A few years ago -- before major labels stepped into the picture -- Avenged Sevenfold and Atreyu were the two "most likely to" groups to emerge from the Orange County metalcore scene, and in no time a bitter rivalry erupted, one that was eagerly fueled by metal mags looking for a good beef.

First, Avenged told Britain's Kerrrang magazine that Atreyu had stolen one of their songs, lacked creativity. etc., etc. Then, Atreyu lashed back and accused Avenged of being two-faced and opportunistic. The war was on.

So, when the two bands announced in December that they would both be taking part in this year's Taste of Chaos tour, those who follow such trivial things as rock rivalries raised an eyebrow. In the spirit of attempting to drive a new wedge between A7X and Atreyu, we decided to pit them against one another in our latest Who Rocks Harder campaign. Even if you think neither rock, it's a tough call.

Certainly, Avenged are more popular, but Atreyu have the louder screamer. On another fornt, both have strayed from their metalcore roots. Avenged did so first and achieved platinum success with their Metallica/Guns N' Roses hybrid. But then, Atreyu left the roost with the critically acclaimed Lead Sails Paper Anchor, and are currently flying high with the single "Becoming the Bull" (see below).

Both bands have strong songwriting chops and blazing lead guitarists and both have totally rad imagery -- if you're 16 and like to hang out in Hot Topic. So we ask you, who rocks harder, Avenged Sevenfold or Atreyu? Leave you comments in the box below. And if you think we're totally lame-ass posers for even posing such a question, let us know that as well. We welcome your abuse.

The votes are in for the latest "Who Rocks Harder" poll, and while there's a five percent margin of error that might skew the results (anyone demand a recount?), HBB Blog readers have determined that Cannibal Corpse rocks ever so slightly harder than Six Feet Under.

However, we're pretty sure that if enough death metal fans knew about Cannibal singer George "Corsepgrinder" Fisher's geeky obsession with the videogame "World of Warcraft" the margin of error might swing in Six Feet Under's favor. We're not calling George a dweeb or nothin', we're just saying the way Chris Barnes spends his leisure time -- smokin' weed and watching slasher films -- is a bit more metal than Fisher vacation hours spent going to Disneyworld with his kids and tugging on his joystick. Check out this Grinder's interview with M90.org to see what we mean.

Everyone knows that Cannibal Corpse have been the leading force in gore-death metal since their 1990 debut Eaten Back to Life. But part of the band's early success was due to singer Chris Barnes, who remained with the band until the Corpse's fourth full-length, 1994's The Bleeding, after which he split and George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher stepped in to front the mighty Cannibal.

While Six Feet Under began as a side project to Cannibal Corpse, it became Barnes' main gig in 1995 when the group released its storming debut Haunted. For three years, Six Feet Under also featured Obituary guitarist Allen West, but after the group's second disc, 1997's Warpath, West bowed out and was replaced by Steve Swanson.

Since 1997, the Cannibal Corpse and Six Feet Under have been comparably prolific. Six Feet have released five studio albums of new material, two discs of cover songs and a live album, and Cannibal have issued five studio discs, an EP and a concert disc. And while Six Feet Under had have more mid-paced and less musically complex material than Cannibal, both have appealed to pretty much the same target audience of gore hound and death metal freaks. So we ask you, who rocks harder?

While readers expressed much love and respect for veteran San Francisco thrash band Testament, they agreed that, when it comes to rockin' New Jersey veteran thrash band Overkill would give the SF boys one hell of a knockin' should they ever rated against one another for anything important.

Longevity and productivity was the main point in Overkill's favor. While Testament haven't issued a studio album of new material in almost nine years, Overkill have recorded five studio discs, a live album a covers record in the same period of time.

To celebrate the mighty Overkill, here are some vids from the vaults (click "read More" for four more piledriving Overkill videos:

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Neither New Jersey-based Overkill nor San Francisco's Testament were on the top tier of the '80s thrash hierarchy, but they weren't far below. Both bands belonged to the same Megaforce/Atlantic distribution deal, had a sizable following and suffered a number of lineup changes through the years.

Perhaps Testament's early albums were stronger, but Overkill had more longevity. Regardless, after years of floundering, both are earning a new level of respect. Overkill's latest offering, Immortalis has received strong reviews and they're getting ready to release a DVD of their performance at this year's Wacken Open Air Festival. And Testament are back at full force with longtime guitarist Alex Skolnick (who quit in 1993 and returned in 2002) and bassist Greg Christian (who was gone between 1997 and 2005), and are currently working on a new disc.

Killswitch Engage may be co-headlining with Lamb of God on their current tour, but when it comes to rocking hard, you've all confirmed out belief that there's no freaking contest between the two. In other words, in our most recent "Who Rocks Harder," Lamb of God obliterated their current touring partners.

To honor the victors, we present the 90-minute documentary "The Making of Sacrament:"

In our last Who Rocks Harder, Gwar wiped the floor with Lordi. It wasn't even a contest, so this week we've got a match-up that should prove more competitive.

A couple of years ago, one of the stupidest, most nondescript genre labels ever began to circulate -- "the new wave of American heavy metal." The so-called scene was named after the '80s movement "the new wave of British heavy metal," yet the two had absolutely nothing to do with one another. The bands that fell under the umbrella term were similarly unrelated, ranging from traditional metal bashers to metalcore growlers.

The two biggest acts that were ridiculously categorized as NWAHM happen to be launching a tour together in just a few days. While both Lamb of God and Killswitch Engage both march to the beat of their own drummers -- Chris Adler and Justin Foley respectively -- each clearly rocks. The question we post to you is who rocks harder? Leave your comments below.

Obviously, Gwar have been decimating the earth since Precambrian times, but Finnish monster ensemble Lordi have gotten a ton of attention since they invaded North American soil in 2006 with The Arockalypse. And they're huuuuuge in their homeland -- like Kiss huge; they've even got their own soft drink, credit card and restaurant. And, contrary to the popular opinion, they're not newcomers; they've been writing ultra-catchy hard rock since 2002's Get Heavy.

But this ain't Finland, and Mr. Lordi and friends would have to navigate miles of mountainous Antarctic glaciers to best the beasts of Gwar. 2008 will mark the band's 20th year in the bloodletting business. Even if Gwar's 2006 concept album Beyond Hell wasn't exactly the apex of their studio career, the cover of Alice Cooper's "School's Out" was pretty ripping, and we're sure Oderus and pals still have plenty of bang left in 'em for future recording endeavors. Plus, they continue to slay live. Cast your vote below and let the slaughter begin.

Metallica fans won't be surprised that Headbangers Ball Blog readers chose Metallica over Megadeth in this week's Who Rocks Harder poll, but they might be surprised by how close the contest was. The Bay Area bashers edged out Megadeth by a mere two votes, and as we all learned from the last two national elections, the margin of error in these kinds of polls means there's no clear victor. Fortunately no one's careers are at stake -- in fact, both bands seem to be on the verge of a major resurgence.

Metallica are working on a new album, and from all preliminary indications, it seems likely to be less of an artsy, freeform experiment than their last album St. Anger, and more a return to the type of jackhammer metal the band once pioneered. And, with the release of this year's sledgehammer symphony, United Abominations, Megadeth have won back any cred points they might have lost in the late '90s.

In any case, enjoy the following Metallica clips: The first is a cool bootleg of a 1986 show in Uniondale, New York, and the second is a professionally shot video of the band's entire 2006 Rock am Ring set:

For winning our "Good Vs. Evil" contest by rocking harder than As I Lay Dying, Deicide shall hereby be honored with a metal video block. Where is your God now, As I Lay Dying fans?

In addition to the three Deicide videos in our blood-spattered vault, we present the 40 minute documentary "Behind the Scars."