In our closest Who Rocks Harder contest to date, Dream Theater defeated Rush by a single vote. And that happened only after the two tied two days ago (thanks to one voter who said he couldn't decide) and had to go into sudden-death overtime.

To celebrate Dream Theater's victory, we present a full streaming concert video of the band from Budokan, Japan. click "more" to watch the nearly three hour show from 2004: Read more...

After a full week to duke it out, the Headbangers Ball Blog readers were completely split down the middle when trying to determine who rocks harder, Rush or Dream Theater.

Systematic Freewill argued, "Without Rush, Dream Theater wouldn’t be what it is today. Rush had a huge influence on them." And Robert countered, "Rush is influential and definitely helped DT define their sound, but Dream Theater has a more consistent output."

So, in an effort to break the tie, we're giving you guys until Friday to place your votes and give us reasons why one rocks harder than the other. Check out these vids and make your decision.

We had long thought no one was more dedicated to their favorite band than Rush fans. Then we bumped heads with the Dream Theater legions. Clearly, the two groups inspire such loyalty for many of the same reasons.

Both bands play progressive hard rock that's heavy on musicality, but also rife with strong hooks and melody. And both deliver live with a precision and chemistry that's nearly unparalleled. Clearly, there are lots of people out there that are diehard fans of both... Well, now they have to choose.

Maybe the question "who rocks harder?" isn't exactly fair. Neither band strives for heaviness in and of itself, and while Dream Theater's rhythms are more metallic than those of modern day Rush, Dream Theater probably wouldn't be the same band today were it not for Rush, which opened the commercial floodgates to prog-metal back in the mid-'70s -- back before Dream Theater singer James LaBrie's voice had even changed. Of course, back then, Rush frontman Geddy Lee was singing so high it sounded like his voice hadn't changed either.

Watch the videos and leave your feedback where it counts:

Behemoth may have fought with Satan by their side, but Nile were able to invoke the power of Set, Anubis and Osiris and send those face-painted Poles back from whence they came. That doesn't mean readers didn't still feel a lot of love for Nergal & Co. In fact, most of the comments we received emphasized what a "tough choice" it was and that Behemoth was a "brutal band" as well. However, practically everyone who weighted in for our latest "Who Rocks Harder?" contest favored Nile. Read more...

The last time we spoke to Behemoth frontman Adam "Nergal" Darski he told us there's a perceived rivalry between his band and technical death veterans, Nile, but that such reports are completely unfounded.

Be that as it may, if we were in ancient Rome and both bands were equipped with full gear and placed in the Coliseum 50 yards apart, only one would one would emerge victorious. The other would likely be dismembered and fed to the lions.

To be honest, we're absolutely torn about who would win a rock-off to the death. Both bands have long histories and lots in common. They both emerged in the early '90s, have endured numerous lineup changes since then and have proven that there are few other bands that can match their technical skill and abundant creativity. They also share a skill for destroying venues live.

Of course, there are also differences. While Behemoth encompass elements of death and black metal, Nile are steeped in technical death metal, and where Behemoth rail against Christianity and authority, Nile specialize in Egyptian themes and HP Lovecraft worship. Watch both videos and share your thoughts.

This was one of the closest "Who Rocks Harder" contests we've had to date, and it elicited more viewer commentary than virtually any since Deicide Vs. As I Lay Dying (the poor Christian bastards didn't have a chance against the hordes of Deicide disciples). In the end, however, Dimmu Borgir edged out Cradle of Filth in the hard rocking department.

Dimmu supporters generally praised the band's symphonic arrangements, sophisticated songwriting and crushing rhythms, while Cradle devotees raised the devil's horns to the band's theatrics, musical diversity and sustained popularity.

However, there were also voters who denied the heaviness of either group, exclaiming that the blasts of true evil from outfits like Gorgoroth and Watain were enough to instantly snuff both watered down commercial metal titans.

Be that as it may, we have to give props to the winners, so here's live video footage of Dimmu from Ozzfest 2004:

Serious blood-drinking black metal warriors like Watain and Gorgoroth don't really take Cradle of Filth or Dimmu Borgir all that seriously. But there was a time when both instilled fear in the hearts of ordinary mortals and provoked controversy and protests wherever they went.

Cradle came first, of course. The band formed in 1991, and by 1994 released the pernicious album The Principles of Evil Made Flesh, which heralded a new wave of symphonic black metal. The record was a template for the gothic arrangements and poetic lyrics the band would continue to explore as they developed further into their career. But what truly separated Cradle from their peers was their theatrical stage presentation, which was like a cross between an Alice Cooper show and a black mass. The icing on the cake was the group's keen sense of marketing, a factor that both increased their popularity and caused naysayers to scream, "sell-out." Either way, who could forget the band's inflammatory "Jesus is a C---" t-shirt design, which remains one of the most offensively successful pieces of heavy metal promotion of all time.

While Cradle arose straight outta England, Dimmu Borgir came from Norway, like most face-painted black metal bands. They formed in 1993 and debuted a year later with For All Tid, which was sung completely in their native tongue, thus limiting its international appeal. Actually, the band didn't start writing in English until the 1996 EP Devil's Path. Their greatest move came when they hooked up with producer Peter Tagtren (Hypocrisy) for 1997's Enthrone Darkness Triumphant. But as they progressed, Dimmu Borgir's songs became less heavy and more structurally complex and operatic. The turning point for the band's critics came when they played on 2004 Ozzfest.

But even if they're dismissed by the hardest of the hardcore black metal hordes, both Cradle and Dimmu still have a lot going for them. Both have an uncanny ability to mix infectious melodies with unbelievably brutal vocals and guitars, both have retained their visual flair and theatricality without becoming a complete parody and both have proven that black metal (or black metal-lite as the case may be) could effectively be presented with embellishments by a full orchestra. And while neither band is as heavy as they once were, they're both way more sonically intense and creative than the majority of heavy metal bands out there. Still, in the final analysis, one has to be deemed heavier than the other, so we ask you, who rocks harder, Dimmu Borgir or Cradle of Filth?

The votes are in, the results are tallied, and the winner, by a slim margin, is Machine Head. You, the people have voted Machine Head as a band that "rocks harder" than DevilDriver. Many of you commented that it was a tough decision and that both group's are worthy of great praise both in concert and on album. But when push came to shove, the determining factor was Machine Head's undeniable 2007 album The Blackening, which was widely favored over DevilDriver's The Last Kind Words.

Since you chose Machine Head over DevilDriver, we now reward you with two rare video clips of Machine Head in action. Rather than post the band's music videos or footage of them performing their songs live, we present Machine Head collaborating on and covering the work of others.

The first is a dusty clip of Machine Head and Slayer onstage covering Venom's "Witching Hour" and the second is Machine Head's take on Metallica's "Battery":

machine head & slayer live

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Machine Head - Battery ( Metallica cover )
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Maybe it's not fair to pit two artists that are friends against one another, but who ever said metalheads play by the rules? There's no queston Machine Head and DevilDriver are two of Roadrunner Records' brightest lights and they both put out top-notch videos in 2007. Plus, they've both written awesome guest blogs for Headbangers Ball Blog (see Machine Head's here and DevilDriver's here).

But when you weight one against the other, there are definitely differences as well as similarities. While both have flirted with nu-metal in the past and are now pretty single-mindedly fixed on writing thrash and death-based songs that incinerate, Machine Head tend to take a more technical, multi-dimensional approach and DevilDriver go straight for the jugular. Yet even DD have a solid repertoire of atmospheric flourishes and heavy metal hooks that permeate the cranium-bashing beats. And while Machine Head can get melancholy or even (gasp) tender, they're also more than capable of heavy-duty quality brain-bashing. Both groups have a charismatic frontman seasoned from years of abuse in other bands (Machine Head's Robb Flynn in Vio-Lence, DevilDriver's Dez Fafara in Coal Chamber). And both stage monumentally intense live shows.

So you tell us, what does each band have that the other doesn't, and in the end, who rocks harder, Machine Head or DevilDriver?

Whoa, this one totally took us by surprise. By a two to one margin, Headbangers Ball Blog readers have declared Atreyu a harder rocking band than Avenged Sevenfold. We had actually wagered on A7X winning by a slim margin, but it seems that, while many readers dug the Iron Maiden-meets-Guns N' Roses riffs of Avenged's 2005 disc City of Evil they were taken aback by the less bombastic style of the band's 2007 self-titled offering.

By contrast, metalcore fans appreciate that Atreyu singer Alex Varkatzas still screams his larynx bloody even though he's also singing a bit these days, and while some readers griped about Atreyu's sonic diversion on 2007's Lead Sails Paper Anchor, overall, they acknowledge the album as a musical progression, not a sell-out.

Of course, we also got a bunch of responses from people who hate both bands and wrote their own entries onto the ballot, including Mayhem and Symphony X.

As much as we'd love to offer a video clip of home cooking tips with Mayhem drummer Hellhammer (if such a thing existed), we must give this one to Atreyu and provide you with some of their goodies. But first, in case you missed them the first time, here are links to our exclusive podcast interviews with both Atreyu and Avenged Sevenfold.

And now, here's a bunch of Atreyu videos (don't forget to click on "Read More" (yeah, we know, but we don't have a "view more" tag. So, sue us):

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