The 2010 Arsies: February 8, 2010

February 8, 2010

Today, I bring you a very controversial clash between two leaders of their respective styles: Baroness and Converge. It was tough to get a handle on how to discriminate between the two groups, when they both managed to accomplish so much. Both albums ("Blue Record" and "Axe To Fall" respectively) are self-assured powerhouses, full of energy and swagger. But they're also somewhat different from each other in terms of their vocabularies. In fact, to try to pick a winner between the bands was very much like trying to decide between their respective genres of hard core and sludge metal. Looked at another way, and this is nothing short than a battle between Northern and Southern metal sensibilities. If you tend to gravitate towards bands like Down and Every Time I Die, you're probably going to prefer Baroness. However, here at the Arsies, we're Yankees to the core, and so we ultimately give the round to Converge. Again, just barely.