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Slayer, Marilyn Manson, Bleeding Through

God may hate us all, but He's got a soft spot for Slayer. Just don't tell them that. Blessed with longevity, intelligence and fortitude, the quartet from Huntington Beach, California continue cranking out uncompromising thrash on albums like last year's Christ Illusion — recently reissued with a companion DVD — and inspiring ­stomach-churning acts of self-mutilation in their legions of devoted fans. There's even a campaign afoot to get them elected to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; they are eligible, after all. Marilyn Manson, whom the Onion once spoofed as "Going Door-to-Door Trying to Shock People," did a pretty good job of that earlier this year with a racy YouTube clip of him going at it with 19-year-old paramour Evan Rachel Wood. If latest album Eat Me, Drink Me hasn't quite taken hold, 2004's The Golden Age of Burlesque was an underrated examination of Weimar chic through his signature industrial/goth lens, and live he's still one of the best pupils Alice Cooper ever had. Revolver favorites Bleeding Through, fine young men from Slayer's old stomping grounds with songs like "Dial M for Murder," "Keep Your Mouth Shut" and "Freak Gasoline Fight Accident," offer themselves up as sacrificial openers.

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Chris Gray has been Music Editor for the Houston Press since 2008. He is the proud father of a Beatles-loving toddler named Oliver.
Contact: Chris Gray