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Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Battle of the bands

It's simple, it's fun and it's going on now. It's battle of the bands. I list two bands and you say which you prefer and why. So today it's:

Pantera vs. Slayer

I'll go with Slayer here. I give Pantera credit for being proud to be a metal band in the face of grunge. They also helped keep metal alive in the mainstream during the dark period known as the 1990's. Yet I think they were a little overrated and a bit too basic for me at times. Slayer were really good from 83-88 and hot and cold after that. Yet metal just wouldn't have been the same without them.

Who do you like?

16 comments:

  1. I would go with Slayer, I used to really love slayer. Big fan of "Diabolus in Musica" and "Seasons in the Abyss." I never really got into Pantera so this is a pretty easy vote for Slayer for me.

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  2. Anonymous3:49 AM

    I'll be honest, I was never really into either band. I'll have to go with Slayer because I remember listening to them with friends back in the day and they were thrust to the top almost immeadiately.

    Pantera never really did it for me.

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  3. I'll go with Slayer. They're going to appear in my all time favourite album lists soon on the other blog I've just started.

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  4. Anonymous6:06 AM

    I have to go with Slayer too. Pantera is a band tha I respect but I never really got into. They seemed a bit too generic at times for me.

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  5. Although I like some Pantera, for the same reasons you do, I'm with you on the vote for Slayer. Part of the battle of bands is also influence, and Slayer has had an impact on many more bands than Pantera.

    -- david

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  6. Slayer had a much bigger impact overall. I still admire Pantera because they weren't afraid to admit their roots and that was a big deal. They toured with Skidrow in 1992,they constantly stated how much they liked Judas Priest and there were metal bands who tried to integrate alternative sounds in with their music to stay "current" in the 90's, but Pantera stayed on the metal course. Still Slayer are going to go down in most people's books as a much more important band.
    On a related topic, I will be doing Battle of the bands just three more times. I won't be doing it in December because I have so much else to write and it will be replaced by "Heavy Metal jukebox" come January. I think that I actually know what the final three match-ups for Battle of the bands will be too.

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  7. I pick Slayer. Pantera was just too (I can't think of the word) unmelodic. Yeah, unmelodic may be it. Of course Pantera's first couple of albums were a joke. Power Metal was good, then the Cowboys era saw a "new" Pantera.

    Slayer were always consistent if not brilliant. Seasons in the Abyss is a great album.

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  8. Anonymous6:54 AM

    I wasn't really into either band myself, mostly because I live in a heavy metal black hole, if you will. But after having heard both of them over the years, Pantera would be my choice, probably because I know more about them than Slayer.

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  9. slayer, without a doubt.

    i like pantera, i think they are a relevant part of metal's history and i have every record. i was heartbroken when dime died. but in the grand scale of metal, slayer are better, more consistent, more influent and more important.

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  10. Slayer, in my opinion, is more "musical." Not being a big metal head like yourself, any metal I do like tends to be more melodic as t-bone stated.

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  11. Being a Texas boy it would be sacreligous of me not to pick Pantera. And so many modern bands owe much to the influence of Pantera.

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  12. Going to go with Pantera on this one. Just more my style, I guess.

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  13. Being from Texas I have to go with Pantera. WWDD.. What would Dimebag do?

    By the way you watching an rockstar supernova or is that to lame for your tastes?

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  14. Crazy Dan-I don't have cable. I watch almost nothing but dvd's at least until the regular football season starts.

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  15. No question it's Slayer. Tony Nichols from Meliah Rage and I were discussing the impact that Reign in Blood had on metal last night and while I dig and respect Pantera, Slayer is far superior. Of course, today's metal scene is derivitive of both bands, depending on which branch you're talking about...metalcore goes to Pantera, death to Slayer.

    You guys should've seen who opened for Anthrax when I covered that gig in Sayreville, NJ... it was Nick Bowcott of Grim Reaper playing nothing but Dimebag Darrell riffs to Pro Tools and the kids ate that up. Bowcott is so talented on his own I didn't get it, other than the fact that he was extremely close to Dime.

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  16. Anonymous3:44 PM

    HI, THIS IS HELLION FROM MEXICO.
    MY VOTE IS FOR SLAYER (COMING SOON IN MY CITY!!!).
    PANTERA WERE GOOD, THEY INFLUENCED MODERN ROCK BANDS (NOT EXACTLY METAL I.E.: SLIPKNOT, GODSMACK) AND I SEE THEM 3 TIMES, BUT SLAYER IS SLAYERRRRRRRRRRRRRR

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