priest had the electric eyes and half-tiger/half-tanks, but they were clearly more grounded in reality, thanks to themes of love, heartache and quirks such as “parental guidance.” Plus, riding a motorcycle onto the stage was cool, but it warn’t no lunatic in a hawk mask running around a colossal mummy that was spraying fire out of its eyes. Spectacle, baby. Beautifully intense spectacle.

To this day, I prefer escapism to realism, and Iron Maiden circa 2016 is even more determined to write songs that tell a curling story. Hell, even ignoring Bruce’s voice and lyrics, the music itself often feels as if it’s crafting a robust adventure on its own. Judas Priest, on the other hand, is predominantly more straightforward and ready to party – a band that works best when shared with friends during summer and at pealing levels in a heavy metal parking lot. Metal gods out on the highway, as opposed to Egyptian gods lifting from some dusty tome. And when Priest attempted to fully embrace a more narrative slant – Nostradamus – the results were far less than stellar.

The final notch in Maiden’s favor is the fact that they actually manage frivolous really well, too, despite primarily representing storytellers in my mind. “Aces High,” “Only the Good Die Young,” “The Alchemist” and other similarly forthright barnburners are perfect for putting the blitz into a party – stormers tailormade for getting the crowd rolling.

So, with an understanding that both bands now represent part of my DNA, and acknowledging the truth that Priest is responsible for one of the two greatest moments in metal’s history with Sad Wings of Destiny, Maiden still wins the battle because they simply engage more of what’s always been at my core, and they continue to do so today. Up the Irons ’til I’m down in the ground.

Captain’s Pick:
IRON MAIDEN

ANDREW EDMUNDS:

In every music fan’s life, there’s at least one, usually more, band(s) or artist(s) that changes everything – for me, Iron Maiden was absolutely one, and their run of classic albums is absolutely astounding, and without them, I wouldn’t be writing this today. But right there with them, every step of the way, was Judas Priest, and when I was a kid, trying like hell to hit the high notes, those notes were always more likely to be Halford’s than Dickinson’s.

I came into metal in the late 1980s, right around 1990, so when Maiden let me down with the double dogs of No Prayer For The Dying, Priest was rebounding from the dreadful Ram It Down with the absolutely blistering thrash-ish blast of Painkiller. I went backwards, to the pure metallic perfection of Stained Class, to the stripped-down gut-punch of British Steel, to the progressive glories of Sad Wings. Priest could do it all, and they did it with riffs and the Metal God himself, wailing away across four octaves of vengeful screaming, always delivering the goods. I’ve long held Stained Class as the highest high of metal records, the perfect traditional metal album, not a song wasted and some of the greatest ever written – “Saints In Hell,” “Beyond The Realms Of Death,” “Exciter”… Add to that the greatest “live” album ever made in Unleashed In The East, and well, those are two giant feathers for Halford’s silly leather cap. Put with that two of the 80s greatest albums in Screaming For Vengeance and its almost-equal in Defenders Of The Faith, and then Painkiller’s glorious re-energizing speed…

Not every Priest record is brilliant, of course – not every Maiden record is, either – and the Ripper years, like the Bayley years, are best left as a sidebar. Nostradamus is a mess, the likes of which Maiden hasn’t yet inflicted upon us, and none of Priest’s post-reunion records equal their classic run. Still, the only way for me to answer this question of Maiden v. Priest is this: Which one do I reach for more? When I want to rock, which is always, which one dominates my ears? Which one do I still crank up in the car and try like hell to hit those high notes?

Maiden, my friends, I love you, but for today, at least, I’m going with Priest.

Andrew’s Pick:
JUDAS PRIEST

DAN OBSTKRIEG:

The question at hand – Iron Maiden or Judas Priest? – is an artificially cruel one, because the only sensible answer is “Maiden AND Priest AND…” in an unbroken chain of our stupid, scrappy, and sprawling genre’s Hall of Heroes. For the sake of this mercilessly shit-stirring exercise, though, the answer is clear: Iron Maiden wins, now and always and forever. What’s not so straightforward, though, is exactly why Iron Maiden wins.

Hypothesis #1: You can learn more about heavy metal and its development by listening to Judas Priest. If you love this kind of music, then you should want to be a historian of this kind of music, and from that perspective, Priest is supreme: the changes in their sound and style over four decades mirror, predict, and clarify some of the widest branches of the genre tree. In the relatively inauspicious Rocka Rolla you can hear a bluesy pub band stretching out into heavy metal while staying mostly rooted in the hard rock of the early 70s; with Sad Wings and Sin After Sin, they bring in the ornateness of prog but also an almost baroque classicism; Stained Class and Screaming for Vengeance can credibly claim partial parentage of both power metal and thrash; British Steel and Defenders of the Faith still define arena metal; the Ripper Owens albums are a reminder of heavy metal’s wilderness years and dalliance with nu-tuffness; and so on. Dip your toes into nearly any point in Priest’s catalog, and it serves as a bellwether for metal writ large.

Hypothesis #2: All of this having been said, Iron Maiden still wins because while Judas Priest teaches you heavy metal, Iron Maiden simply are heavy metal. Sure, the combination of Di’Anno’s vocals on the first two albums and Clive Burr’s drumming on the first three conspired to give Maiden’s early career more than a touch of the snotty street punk, but none of that much counts for deep progression when Steve Harris was writing “Phantom of the Opera” and “Transylvania” basically from day one. Iron Maiden wanted you for dead, and they didn’t waste any time mucking about how to get it done.

If you want to be a dick (I do), you can do point by point comparisons: Maiden’s debut easily outstrips Priest’s (although Priest nailed their finest album ever on #2, while it took Maiden until lucky #7 – fight me), the worst of Maiden’s pre-split albums outstrips the worst of Priest’s (even though neither is a great album, a single album of No Prayer/Fear of the Dark is better than a single album of Turbo/Point of Entry), Maiden’s Blaze albums are better than Priest’s Ripper albums (major caveat/call to arms: The X Factor is better than Piece of Mind, while Virtual XI is utter dogshit), and, perhaps most crucially, it’s not even close which of the two has had a better post-reunion run. Redeemer of Souls is a very good album, but four of Maiden’s five re-Bruce albums stomp the bejeezus out of it (sorry, Matter of Life and Death: you dullllllll).

And yes, oh most eternal of eternal debates, Live After Death is better than Unleashed in the East, if only because it is as much a document of the unifying ethos of heavy metal: an empowering sisterhood and brotherhood of dorks and dummies and rocket scientists screaming for Bruce, screaming for Iron Maiden, screaming for life.

Dan’s Pick:
IRON MAIDEN

EVAN THOMPSON:

The thought of comparing the full discography of two of the most legendary bands in metal had me completely paralyzed with fear. How would I ever come to anything close to an objective conclusion? I’m not sure about my colleagues, but I personally think any kind of objective decision for this Battle Royale is a pipe dream. I tried to think it through rationally. Do you sort out groups of records (ie. early, middle, and late career)? I would argue no, because Judas Priest’s debut came out in 1974, and the releases are not directly comparable. They were a much more 70s style rock and roll blues band than Iron Maiden, separated by the earth-shattering revolution of punk that intervened between the two bands. Do you compare album sales, certifications, or chart positions? No, because those have become less accurate representations of success or at least level of audience enjoyment in the digital age of downloads. This is about as close to an apples-apples comparison as it would be to compare Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, simply because they were both British rock bands that started putting sounds to tape in the 1960s.

So I’m going to do the only thing that makes intuitive sense to me. Who was more consistent? Who caused me to tune out for longer periods, discarding larger chunks of their discography because it just “Didn’t rule hard enough?”

There can only be one answer here: Iron Maiden. Powerslave is still one of my favorite records of all time, and I still spin it regularly to get the blood pumping when nothing else will do. “Aces High” still goes down in my books as one of the highest energy openers in rock. Maiden’s seven album stretch from 1980 to 1988 is just so consistent. Even the Maiden lows are pretty decent, if you ask me. Maiden hasn’t really done much for me in recent years with some of their overly bloated proggy records, which were excluded from this decision, but the high water mark of their recording career is too high to ignore. I love early Judas Priest material, but I tuned out after Screaming For Vengeance and picked up with the savagely influential Painkiller (another all time top 20 record). Recent Judas Priest is, again, nothing I would choose to write home about, so I’ve also excluded those records from this comparison.

Also, the Trooper ale is decent. Maiden forever.

Evan’s Pick:
IRON MAIDEN

JEREMY MORSE:

This battle ultimately comes down to what you value more: consistency or versatility. Iron Maiden has clearly been the more consistent band; Iron Maiden’s core sound has evolved precious little in 36 years. Hell, half the band’s catalog is based on the same Em-C-D chord progression, and more than half features some variation of the same galloping rhythmic pattern. Even Maiden’s “progressive” post-reunion material is mostly just longer, slower, and – let’s be honest – duller versions of the same stuff the band has been cranking out for decades. For better or worse, and, admittedly, it’s mostly for better, Iron Maiden usually sounds like Iron Maiden. Judas Priest, on the other hand, has been fearlessly adventurous throughout its career. From the blues-rock/metal epic of “Victim of Changes”, the ethereal ballad/space metal of “Dreamer/Deceiver”, and the roaring defiance of “Beyond the Realms of Death”, to the anthemic simplicity of “Breaking the Law”, the confident swagger of “Heading out to the Highway”, and the thunderous intensity of “Screaming for Vengeance”, Judas Priest has followed its muse to frontiers of which Maiden wouldn’t dare to dream. Has priest stumbled along the way? Surely. And sometimes spectacularly. But who dares, wins.

Iron Maiden had pulled out all its best tricks by 1984’s Powerslave. Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son are good albums, but I award no points for adding synthesizers to an established sound. Judas Priest probably emptied its creative magazine at roughly the same time with Defenders of the Faith, and there’s no getting around the fact that the band went off a fucking cliff with Turbo. But that still leaves Priest an extra half decade and five more albums of creative fertility that Maiden did not enjoy. Priest, incidentally, used that extra half decade to essentially invent what we now call traditional heavy metal. And, by the by, there was a little old album called Painkiller released in 1990 that was a triumphant, phoenix-like creative resurrection the likes of which No Prayer for the Dying and Fear of the Dark certainly were not.

As for the lost years, when each band made a pair of albums with a replacement singer, let’s call it a push. Jugulator is probably better than either Maiden album, but Demolition is probably worse. Finally, if we concede that Iron Maiden has enjoyed the more consistent, stable and fruitful third act, we must also concede that the band has been boring and/or aggravating the shit out of a significant portion of its fan-base, which is what happens when you decide to get a little squirrelly after locking yourself into a very successful, but very narrow sonic template for years-on-end. Priest, post-reunion, coughed up one over-long and under-good album in Nostradamus, and then got back to the business of making more concise and better heavy metal with the appropriately titled Redeemer of Souls. Priest shits the bed on occasion, but has the decency not to rub your face in it.

Jeremy’s Pick:
JUDAS PRIEST

KONRAD KANTOR:

There’s something about the way Steve Harris has always written songs that makes Iron Maiden seem more like a conduit of nature than a heavy metal band. Rewind, for a minute, to the 1980’s and imagine being Murray or Smith, hurrying into the room to record their founding member play unwritten bass notes as he WHISTLED the guitar melodies that just happened to come into his head. How many songs were never recorded due to inspiration coming and going before they could be written down? Perhaps the same is true for many bands, but the sheer amount of Iron Maiden’s compositions that have seen the light of day is still difficult to fathom.

Fast forward to the present day. The band still contains its core members who have never had to compromise any of their songwriting or lifestyle for anyone. Not only do they live an artist’s dream in the musical sense; these guys travel the world in their own personal jet piloted by their very own vocalist, Bruce Dickinson. Is there anything more metal than writing the songs you want and playing them wherever you want as fans of every nationality and culture hum the guitar melodies just as Harris did before they were ever recorded? No. No, there is nothing more metal than that.

Iron Maiden, from its belived mascot Eddie to the hundreds of melodies it has written, is not just a way for fans of heavy metal to identify one another. It is is THE heavy metal identity. And although the band has always lived and preached the type of unity that the world needs, the music has truly brought people from across the planet together in harmonious celebration of the riff, and if you are thinking of other bands that are more deserving of the crown, then you haven’t ever been to an Iron Maiden concert. It really is that simple.

Konrad’s Pick:
IRON MAIDEN

There you have it. According to the LR crew, Iron Maiden edges out Judas Priest in a battle for ultimate supremacy. Yes, that feels raw and damn-near immoral to say, but really, so would the alternative. All that’s left now is to find out what YOU think. We’ll be opening up a Twitter poll this morning that will be displayed here shortly, or you can chime in with a comment below. It’s fun, right? Torture is fun. Maybe the next Battle Royal will be easier to handle. Nope, probably not.

The post Battle Royal: Judas Priest vs. Iron Maiden – Two Bands Enter, One Band Leaves appeared first on Last Rites.

Okay, sure, every decade obviously had/has more than its fair share of showdowns, but the 80s were truly special because people were still having fun back then. You remember fun, don’t you? Of course you don’t. No one has fun anymore. Fun has been ruined by the social media age. Instead of playing outside, people spend hours on end making “hilarious” Game of Thrones memes, spoiling season finales and rating people’s faces. Humans live tweet Period Dramas in 2016, for fuck’s sake. Comparatively speaking, the only truly un-fun thing about the 80s was the comic strip Cathy and Starship’s “We Built This City.”

Anyway, in an effort to remember fun, showdown style, some of us decided to rehash an 80s Battle Royal between the two top notables of the “Big Four” of American thrash metal. Why exclude the remaining two? Well, they ain’t quite on the same playing field, to be honest. Plus, there’s a scary balance in terms of 80s output between Metallica and Slayer that lends itself to an equitable fight: Four illustrious full-lengths and one top-shelf EP just waiting to pull through their chains. Really, all that’s left to do is have fun with it and argue the matter in the most 2016 way possible: Via the internet.

What’s important to keep in mind is that this is not a judgement of either band as a whole, only on their output from 1983-1988, which was truly exemplary on both ends. But at the end of the day, one victor will be crowned, even if we all understand that one band likely carries a distinct advantage. Piece of cake victory? Maybe…

Ladies and gents, the challengers:

Metallica: Kill ‘Em All [1983], Ride the Lightning [1984], Master of Puppets [1986], The $5.98 EP [1987] and …And Justice for All [1988]

Slayer: Show No Mercy [1983], Haunting the Chapel EP [1984], Hell Awaits [1985], Reign in Blood [1986] and South of Heaven [1988]

[Manny-O-War]

Being first doesn’t instantly translate to being best. Plenty of artists originated styles and sounds only to be immediately outdone by their imitators (e.g. Bang). Certainly, when discussing legacy, staying power and timelessness of the work is crucial. If we limit output to 1983-1988, it’s hard to say that any band on planet earth had a better span than Metallica.

Beginning with what is likely metal’s seminal trash album, Kill ‘Em All, and ending with the controversial …And Justice for All, Metallica laid the foundation for metal, hard rock, grunge and basically every other type of “heavy” music. Smack in the middle of those releases are Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets, arguably Metallica’s two best albums (and thus two of the best metal releases ever). Over those two releases, the evolution of heavy metal guitar playing is set in motion by Kirk Hammett, who evolves from the typical thrash sound to classically influenced solos, blues-based solos, and brilliant modular, relative minor transitions over the more advanced modulated bridges and chord changes that Hetfield used to write these tracks. Simply put, Kirk Hammett’s guitar playing is the epitome of successful electric guitar mastery. It’s a wonder that the man isn’t ranked higher on the all-time lists, as he’s certainly better than, say, Eric Clapton. Kirk’s playing, as well as Cliff Burton’s work on bass, solidify Metallica as the premier metal band of the 80s.

Furthermore, say what you will about Lars Ulrich and his syncopated, sometimes sloppy drumming, he did little to detract Metallica from quickly establishing themselves as the metal band for burgeoning musicians to listen to, relate to, and aspire to become. By 1986, I was was taking classical piano lessons, and despite my tender age, I could easily hear the direct links to the harmonies and song-structure Metallica employed that helped to set them apart from the other “Big Four,” as well as other heavy hitters such as Testament, Kreator and Exodus. While other bands focused on speed, heaviness and image, Metallica successfully blended ancient music with modern music to make something palatable for music enthusiasts of all ages and walks of life – a clear reason why many of their compositions have been covered by string quartets and orchestras over the years.

It is for complexity, musicianship, songwriting and general breadth of form and style that I believe Metallica is the superior band to Slayer in the 1983-1988 time period. Following that, things went downhill very quickly for Metallica. Thankfully, their work during the 80s is timeless, and I will be enjoying those albums until my final breath.

Manny’s Vote:
METALLICA

• • • • •

[EVAN THOMPSON]

It’s necessary to preface this writing by providing a context for the opinion provided below. I was born in 1988. My own experience with 80s thrash was, by definition, retrospective. When I was first introduced to Reign in Blood, Slayer had just recently released God Hates Us All in 2001. I wasn’t there, but 80s thrash is an important gateway into heavy music for so many people that I feel like I can add something to this discussion. One of things I always loved about Slayer was the broad reach of their appeal across underground sub-groups. It’s been said that Motörhead is the one band that punks and metalheads can universally agree is awesome. I would argue that Slayer also fits that description. While Metallica’s evolution from Kill ‘Em All to …And Justice For All is something to be lauded, it was Slayer’s steadfast adherence to short, fast, aggressive songs and their rejection of everything remotely MTV that gave them credibility in the punk underground. That’s not to say that Slayer didn’t evolve, though. South of Heaven may not feature the lengthy multi-part compositions and instrumentals of Master of Puppets or …And Justice for All, but Slayer made significant steps forward with that record, adding clean guitars and deliberately slowing song tempos. None of the aggression would be sacrificed for that record, however, and South of Heaven still features some of my favourite cuts, including “Silent Scream”, “Behind the Crooked Cross”, and “Mandatory Suicide”.

If we’re going to compare the two bands strictly on the basis of the material released from 1983-1988, then most of it is on par for me when it comes the two bands. If I could argue for a weakest record out of the bunch, though, it would be …And Justice for All. It’s a record that I’ve always considered to be way too far up it’s own ass with its level of experimentation, and due to the flat sounding production, ultimately comes off as a bit boring as a whole.

For the reasons listed above, Slayer.

Evan’s Vote:
SLAYER
 

• • • • •

[ZACH DUVALL]

The idea of “The Big Four” has always seemed like a construct of record sales, but in terms of total 80s output, it was always really just The Big Two: Metallica and Slayer. And if there truly can be only one… Metallica wins. Period.

The 80s belonged to Metallica. In all of metal, only Iron Maiden had a better decade than Metallica, and even that is debatable. Metallica’s four albums in the 80s were as good as metal got, from the early youthful raging, through the dead seriousness and brilliance of Puppets and Justice, there was no equal. The proof is in the comparison, may it please the court. Slayer was known for blazing light speed; Metallica had “Damage Inc.” and “Metal Militia.” Megadeth was a bit more technical, a bit more musically refined; Metallica had “Ride the Lightning” and “Battery.” Anthrax had the thump and heft; Metallica had “The Thing That Should Not Be” and “Harvester of Sorrow.”

Metallica could at least match their peers at their own game, but it was their unique moments that truly elevated them. “Orion,” “Master of Puppets,” “Fade to Black,” “Blackened,” etc. None of the other three bands had this kind of material in them, and Slayer definitely did not have this kind of range. Only their mastery over pure violence and evil gives them even the slightest chance to compete with Metallica. But one unique trait over many? Sorry boys, you’re second fiddle.

Now, if we move into 1990 and include Rust in Peace, Megadeth leapfrogs Slayer into second place, and things get interesting…

Zach’s Vote:
METALLICA

• • • • •

[CAPTAIN]

In truth, there is no wrong answer to the question of “which band had the better 80s output, Metallica or Slayer,” but there is a righter answer, even if it does feel a bit taboo typing the following six letters: Slayer.

Both bands existed during a time when metal struck a unique balance between increasing aggression/extremity while still attempting to accelerate the genre’s legitimacy/authority. Many would argue that Metallica did more in this regard, simply because they threw a wider net. Slayer was prevalent in the 80s, but Metallica was EVERYWHERE. Their early look was tuff and mostly denim, their lyrical content was far less wicked, and a kid didn’t have to worry as much about getting their ears boxed when their folks found a record like Master of Puppets propped up on their dresser. Put simply, they were a more accessible band, even if it didn’t feel that way at the time.

Comparatively, Slayer sported nails ’n’ leather, espoused evil, and a number of us had to smuggle their early records into the dark recesses of our rooms in an effort to keep some semblance of peace with vigilant parents. So, while Metallica had a broader appeal, Slayer rode closer to the Danger Zone. The biggest Metallica controversies I recall while living through those early years stemmed from one of the softest songs the band ever wrote, “Fade to Black,” plus a brief blowback from school administrators who had to deal with early heshers sporting “Metal Up Your Ass” shirts.

Of course, a metal band’s ultimate worth obviously ain’t gauged on danger alone. Many give the ultimate nod toward Metallica because the band managed to weave quite a bit of technical skill into their 80s output, particularly within those sweeping instrumentals. I happen to believe that Slayer’s overall deftness was always underrated (the closing moments of “Crionics,” for example), but a noteworthy salute is certainly due to Kirk Hammett and Cliff Burton for their extraordinary skills.

But brothers and sisters, living with these albums for more than three decades delivers a fairly critical victory to the Huntington Park, CA boys based purely on the fact that Slayer was the one that ultimately captured metal’s rebellion, viciousness and DARKNESS in a way that Metallica never did, and that sort of deadly fusion trumps widespread influence and beautified proficiency in the long run. Crank the closing minute of “The Antichrist” and its bleeding depravity remains just as poisonous in 2016 as it was in 1983. And despite having full recognition of just how massive Reign in Blood was and still is (old bastards all remember the significance of having a cassette repeat on both sides), I will forever count the indomitable Hell Awaits as one of the top three thrash records of all time, thanks largely to the fact that it’s trumped only by Don’t Break the Oath in its irrefutably damnable atmosphere. The revolting riff that opens “At Dawn They Sleep” still makes me want to drink blood, and blood is absolutely awful.

In the end, atmosphere, wickedness, defiance, absolute drum superiority, legitimate riff dominance, and the ability to keep things under 40 minutes are all critical factors that give Slayer the 80s edge. But truly, both bands’ harvest from that decade will live with me until the very end, and for that I am forever thankful.

Captain’s Vote:
SLAYER
 

• • • • •

[K. SCOTT ROSS]

These days, when it comes to the real heavy metal spirit, there’s a reason that the accepted band name to yell aloud while throwing the horns is “SLAYYYYYYYERRRR!” But the 80s were a bit different. Metallica and Slayer had an incredible set of four albums, and the fact that I’m young enough that I didn’t encounter them until about 2002 means I got to eat them all up at once. Perhaps consuming them in this manner instead of spaced out from 83 to 88 makes a big difference, because for me it’s always been clear that Metallica is far superior.

It doesn’t matter if you compare each album, or just the two best (that’s Master of Puppets and Reign In Blood, in case you were confused), the result is always the same. Slayer makes me want to bang my head and flail around. Metallica makes me want to grab a guitar and microphone and play that music. Perhaps it’s the guitar tone. Perhaps it’s the solidity of the riffs. Perhaps it’s the fact that Metallica’s songs aren’t just repetitive “Satan, Satan, Satan” all day long. Perhaps it’s all of those things and more. All I know is that from “Phantom Lord” to “One,” I remember Metallica songs note for note, and they invite me to participate. To not just dance to heavy metal, but to be part of it. If all I had was Slayer, I would probably still be a metalhead. But because of Metallica, I’m a musician. And that makes Metallica my pick every time.

K. Scott’s Vote:
METALLICA

• • • • •

[JEREMY MORSE]

In a head to head battle for 80s supremacy between Slayer and Metallica, one must concede many things to the latter: In commercial success, Metallica probably outstrips Slayer by several orders of magnitude, even during the days before they really started selling records. Critical success likely goes the same way. Metallica had the flashy guitar player, the gifted bassist, and the finely crafted (and far more accessible) tunes. Full credit must also be given to Metallica for kicking the door open for thrash. Kill ‘Em All is the first thrash album, and anyone who says otherwise is just being a contrarian prick.

Conversely, Slayer did not kick open the door for thrash, they tore open the gates of Hell and unleashed a musical reign of terror, the echoes of which still reverberate across the full spectrum of extreme metal. Where Metallica essentially re-cast classic metal in the context of thrash with spectacular success, Slayer explored new worlds of musical extremity. They crafted a barely harnessed chaos into expressions of musical violence so potent, it made Metallica sound like pop music by comparison.

Much has been made of Metallica’s creative growth throughout the eighties, and it’s true that by Ride the Lightning, the band was basically playing chess while most of its peers were still struggling with checkers, but what occurred thereafter was not so much growth as it was refinement. One could argue that the band essentially made the same album twice with Ride The Lightning and Master of Puppets, and even the more adventurous …And Justice For All (extra song notwithstanding) is cast in much the same structural mold as its predecessors. Slayer, on the other hand, changed with every release. The leap from the fairly compact tunes of Show No Mercy to the tangled, nearly progressive compositions of Hell Awaits is creative leap that rivals Metallica’s. Then to cast it all aside and make the most brutally efficient, sonically ferocious album of its time, Reign In Blood – that’s a leap the likes of which Metallica never made. And finally, when Slayer did eventually rein in the chaos a bit with South of Heaven, they proved to be just as effective as Metallica in making accessible thrash songs, while still coming across even heavier than ever before.

Tony Iommi has said that the initial aim of Black Sabbath’s music was to scare the shit out of people. If the true aim of heavy metal is to explore darkness and inspire fear, Slayer carried that torch in the eighties like no other. In a time when music could still be frightening, Slayer was the scariest band in the land.

Jeremy’s Vote:
SLAYER

• • • • •

A TIE. Ain’t that typical? Obviously not everyone who tows a rope at LR voted, likely because they were either too busy in their charity outreach work or in jail, so an attempt was made to reach an outside force in an effort to break our horrid deadlock:

Why Ice T? Well, obviously because he’s a detective with the New York Police Department’s Special Victims Unit. Sadly, he never responded directly, but he DID favorite a tweet where I explained “As a child of the 80s, both bands were a huge part of my life, but Slayer reached a different level of danger for me.” Is that good enough to count as a Slayer choice? I guess you’ll have to be the judge of that.

In the end, it all goes to show that the battle could be more balanced than some might think, which is great, because that means the war will rage on… FOREVER.

In the meantime, we’d love to know YOUR vote in the comments below. Or cast a ballot via our current Twitter poll that will be up until Sunday night:

Here’s a couple of potent 1985 primers to help get the fires raging:

The post Battle Royal: 80s Metallica Vs. 80s Slayer – Two Bands Enter, One Band Leaves appeared first on Last Rites.