You can use a les paul for pretty much whatever you want really. Basically, the best advice is to go and try both out, and then see which you like the feel of most.
The amount of rubbish about les pauls having crap action is all rubbish. Any guitar of decent quality can be set up to play as well as you want it to.
You can play metal on a les paul, you can play metal on a jackson. A guitar does not make riffs metal, or blues, or anything else, it's the guy/girl playing it and their fingers.
Also, if you want the EMG sound you can retrofit EMG's into the les paul.
Basically, go and try them out and pick the one that feels right for you.