We were gonna write something snarky about the triumph of the lesser of two evils or some s--t like that, but we've gotta admit that Disturbed write some stompin' riffs and catchy hooks, and even if they're not as heavy as Nile, there's still a place for them in the kingdom of metal.

Also, we caught the band's Rockstar Energy Mayhem set the other day in Denver and frontman David Draiman did something we totally respected. No, it wasn't a cover of Genesis' "Land of Confusion" (that kind of sucked, actually), and it had nothing to do with theatrical command of the stage. It was an impromptu utteruance that took place when he saw a legless guy in a wheelchair near the front of the pit. Click more to hear what Draiman had to say and to watch Disturbed cover Metallica. Read more...

Yeah, we know a bunch of you are thinking the answer to the above question is none of the above, but there's gotta be a reason why Disturbed and Godsmack are two of the only metal bands that can still go platinum, right? And don't go claiming it's because both are commercial sell-outs because neither have changed their direction that dramatically since they started. So, maybe they both started out as posers, but if that's the case, why has Disturbed managed to secure a slot co-headlining the Mayhem fest with Slipknot and how did Godsmack get to open for Metallica? Read more...

It has been a little while since we pitted Cavalera Conspiracy against Soulfly in our last Who Rocks Harder challenge. We didn't post sooner, in part, because we were in denial of who won. Seriously, that Conspiracy debut, Inflikted, is one of our favorite albums of the year. Sadly, our vote for Cavalery Conspiracy wouldn't have helped since Soulfly won by a good 20 percent.

Interestingly, it seems like most old-school Sepultura fans sided with us. "I gotta lean to Cavalera Conspiracy," wrote Kingsnake. It's about as close to Sepultura as we’re gonna get in this lifetime."

Beneath the Lineup concurred: "I love the old thrash sound so I have to go with Cavalera Conspiracy plus Igor is one of my favorite drummers."

The Soulfly voters didn't have much to say. The typical comment, like the one by 666, read something like "I prefer Soulfly." But the great thing about a democracy is anyone with a voice (or in this case an Internet connection) can vote, and you don't have to be able to defend your choice.

Still, we can understand where the somewhat silent majority are coming from. Soulfly have amassed some cool stuff over their 11 years together, and the band's new album, Conquer, which comes out July 29, is pretty fierce as well.

To celebrate Soulfly's victory, click "more" and watch an 84-minute, professionally shot video of the band from the 2006 Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium: Read more...

This one ain't really fair, but whoever comes out the winner, the legendary Max Cavalera will emerge triumphant, so we can live with that. The former frontman of Sepultura has formed two bands since his departure from that legendary thrash outfit. The first, Soulfly, has blended nu-metal, tribal sounds and thrash into a hateful and intoxicating cocktail of aggression and spite. More recently, however, Cavalera has reunited with his brother Igor after a silence of over 10 years and formed Cavalera Conspiracy. Read more...

If we've learned anything from last week's 'Who Rocks Harder' contest between Unearth and The Black Dahlia Murder it's that both bands have some seriously loyal and passionate fans, and that we'll probably receive as many comments from people complaining about who won as we got while the competition was going on. Read more...

Both of these groups have been slotted into the metalcore scene, largely against their will and have released three proper studio albums -- though Unearth are hard at work on their fourth. Oh, and both are fronted by a guy named Trevor; Unearth's singer is Trevor Phipps and The Black Dahlia Murder's frontman is Trevor Strnad. Also, they both rock pretty hard and neither like melodic vocals too much. The question is, which rocks harder. Read more...

Three members of Deftones thank you for your vote

And you thought the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination was close. In this week's Headbangers Ball Blog "Who Rocks Harder" contest, Deftones defeated Korn by a single vote.

There were passionate participants lobbying for both camps. "Deftones change their sound every album and create stuff worth listening to," argued Ted Mustard. "Are any of Korn's original members still in the band?"

"Love both bands," enthused Got the Summer. "...I think I’ll go Korn. Very, very close though."

F4RB3Y0NDM3T4L, who would have had the swing vote to, at least, send the competition into overtime, found it too difficult to chose. "These are the bands that got me into metal," he explained. "It's against my better judgment to choose between the two." (remember guys, your vote always counts).

Click "more" to see how we celebrate a Deftones victory around here. Read more...

When nu-metal was just starting out, these guys were best friends.... And then they weren't. Because of similarities in their sound at the time, Korn, who were around a few minutes before Deftones, started talking s--t in interviews about how the 'Tones were copping their grooves. And the Def ones responded by saying they developed their sound independent of Korn, who were stabbing their pals in the back for a few column inches of press. For a while, it seemed like the two bands wanted nothing to do with each other. Then, Korn launched Family Values and asked Deftones to smoke the peace pipe with them and attend the tour. But the San Diego group had already scored their own stash and politely declined the invitation, declaring that they didn't want to be lumped into a music scene that was sure to be short-lived.

Deftones were right about one thing. The nu-metal thing definitely ran its course, and Korn's former compadres, including Limp Bizkit, Orgy and Videodrone, are now about as warmly received by the metal community as Tesla and White Lion. However, through all the shiftshaping and swashbuckling, both Korn and Deftones have transcended the limitations of the new metal genre and emerged as their own distinct entities. For both bands, strong songwriting and stylistic variation was essential to escape the pack.

Today, Deftones are as strong as they've been in years. Their last album, 2006's Saturday Night Wrist, was dense and dynamic, experimental, but never too clogged with ideas to belie the well crafted structures and intense emotional resonance. Currently, the band are wrapping up their next album, Eros and, allegedly, the thing will drop this fall.

We're not sure the Korn camp is feeling as healthy these days. In 2004 or so, guitarist Brian "Head" Welch decided to leave the band to devote his life to the lord. In 2007, drummer David Silveria went on hiatus and hasn't returned, and recently, guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer announced that he was working on a side project supergroup called Fear and the Nervous System with ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland, ex-Faith No More bassist Billy Gould, Bad Religion drummer Brooks Wackerman and others. However, there are also rumors floating around that Korn's original lineup will soon launch a reunion tour. We'll see what happens with that, but that's not at issue at the moment. Alls we want to know right now is who rocks harder, Korn or Deftones?

To start with, we gotta admit we're fans of Dragonforce. The band's hybrid of death metal, power metal and '80s pop is totally entertaining, and Herman Li and Sam Totman are pretty great guitarists. Also, as talented as they are, there's some great humor value in watching the guys bounce on trampolines from one section of the stage to the next, and seeing them sprint from platform to platform like they're navigating an obstacle course in the Special Olympics.

That being the case, we have to say Symphony X are probably the better band. Still, we thought a "Who Rocks Harder" contest between the two would be a tight battle. Not even close. Symphony X totally destroyed Dragonforce.

"I still like Dragonforce (for the record, Sonic Firestorm is their best album)," wrote Pickles. "But with Dragonforce, it’s easy to get lost in how much is going on all at once. With Symphony X, everything meshes together for a heavier and easier to listen to sound."

Other voters were less kind. "Dragonforce are more electronic than Massive Attack," offered F4RB3Y0NDM3T4L. "As far as musicianship, Dragonforce are obviously not as amazing as everyone assumes by listening to their albums. They cannot play live for s--t."

Adds Richaod, "Symphony X actually play metal with a hard edge, especially on their latest album, and not all their songs sound the same. I'd wager that Michael Romeo’s a more talented guitarist than Herman and Sam put together."

The people have spoken. To celebrate the downfall of Dragonforce and prove how f---in' good a guitarist Michael Romeo is, here's a 45 minute instructional video he did called "The Guitar Chapter. (Click "more" to view): Read more...

Over the past few years, musicianship has definitely come back into metal, and Symphony X and Dragonforce are two bands that place playing ability near the top of their priority lists.

Symphony X have actually been around way longer. They formed in 1994 in New Jersey compared to Dragonforce, which first got together in 1999 in London.

But Dragonforce are way more popular, thanks in equal parts to Ozzfest and Guitar Hero. Symphony X have actually released eight studio albums compared to Dragonforce's three, but they've never been on a major summer package tour. They've also never bounded across the stage on trampolines as Dragonforce have been prone to do.

It's also worth noting that Symphony X seem to love dragons and wizards and such, while Dragonforce's songs sound like heavy metal symphonies played on vinyl at 78 rpm. So see, the two bands really aren't that different. But the question is, which one is better? Place your vote in the comment box below.