Lamb of God: Wrath

America’s most recognizable death metal band is arguably known more for their extensive festival circuit tour than their albums. Though they grew up in the alternative/hip-hop metal heyday of the 90s, Lamb of God’s taste is strictly in the Pantera/Megadeth tradition, which has only benefitted the band in the era of groove-heavy metal like Meshuggah and Mastodon. Nonetheless, in an all-too common theme that keeps metal fans rumbling since—well, since there’s been metal, Lamb of God has become yet another chart-topping metal band that gets no respect/coverage from the mainstream press. Their last album, 2006’s Sacrament, was a fan favorite that peaked at #8 on Billboard and received a Grammy nomination in 2007 (but hey, at least it got a review in Rolling Stone!) Will the band get more major press recognition in 2009 with Wrath, their sixth album? Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe sure hopes so.

In fact, he thinks the album is so interesting it needs no introduction, stating in Lamb of God’s press release for Wrath:

“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.”

This could be the product of laziness, lack of confidence in the new material, or, as countless Ozzfest attendees will hope, the sign that this is Lamb of God’s best, most groundbreaking album yet. Either way, with some other major metal acts starting to break through at all levels of the press, it may be time for Lamb of God to get that recognition too, however old-fashioned their breed of metal may be.

13 Responses

February 14, 2009 at 4:36 a.m.

ricky

this is a horrible review
sacrament sucked, most fans hated it.

i felt that it was a little too personal and really lacked what made lamb of god good; groove and pure american f***
listen to burn the priest and sevens and more to gain a better appreciation of how much of a solid evolution wrath is
especially in light of sacrament
and especially considering the transitionary phase of as the palaces burn to new american gospel and ashes of the wake

February 16, 2009 at 2:36 a.m.

Kazi Riasat

Actually in musical technic no one cannot say that WRATH is bad. But I expected some tracks like WALK WITH ME IN HELL, HUORGLASS, REDNECK, or BLACKEN THE CURSEDS SUN....

February 16, 2009 at 12:30 p.m.

dave

sacrament was a new style for the band. most fans liked it actually, but it wasnt as good as Ashes Of The Wake, New American Gospel or even As The Palaces Burn. Lamb of God would be nowhere if they didnt have a different sound from other bands, and equally nowhere if they had six albums that sounded excactly the same. I admit ive only been able to listen to two tracks off the album yet, but they have been pretty strong on all fronts. Most bands around now wouldn't be able to keep producing good music all the way up to their sixth album - just look at children of bodom.

February 18, 2009 at 9:36 p.m.

Jay

Lamb of god gets better and bett i diagree dave sacrament was heavy and awesome my favorite ahes of the wake was to comercial

February 22, 2009 at 6:16 p.m.

Buz

Wrath is Lamb of God moving forward. This will take them to the next level. Mark my word.

February 24, 2009 at 7:34 a.m.

Richard

Palaces was a wonderful album with fairly bad production, while Ashes and Sacrament had much better production they both lacked the brutality of Palaces, the latter even more so. This wasn't a bad thing though, simply because the bad was progressing, going for a more dynamic and produced sound. I have enjoyed all their albums for different reasons.

The new album is much 'dirtier', with a more brutal sound but it manages to combine the dynamic sound found in Sacrament. I love it. Brutal drumming, searing solos, faster and more intricate guitar riffing and much more emphasis on the bass guitar combined with Randy's ever evolving vocal make for a wonderful album.

February 27, 2009 at 3:26 a.m.

brent

sounds like you DOUCHS have nothing better to do than write shtty reviews of the best band since Megadeth. What you need to do is get really drunk and screw your old lady while jamming to WRATH. your balls will hurt the next day GURRUNFCKNTEED

February 28, 2009 at 5:10 p.m.

Baxter

Wrath is another Gargantuan step the Lamb of God have made their Bitch. This is on Par with Ashes and Sacrament, and is Heavy as F**k.
Lamb of God fly the Flag for Modern Metal, and when they churn out stuff like this, it's little wonder as to the lack of contenders.

March 1, 2009 at 3:43 p.m.

dacap

Check it out, Lamb of God just launched their Official Canadian Merch Store this weekend. I can't wait to check them out when they're playing in Toronto this april. You can check out the new store here: https://killthe8.com/merchcdn/pages/8092/LAMB_OF_GOD.htm

March 2, 2009 at 6:31 p.m.

BOb

I think Sacrament was a step up from LoG. Ashes had better songs but it also had songs like Omarta and Blood of the Scribe that weren't as appealing. Ashes had better and worse songs whereas Sac. was more of a leveled off album. One song on sacrament had everything LoG was about, Foot To The THroat. This new Wrath thing they've done is an album where they show that they can evolve and still poiund the skull.

March 15, 2009 at 9 p.m.

man guy

yes yes very intereging indeed some agreements some not it insist upon itself

May 1, 2009 at 11:47 a.m.

cadz

eversince I've heard the news about the new album,I tried so hard to download even though the songs are hadr to find.The album was awesome. .but I like most the song VIGIL...keep on rockin Lamb of god..As all the Pilipinos follows you.

July 28, 2009 at 11:23 a.m.

Jon W.

I have been a fan their entire career and own all their merchandise; whether it is all their cd's, dvd's, shirts, etc. I can agree that their first few albums are what brought them on the map. That's what kickstarted their careers. It's because of their brutal originality; it's where they're at today! When "Sacrament" came out; I was blown away by the difference in the approach and much variation of sound, than their previous records. The entire album hit's hard! Many fans really liked it, while some fan's, always have to be a critique and ruin it for the rest of us loyal L.O.G. fans, and whine like little babies that need their diaper changed. Come on people; if you don't like the band, the genre, the sound...don't listen to it, don't compare them to other bands, such as Slipknot (since there is NO comparison!!!), and don't write a bad review so us real fans have to waste our times reading the trash! "Wrath" actually let me down though. Don't get me wrong...They all did an awesome job on the album! The production is great and I am excited they found a new producer, other than "Machine" but it just sounded like they rushed the album. I don't think they spent as much time on this album, as their previous releases. I really am excited to hear something NEW though! It's been since 06' since they released "Sacrament"! Hey; I'm not one to complain...the album is phenomenal....Overall; I would highly recommend ANY Metal fan to go out and purchase "Wrath" in stores NOW!!! It's well worth the money!

-Jon W.

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