Alice Cooper isn’t buying your band’s evil image. As the forbearer of mixing horror with rock and heavy metal, Cooper told us which artists he thinks mix the dynamics perfectly. The legendary vocalist also discussed some religious conversations he had with Marilyn Manson while the two icons toured together.

One of Cooper’s memorable lines from Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey is when he talks about modern bands trying to outdo each other with evil and Satanic themes. When we caught up with Cooper at a recent New Jersey show, we wanted to know who Alice thinks does the job well, and he gave us two solid answers.

Rob Zombie gets it,” Cooper says. “Horror and comedy are in bed together, and rock and roll. You put those three together and you’ve got it. Rob gets it. Marilyn Manson is really good at it. It’s not Marilyn as much as his videos are extremely disturbing … Very stylish, he’s got a great sense of style. I don’t want to blow his image, but he’s a very nice guy.”

Cooper delved into the discussions he and Manson have had over the years, starting soon after Manson’s divorce from Dita Von Teese. “We talked about marriage. He says, ‘Everybody thinks this was a press marriage — it wasn’t. I really did not want this divorce to happen.’”

“We are theologically miles apart, me being an active Christian and him being a ‘priest’ in the Satanic church. We’ve talked about that … [They were] good ones, it wasn’t crazy. We did get into situations where I couldn’t understand a word he was saying.” [laughs]

Cooper even says Manson and himself wrote a song together for Hollywood Vampires, so keep your eyes out for a potential release. Watch out exclusive interview with Alice Cooper above.

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