Heads or Tails (Band vs. Band), Pt. 2

Rob Zombie vs. Marilyn Manson

Both industrial metal icons during the 90’s who have kept themselves going far into the 21^st century, the “versus” between these two band leaders is in fact quite warranted due to the fair about of conflict between Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson. Both have recently come back into better form from career “slumps” (as some might argue). I feel like the past 3 Marilyn Manson albums have been hyped up, intentionally or otherwise, as “comeback” albums, with people seeming to get their hopes up for a return to the industrial madness of Antichrist Superstar that, at this point, doesn’t really seem probable at all. But I did think that Manson’s 2015 effort, The Pale Emperor, was a big step up from Born Villain and Eat Me, Drink Me (I thought The High End of Low was not too bad either). But ever since that 2007 album that was originally not supposed to happen (The Golden Age of Grotesque being planned as Manson’s last album), Marilyn Manson has hardly even flirted with the industrial metal that won him such a huge reputation within the metal community, and I still haven’t enjoyed any of his newer material as thoroughly as I have Antichrist Superstar and Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death). But I have enjoyed it, and I’ve appreciated that, even though by rotating his crew of musicians, he has continued to refresh his sound throughout the years. Rob Zombie, on the other hand, has remained stylistically consistent, and sort of made me glad that Manson hasn’t, because his music has aged, and most of it not well. Hellbilly Deluxe remains his sole standout record, even taking into account his career with White Zombie. The 3 studio albums that followed it contained a lot more filler than his solo debut, but when he put out Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor, I thought he was done. He sounded so out of ideas, so uninspired, and as corny as ever on that album. But last year, he caught me off guard with The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser, which was concise, catchy, punchy, and a much less meandering, homogenous mix of tunes compared to the past 4 albums, and Zombie was certainly as true to himself as ever on it too. As far as the comparison between these guys, it’s basically campy Halloween-y metal versus hyper-serious, poetic rock of various styles, and I thoroughly enjoy both of these approaches. But I think, having quite a few more albums that I hold in very high regard, my general preference falls with Manson. I like many of Rob Zombie songs from his various patchy albums, but I think his only two standout records are his debut and his most recent effort. With Marilyn Manson though, I can point to a stellar output all through the 90’s up through The Golden Age of Grotesque, and even his newer work is musically, and definitely lyrically, intriguing enough to garner repeated listens from me. Both of these guys seem to be on the upswing right now in their careers, especially Zombie. Despite how much I enjoyed his last album, I wouldn’t bet too much on him again capturing a similar energy on another record soon, considering it took almost 2 decades to muster the musical power for something comparable to his debut. Say10 (Manson’s upcoming album), on the other hand, I have some hope for. I am not expecting any kind of reprise of the industrial metal of Antichrist Superstar, but I’m sure it’ll make for some interesting artistic rock project as usual.

Neurosis vs. Swans

I don’t think too many people pair these two bands, but to me, Neurosis is metal’s sludgy answer to Michael Gira’s strange musical experiment, Swans. Because Swans doesn’t exactly reside in metal territory the comparison between the two isn’t really as stylistic contemporaries, but as experimenters of a similar vein in their respective fields (although I consider Swan’s first few albums to be quite metallic). Being a longer-standing project and starting off on an innovative foot with Filth, Swans certainly have the upper hand in the pioneering field, but Neurosis have certainly contributed more than their fair share to expanding and developing modern sludge metal and experimental metal, funneling all sorts of world music influences into their albums. I’m not sure what it is specifically about each of these two that reminds me of the other aside from their ability to craft such similarly ominous works from such varied styles; Scott Kelly’s very Slayer-esque shouts and low-register singing are nothing like Michael Gira’s unstable grunts and creepy mid-range singing, and Neurosis’ overall consistent metallic heaviness is something Swans only channeled in their early years and only kind of off-handedly allude to in their most recent output. Swans have had a bit more of a dynamic ride through the decades than Neurosis and have ventured farther musically, but this has made their discography patchy in my opinion. When they’re on, they’re really on, like with To Be Kind, Filth, Soundtracks for the Blind, and Cop, but albums like The Glowing Man (their worst in my opinion), My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky are, to me of course, just unlistenable. When I found out that Filth came out the same year as Kill ‘Em All I was stunned because it sounded genuinely heavier and ahead of what thrash was doing. Groove metal and death metal took about a decade or so to catch up, but Swans seemed to be tunneling away even further underneath everyone’s noses with their weird psychedelic output in the 90’s. I personally wasn’t the biggest fan of these albums, but there are some gems among their track listings. I’ve definitely enjoyed the more drone-y, sinister output of The Seer and To Be Kind though, and I think those albums, while not exactly ground-breaking, are excellent works in the niche they occupy, with Michael Gira finding a new groove to suit his more mellowed-out tastes of late that still culminates to bombastic performance on many songs like “Screen Shot” and “Bring the Sun”. Neurosis’ less divergent trajectory as a band has, I think, contributed to a more consistently enjoyable output on their part. Their first 4 albums (excluding their strange, crusty punk beginnings) are undoubted landmarks of sludge metal and intriguing from beginning to end. Even as they started moving into uncharted territory and into more atmospheric waters with A Sun That Never Sets and The Eye of Every Storm, they’ve managed to keep me interested with something. Their ability to make their music dynamic with more than just clean and distorted guitar has certainly set them apart from their other sludge metal comrades and has given each album some kind of surprise factor that keeps me coming back and keeps me interested. Again, being that the two bands are not actually stylistic contemporaries, this comparison isn’t as comprehensive or as immersed as people who like to compare experimental music projects can often find such a debate as this to be. My preference for Neurosis on a generalized level could be written off as just bias toward more metal-centric music, but I’m just talking about my general preference for what to put on and listen to. Swans fans might point to how innovative Swans are or how consistently “critically well-received” their albums are (and they are; lots of critics can’t seem to stop fawning over Swans), but I already acknowledged that, and I’m just talking about what I like and dislike about these bands, not summarizing the opinions of music critics.

Mastodon vs. Baroness

Mastodon are certainly the biggest sludge metal band right now and their take on progressive sludge metal has won them boatloads of admiration from the metal community; Baroness on the other hand are only just starting to break through to levels of recognition near to where Mastodon are. I’ve mentioned before that I think Mastodon is overrated, and my subsequent argument for my preference for the music of Baroness is usually an uphill battle when it comes up. Any time I discuss Mastodon with friends, and Baroness come up, I’m outnumbered. Where I think Baroness dominate is in the vocal and song-writing departments. Mastodon’s vocal trade-off game works on some songs like the brilliant “Oblivion”, but it only gets them so far, and it’s been a source of slight boredom on their recent albums. It’s entirely personal preference, but I find Brent Hinds’ vocals to be distracting and too drowsily monotone for the music backing him, Troy, and Brann up. John Dyer Baizley, on the other hand, is a vocal powerhouse who drives Baroness’ music forward with intensity of either the overtly blazing type, or the subtly emotive type, largely single-handedly. My preference for Baroness extends also to composition and lyricism that I largely prefer from Baizley and company. Mastodon’s lyrics, while not terrible aside from what their last album featured, are often convoluted and incomplete enough to hold hardly any meaning; and this is even on songs I really like, such as “The Czar”. But songs like “High Road” and “Show Yourself” fall into vague alternative metal cliché lyrically. When Mastodon does show some ambition in the form of narrative lyrics, they usually don’t come through all the way and their stories require supplementary commentary from the band to be finished. Baizley, however, has a poetic style that has improved since Blue Record and resonates with me consistently through each album. As with vocals, lyrics are definitely a to-each-his-own thing, as is everything in music. Where Baroness really reel me in, though, is with their ability to write many more types of songs with considerable success. Songs like “Little Things” and “Eula” show their ability to write moving songs without resorting to excessive loudness, while songs like “Rays on Pinion” and “Morningstar” display their ability to be effective with their use of such heavy loudness. Of course, I can’t neglect their numerous anthems like “Chlorine and Wine”, “Try to Disappear”, “Shock Me”, and “March to the Sea” as those are the types of songs where I think Baroness and John Dyer Baizley’s soaring voice shine the brightest and show a unique angle of progressive and/or sludge metal. Songs like “High Road” and “March of the Fire Ants” from Mastodon, though, do show a quality from them that I do in fact enjoy deeply. I never said I dislike Mastodon in the general sense, it’s just that for the subjective reasons I laid out above, their music doesn’t quite resonate with me with as much consistency as Baroness’ does.

Iron Maiden vs. Judas Priest

Legends. Judas Priest and Iron Maiden are absolute legends and have been for a long time, there’s no point trying to compare them based on whose music has become a “more” integral pillar of metal as a whole, because even the people who prefer one and/or consider one as more legendary largely have huge respect for the other as well. Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford are both held in high regard as iconic, godly vocal talents of metal (who were both sorely missed when they both went absent for two albums in their bands’ careers) and both bands have sustained themselves more than adequately into their old age. Both these pillars of the new wave of British heavy metal are quite well known for their string of important, influential albums in their early years, but also for fading out in the 1990’s. Since reuniting with the voices that made these bands the icons they are, they have both hit new creative strides, especially Iron Maiden. I’m probably in the minority on this one, but I prefer Iron Maiden’s 21^st century output over their 1980’s output. Brave New World and A Matter of Life and Death particularly showcase a progressive ambition from the band and they are my favorite Iron Maiden albums, although The Number of the Beast and Somewhere in Time are also some of my favorites as well. Judas Priest, on the other hand, has yet to really come into form with Rob Halford back at the helm, Redeemer of Souls not exactly redeeming the overbearing mess that Nostradamus was. Maiden may have a bit of an edge over Priest by having begun their career a few years later and being able to take on some influence from Judas Priest’s 1970’s work, of course sacrificing a few points in the we-did-it-first department. Overall, I’d say that despite the incredible similarities between them, Iron Maiden has always struck me as carrying a good deal more intensity in their music than Judas Priest, Bruce Dickinson being a major player in his consistently vibrant performances. I of course love Judas Priest and Rob Halford too, but Iron Maiden, to me, is a band that has continued to push themselves to new heights, even as the incredible band they were in what many fans consider to be their prime.