Slipknot, Coheed and Cambria

A pairing of two of the most ambitious — and bloated — acts in heavy music today, this double bill doesn’t offer quite as much culture clash as if, say, P-Funk had toured with Kiss in the ’70s. But it does ensure some prime awkwardness value for your dollar. Slipknot gleefully encourages its fans to revel in the extreme, overstimulating and ultimately hopeless negativity of its music and, thus, attracts listeners out for the ejaculatory thrill of expressing blunt, inchoate rage. Coheed and Cambria, on the other hand, seems to reach for your inner geek, imploring the audience to get carried away in its ornately conceived, sci-fi-inspired fantasies. Sure, Coheed’s concepts contrast nicely with Slipknot’s lack thereof, but Styx had concepts, too. Arguably, the real attraction here is whether Coheed can sufficiently challenge the superhuman talents of drummer Chris Pennie, who abruptly jumped ship from the Dillinger Escape Plan in 2007.