Two of the heaviest, most inspirational thrash bands go at it in the second week of our Who Rocks Harder challenge. Last week's winner, by the way, was Judas Priest, who beat out Iron Maiden by a slim margin.

The influence of both Slayer and Pantera extends far beyond the boundaries of thrash. Slayer burst onto the scene with hardcore beats and razor-honed riffs that were so brutal they left most everyone in the dust. Combined with vivid controversial lyrics about their favorite subjects -- Satan, serial killers and war -- they paved the way for crossover and death metal. And while they may have hit their peak before 1990 with the albums Reign in Blood (1986), South of Heaven (1988) and Seasons in the Abyss (1990), they've delivered consistently vicious stuff throughout their entire career. Even during the grunge and alternative eras, Slayer never wavered from their distinctive style of bludgeoning. Plus, they get bonus points for having one of the sickest drummers in metal, Dave Lombardo, whose tumbling, precise beats propel the bad-ass songs.

If Slayer are the Beatles of metal, Pantera are surely the Rolling Stones. Okay, in their youth the band started on a misguided rocket ride of commercial/glam metal, but they more than made up for it after acquiring vocalist Philip Anselmo and releasing their explosive fifth album, Cowboy From Hell, in 1990. From there, Pantera quickly proved their mettle with album after album of southern-groove flavored hate-thrash that was shy of neither aggression or attitude. All the guys could play and Anselmo's vocals were absolutely vita -- a key influence on the emergence of metalcore -- but group's greatest weapon was guitarist Dimebag Darrell, who brought proficiency, power and feeling to the band with both his crafty, gritty rhythms and his jaw-dropping leads.

Watch the two vids, then vote for your favorite below.

Yup, some of you guessed it. The correct answer is c) Splattered Entrails. Starting next week, we're not going to post multiple choice answers with the logo. Instead, we're just gonna let you guess what it is. See if you're still so smart without the prompting.

Anyway, Splattered Entrails formed in Levittown, New York in 2004 as a side-project of Expulsive Incision co-founder Mike O'Hara (L. Empyma). O'Hara handles vocals, drum programming, guitar and bass. He's joined by guitarist Paul Licht and live drummer Ian Stevenson.

The prolific gorefiends released three records in 2006, Carnivorous Parasitic Infection, Grindustrialization and Flesh out of the Oven. So far this year, they've dropped just one sonic abortion, Choking on the Rot, but they're in label negotiations about releasing their new album, Peeling the Skin Off.

Next summer the band plans to head out on the Gorepocalypse Tour '08 with Malodorous, Mortuus, Virology and others.

When we found out Evergreen Terrace had shot a video for the song "Chaney Can't Quite Riff Like Helmet's Page Hamilton," we wondered if the band knew Hamilton, if he was aware of the bizarre reference and/or if he had contacted his lawyers to prepare a devastating lawsuit.

So, we got in touch with Hamilton's manager to see if he had something witty or scathing to say about the tune. He had neither and obviously had no idea who Evergreen Terrace were before our inquiry, but he did offer this diplomatic response.

"Thanks for turning me on to Evergreen Terrace! The song is great and I hope their tour is going well. Maybe we will cross paths one day. Tell the band thanks!"

In any case, "Chaney Can't Quite Riff Like Page Hamilton" comes from the band's fourth full-length studio album, Wolfbiker, which came out July 24. The disc was recorded at Vision Sound studio in Jacksonville, Florida and mixed by Jason Livermore.

Having scored an international hit with their third album, City Of Evil, Avenged Sevenfold knew expectations would be high going into their fourth record. And, being the perfectionists they are, they also knew the highest expectations would come from themselves. So last year they cut touring short to start writing, and before long they had amassed a wealth of new material, which they honed down and self-produced to create their new, self-titled disc. Needless to say, by the time they were done nobody was disappointed.

MTV2's Headbangers Ball Blog recently hooked up an exclusive podcast interview with Avenged Sevenfold frontman M. Shadows to talk about what the band was striving for sonically and how it reached beyond the confines of metal to deliver something metallic, but musically diverse. Shadows also explains why Avenged decided to self-produce, how they remained sane in the studio, the misconceptions the media has about the band and the recurring lyrical themes on the record.

After you check listen to the podcast, watch the band's video for "Almost Easy":

When it comes to horror films, sequels are usually similar, utterly predictable versions of stories that have already proven themselves at the box office. But "28 Weeks Later" (Fox) is a proper follow-up to the sequence of events in the brutal 2002 movie "28 Days Later," and is ultimately as much a flick about the brutality of man as it is about the terror of zombies.

Actually, the man-eating creatures here aren't technically zombies. They're victims of a "rage virus" that infects the living, not the dead. As such, the blood-vomiting scoundrels are hardly the stumbling rigor mortis-inflicted cannibals of Romero and Fulci fare, they're an entirely new breed -- stronger, faster and more ravenous.

While the first movie took a while to establish the setting and introduce the element of evil, this time we're good to go from the start. While everyone infected with the rage virus from the first movie has starved to death, one woman, unbeknownst to anyone, has survived as a carrier of the disease. And when her husband -- who had previously left her alone with a roomful of the diseased and run for his life -- leans over the kiss her, he acquires the virus, and the carnage begins anew.

More interesting than the zombie attacks are the reactions from the U.S. military, which is more obsessed with containing the contagion than saving anyone's life. One soldier, however, sees the true evil in the policy and drops his weapon to aid a family who, as it turns out, includes the last hope for mankind -- a child immune to the disease. Read more...

It doesn't help that this large angular logo is pretty much black on black, but apparently these guys are so evil that only little shards of gray can enter their world. The logo is barbed and jagged, but it still seems kinda cartoonish to us -- like the cover of a '50s EC comic or something you might see on "Tales From the Crypt." We understand they're looking for a singer. Maybe the Cryptkeeper is free.

Here are your choices:

a) Serrated Cataracts   b) Sanguinary Cadavar   c) Splattered Entrails   d) Carcass

You read the Demon Hunter guest blog. Now check out the band's new video for "Fading Away." If you like it, but staring at a computer screen makes you cross-eyed, watch it again on this weekend's Headbangers Ball on MTV2.

Once again, Demon Hunter's "Fading Away":

Here's the first of today's two video premieres: Trivium's "Becoming the Dragon." Catch it here now, then watch it on air this weekend on MTV2's "Headbangers Ball."

The video was directed by Ramon Boutviseth, who we'll surely be seeing a lot more from in the not too distant future. Here's more information about Trivium's "Becoming the Dragon" video.

And here's the video:

We've all seen shots (like this one) of Slayer guitarist Kerry King gettin' his noggin tattooed by Paul Booth, and any fan of either knows the two are close friends. Here, Booth discusses how he got tight with Slayer, how King tattooed him and financed his first film and the next Slayer art project Booth has up his tattered, bloodied sleeve.

Getting to know Slayer, as I have over the years, has been an absolute highlight of my career -- not only as a tattoo artist, but as an artist as a whole. Those guys have to be some of the coolest motherf---ers I know.

I don’t think there is any real starting point to how we met. It was kind of a gradual thing. I’d always kind of finagle my way backstage one way or another at the shows, and eventually we got to know each other. Maybe I was with a band that opened for Slayer, and through that I got to know them a little better. I think I first tattooed singer and bassist Tom [Araya] at Tattoo the Earth, an old tour I was involved in back when I did some tour production. I was pretty much in charge of the "Tattoo" element of the tour, but I did have some influence in getting Slayer and Slipknot to headline, so that felt good.

Anyway, that's where I really got to know the band a lot better. I ended up doing a lot of tattooing on Kerry, and we’ve become really good friends over the years. I find myself having to keep my “fanboy” side separate from our friendship because if I think about the idea that I’m close friends with a guy who had a very direct and major impact on my art in the early years, I suppose it kind of wigs me out.

I remember one time we were in Kerry’s backyard having a barbecue, and my girlfriend at the time snapped a picture of me and Kerry flipping burgers on the grill. It’s no big deal as a friend, but as a fan it’s like, "Holy S--t! I’m flipping burgers with Kerry King!" I don’t ever want that kind of, “Hey, can I have your autograph?” side of things to interfere with our friendship, so I just try to play cool.

On a side note, I have this idea for a guitar sculpture I’ve been dying to do for. Hopefully, in the next couple months, I’ll be able to get started sculpting this Slayer monstrosity guitar that I think he'll really dig, so that’s going to be a fun project. Oh, by the way, Kerry and Ayesha, his wife, are the executive producers of my first film. They were actually crazy enough to give me money to make the damn thing! Imagine that! Kerry King of Slayer -- executive producer of an art documentary. I even got that crazy bastard to tattoo me! He did a Blobman portrait on my leg, which I’m very proud of.

Sometimes tattoos mark a point in time, or a bond with a friend or another silly moment. So, I have a leg dedicated to silly little tattoos from friends .Looking back, I shoulda had Kerry sign my f---ing hamburger!

Don't miss Paul Booth's other guest blogs.
Thashin' Ink #1: Tattoo Tales From the Master
Thrashin' Ink #2: Through the Eye of the Needle
Thrashin Ink #3: Meeting Phil Anselmo
Thrashin' Ink #4: Cannibal Barbecue Idea Stops Paul From Tattooing Ozzy

With all the news surrounding the Machine Head/Arch Enemy House of Blues show that Disneyland canceled, we thought we'd go directly to the source and have Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn write up a guest blog about his views on citizenship and censorship. Check this out, and don't forget to watch the band's new video for "Now I Lay Thee Down."

In the six years since the attacks of September 11, the United States has become a better place in a number of ways. As a country, we have implemented a few common sense security procedures and protective measures that have made the nation little more secure; as a people, we are a little more conscious of our surroundings and what we can do to increase our safety; and, as a society, we are (to some degree) a little more aware of our effect on the rest of the world, both positive and negative. On the night of September 11, when I asked the crowd in Tucson, Arizona to please give 15 seconds of silence to pay respect to those whose lives were lost on that tragic day, for that one brief moment, we all felt like one. These are good things.

However, in those same six years, the United States has also managed to deteriorate into a place much worse than it was on September 10, 2001. Since that infamous day, many ugly truths have surfaced, many of the liberties we once took for granted – freedoms we once thought invincible – have been quietly erased by men that have taken it upon themselves to ignore the Constitution and write their own rules. These are the same men that fed the world lies in order to justify a war that it wouldn't agree to, men who value power and control over human life and exercise it with an unprecedented audacity and disdain for the law. And these are very bad things. Read more...