Lamb of God is an American
heavy metal band from
Richmond, Virginia. Formed in 1994, the group consists of vocalist
Randy Blythe, guitarists
Mark Morton and
Willie Adler, bassist
John Campbell, and drummer
Chris Adler. The band is considered to be a member of the
New Wave of American Heavy Metal.
[1][2][3]
Since its formation, Lamb of God has released six studio albums, one live album, one compilation album and three DVDs. The band's cumulative sales equal almost two million in the United States. In 2007 the band received a
Grammy nomination for their 2006 album
Sacrament. Lamb of God has toured with the
Ozzfest twice and appeared on
Slayer's
The Unholy Alliance Tour in 2006. They have also played at many other major festivals around the world including
Download Festival and
Sonisphere Festival in the
UK,
Soundwave Festival and
Gigantour (headlined by
Megadeth). Recently, (2008–2010) they have toured with
Metallica (
World Magnetic Tour). Lamb of God also played on the main stage on
Mayhem Festival 2010. The band has currently finished their
new album, which is tentatively due on January 24th, 2012.
History
Formation and Burn the Priest (1994–1999)
In 1990, guitarist
Mark Morton, drummer
Chris Adler and bassist
John Campbell started a band named Burn The Priest. The band members knew each other from the college they were all attending,
Virginia Commonwealth University, in
Richmond,
Virginia.
[5] Morton left the band soon after its inception to receive his
master's degree. Adler and Campbell replaced Morton with Abe Spear. For the next five years, the band practiced in Richmond and around Virginia. In 1995, the band released its self-titled first
demo. After the demo, Burn the Priest recorded two
split albums with Agents of Satan and ZED respectively.
[6] After the band's first three demos, Burn the Priest added vocalist
Randall Blythe to its line up.
[6]
In 1997, Morton returned to the band. Two years later, the band released its first full-length self-titled album,
Burn the Priest, through
Legion Records. Mikey Bronsnan of Legion Records saved up $2,500 for the recording and then broke them in
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania through
DIY shows.
[7] The album was produced by
Today Is the Day guitarist and vocalist
Steve Austin. Spear left the band, leaving an open position for a guitarist.
Willie Adler, became the band's second guitarist a year later, and a deal with
Prosthetic Records was signed.
[6] After being banned from playing in certain places (some venue owners believing the band possessed an "evil" name),
[8] Burn the Priest changed their name to Lamb of God.
New American Gospel and As the Palaces Burn (2000–2003)
With a new name and label, the band released its second album,
New American Gospel, in September 2000.
[9] Patrick Kennedy of
Allmusic compared the band to
Pantera stating, "The essential signatures of post-Pantera metal are in abundance on Lamb of God's inaugural album.
New American Gospel provides a mighty oak upon which gritty American metal's faith is maintained, effectively bridging the '90s' insistence upon drill-sergeant technicality and the old school's determined focus on riff construction."
[9] Chris Adler commented: "This is a classic record. We had all the elements come together to make one of the heaviest, yet contagious records of our career. It was difficult to contain us—we didn't even understand at the time what we had created."
[10]
Lamb of God toured for two years before releasing their third studio album,
As the Palaces Burn, on May 6, 2003. Kirk Miller of
Rolling Stone gave the album three out of five stars, writing that "unlike many of their overreaching,
Slipknot-influenced contemporaries, Lamb of God deliver a meticulously crafted metal assault."
[11] The album was voted the number one album of 2003 by both
Revolver Magazine and
Metal Hammer. The band toured on the first
Headbangers Ball tour, where they recorded a DVD including live performances and a documentary, titled
Terror and Hubris. The DVD was a success, debuting at number 31 on the
Billboard Top Music Videos chart.
[12][13]
Ashes of the Wake (2004–2005)
Lamb of God released
Ashes of the Wake in August 2004, which debuted at number 27 on the
Billboard 200, and sold over 35,000 copies in its first week.
[14][15] The album was distributed through the band's new record label,
Epic Records. Johnny Loftus of Allmusic praised the album, saying "With the genre getting clogged by PVC goofs and
Alice in Chains impersonators, Lamb of God balances the equation of power, rage, tradition, and craft. It kills the filler."
[16] The title track of the album featured
Testament guitarist
Alex Skolnick and ex–
Megadeth guitarist
Chris Poland.
[16]
The band supported
Ashes of the Wake with extensive touring, including a second stage slot on
Ozzfest in 2004,
[17] and the 2005
Sounds of the Underground tour.
[18] The band was awarded 2nd Best Album of the Year by
Revolver magazine behind
Mastodon's Leviathan, and was awarded Best Music Video for "
Laid to Rest" (2005).
[19] While on tour, the band recorded a performance and released it with the name of
Killadelphia. The release was made available as a DVD and a CD.
[20] The DVD was certified platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America in 2007.
[21]
In 2006, a cover version of the first single from the album, "
Laid to Rest", was featured as a playable track in
Guitar Hero II.[1] The original version was released for
Guitar Hero Smash Hits in 2009. The original version is also available as downloadable content for
Rock Band[2].
Sacrament (2005–2007)
In August 2006 Lamb of God released its fifth studio album,
Sacrament. The album debuted at number eight on the
Billboard 200 and sold nearly 65,000 copies in its first week of sales, nearly doubling the first week sales of
Ashes of the Wake.
[14] The album received generally positive reviews, with Cosmo Lee of
Stylus Magazine stating, "
Sacrament has the band's most memorable songs to date. Musically, there's no fat. The band plays with laser precision and songs move smoothly through riffs and transitions."
[22] Ed Thompson of
IGN referred to
Sacrament "one of the best metal albums of 2006",
[23] and Jon Pareles of
Blender called it a "speed rush all the way through".
[24]
The band appeared on major tours to support the album, including
The Unholy Alliance with
Slayer,
Mastodon,
Children of Bodom, and
Thine Eyes Bleed,
[25] Gigantour, supporting
Megadeth;
[26] main stage at Ozzfest;
[17] an appearance at the
Download Festival, and an exclusive co-headlining tour with
Killswitch Engage,
Soilwork, and
DevilDriver, where Killswitch Engage and Lamb of God shared headlining spots alternately each show.
[27] Lamb of God was nominated for
Best Metal Performance at the 2007
Grammy Awards for "
Redneck", but lost out to
Slayer's "
Eyes of the Insane".
[28]
In December 2007, the band re-released the album as
Sacrament: Deluxe Producer Edition. The release contained all of the original songs from
Sacrament on the first disc, and the second disc was a
CD-ROM featuring all of the vocal, bass, guitar, and drum
tracks in 192kbit/s MP3 format, enabling the buyer to produce their own interpretation of the songs. Blythe stated, "you sometimes have to do something special to get kids to even buy an album these days rather than download it."
[29] The band is taking a break to write new material throughout 2008 and prepare a new record for release, slated for 2009. The band is negotiating for a new record label to distribute records outside the United States. Chris Adler stated Epic Records in the United States "couldn't be more perfect", but wants a different label for international releases.
[30] The band later inked a deal with Roadrunner on 1 May 2008 for distribution outside the United States.
[citation needed]
Walk with Me in Hell and Wrath (2008–2009)
On May 3, Lamb of God announced via
MySpace their new
DVD,
Walk with Me in Hell, would be released on July 1, 2008. The DVD is a double-disc and has nearly five hours of footage, containing the feature documentary
Walk with Me in Hell and multiple live performance extras from the
Sacrament World Tour. At the end of the
Walk with Me in Hell documentary the members stated that they are excited more than ever to write new material. 'Walk With Me In Hell', the third DVD from Richmond, VA's metal icons LAMB OF GOD, has officially reached platinum status.
In August, 2008, it was announced, by studio producer Cole Higley, that the band had commenced work on the follow-up to Sacrament, and that its release was scheduled for February, 2009. Josh Wilbur was also named as the producer for the record.
[31] They will also be touring with
Metallica as a direct support act starting in December 2008.
[32]
The recording process of the new record was made available to view online live through the band's website, with two
webcams installed in the studio (specifically in the drum room and mixing room).
[33]
Their latest album is named
Wrath [34] and was released on February 23, 2009 internationally via
Roadrunner Records and on February 24, 2009 in America via
Epic Records. The album is dedicated to Mikey Bronsnan, who helped them get started in Philadelphia, PA. In November 2008, Bronsnan was killed by a drunk driver. According to drummer Chris Adler, "Without Mikey, we'd very well might not be a band today."
[35] Drummer Chris Adler was quoted saying "This album is going to surprise a lot of people. Typically bands that get to where we are in our career begin to slack off, smell the roses and regurgitate. We chose a different path. No one wants to hear another band member hyping a new record. ‘Wrath’ needs no hype. We have topped ourselves and on February 24 you will feel it." With that said, "Wrath" debuted on the
Billboard 200 at number two, selling over 68,000 copies in its first week.
[36]
In support of Wrath, the band in spring of 2009 embarked on the first leg of their
world tour,
No Fear Energy Tour headlined by themselves with main support from
Children of Bodom and
As I Lay Dying, and rotating opening slots with
God Forbid and
Municipal Waste.
[37] The tour was a massive success for the band with rave reviews and large turnouts at each show. The band played in
Europe in the summer to perform with
Metallica on the
World Magnetic Tour along with
Mastodon, while also playing headlining shows of their own and performing at major European festivals. For the final six dates of the tour,
Unearth's
Buz McGrath filled in for Mark Morton, as he left early to be with his wife and his first child.
Lamb of God has been announced to also serve as
Metallica's direct support for the North American leg of their 2009
world tour, as well as finishing the year off by headlining shows in
Australia and
New Zealand with
Shadows Fall and
DevilDriver.
Festival performances and Resolution (2010 onward)
Lamb of God was on the 2010
Mayhem Festival on the Main Stage alongside
Korn,
Rob Zombie, and
Five Finger Death Punch.
Paul Waggoner, guitarist for
Between the Buried and Me, filled in for Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton during Mayhem Fest.
Lamb of God was nominated for a Grammy in 2010 for the Best Metal Performance category for "Set To Fail", but lost out to Judas Priest.
Lamb of God played the Download Festival 2010 after being confirmed via the official Download Festival website at 00.30 on February 16, 2010. It was their third appearance at Download Festival.
Lamb of God performed for the first time in the Philippines for the annual PULP Summer Slam on April 17, 2010 with thrash metal band
Testament. The band also played in India for the first time on May 15, 2010, headlining the Summer Storm festival in Bangalore.
[38] They played for their Turkish fans at Kucukciftlik Park, Istanbul, on May 17.
[39]
On April 19, 2010,
IGN released a 'making of' video that features Lamb of God working on their next single, "Hit the Wall", which is available as Internet download, without the vocal's presence here
[3]. The single is featured in the
Iron Man 2 video game.
[40]
Lamb of God was announced as one band (the other being
Baroness) to support
Metallica on their Australian tour in late 2010.
[41] In a September 2010 interview, drummer
Chris Adler mentioned that Lamb of God will enter the studio in February 2011 to begin work on a seventh album.
[4] In November, Chris also mentioned that the band will work with producer Josh Wilbur again.
[42] In 2010, the band was confirmed as being part of the soundtrack for
Namco Bandai Games' 2010 remake of
Splatterhouse.
[43] The band was nominated for a
Grammy in 2011 for "In Your Words" at the 53rd Grammy Awards but lost to Iron Maiden.
[44]
Lamb of God released the single "Hit the Wall" as a digital download in the US on February 15, 2011.
On October 31, 2011, it was announced that the band is set to release their sixth studio album,
Resolution, on January 23, 2012. The band also revealed the album's tracklist and cover art, and has said that the album's sound resemble more the band's earlier work such as
As the Palaces Burn and
Ashes of the Wake.
[45][46][47]
Musical style and lyrical themes
Lamb of God was originally an instrumental band called Burn the Priest, and included vocals after
Randy Blythe joined. Since the success of the release of 2004's
Ashes of the Wake[48][49] the band has been considered a leader of the "
New Wave of American Heavy Metal".
[1]
Burn the Priest and early Lamb of God has been defined as a
thrash metal,
death metal and
hardcore punk[49] or
grindcore[50] hybrid with a strong element of
power groove, which often connects Lamb of God with the influential metal band
Pantera.
[51][52] Another connection between Pantera and Lamb of God is the fact that both were and are highly influential metal bands from the
Southern United States, Texas and Virginia, respectively. Lamb of God could currently be helping to strengthen a young tradition of great southern metal that was first pioneered by Pantera.
[9][16][49][53][54][55] Burn the Priest and early Lamb of God include growling death metal vocals.
[49] The style has been considered to vary between several different genres, including hardcore punk, thrash metal, and even possessing
sludge metal influences.
[49]
New American Gospel continues in a similar style as
Burn the Priest, with drum-heavy production of alternate picking and double-kick drumming.
[9] Here, the band has been considered by
Allmusic to be effectively bridging the 1990s' tendency towards technicality and early metal's focus on riff construction and plays a brand of heavy metal described as not unlike
Meshuggah without some of their mathematical components.
[9][53]
2003's
As the Palaces Burn saw the band's compositions focusing more on what some have called "memorable" riffs.
[54] On 2004's
Ashes of the Wake, they continued the progression of
As the Palaces Burn with more frequent guitar solos.
[16]
Sacrament, released in 2006, was described by critics as more technical, especially considering the vocal performance. Again, the band experimented with more melody and guitar solos; however, the band has also been often reproached by the critics for the similarity of the songs within their albums.
[55][56]
2009's
Wrath focused on the increased groove metal substance explored in
Sacrament. However, this release contained increased tempos and fewer guitar solos. It also included more clean guitar, such as on the songs "The Passing", "Grace", and "Reclamation".
Due to the variety of influences, stylistic elements and changes throughout the band's career the press has chosen several genres and terms to describe Lamb of God's music. Lamb of God has been labeled as a groove metal and thrash metal band. Campbell, on the
Walk With Me in Hell DVD, says that Lamb of God is "a punk band that plays heavy metal", while Chris Adler refers to
Sacrament as a
speed metal album.
Lyrical themes
The lyrical themes of the band often have a double meaning. They frequently use biblical references, but often convey anti-religious sentiment, as in
Sacrament's "Blacken the Cursed Sun". Many of their songs have political themes, especially in the albums
As the Palaces Burn and
Ashes of the Wake. The band also has many
misanthropic or
apocalyptic songs, such as "Reclamation". The song "Omerta" from the album
Ashes of the Wake talks about the Italian Mafia law of silence:
omertà. The
Ashes of the Wake album featured many songs critical of the war in Iraq, such as "Hourglass" and the instrumental title track. Though an instrumental, this song makes use of two audio recordings of former staff sergeant and former Marine Jimmy Massey giving an interview about the war. Lyrical themes that the band frequently explores are hypocrisy and other faults in the personality, particularly on songs such as "Choke Sermon" and "Pathetic".
Members
- Current
|
- Former
- Abe Spear – guitar (1994–1998)
|
Discography
- Studio albums
