Lamb of God was never someone I considered listening to growing up. When Slipknot’s Volume 3 was released, it was the heaviest thing I had in my library. I was 17 going on 18 and I was still all about pop rock, modern rock, mainstream rock and Stone Temple Pilots.If you’ve been following any of my reviews, it’s obvious my tastes have evolved. Lamb of God entered my line of sight one fateful night when I was playing Guitar Hero with a friend. I enjoyed playing the song on the game, looked up the band, loved the actual song more, bought Ashes of the Wake, loved it. Bought Sacrament, loved it. When I heard Wrath was on its way, I freaked. When it came out, I got it.
And I love it.
The introduction, ‘The Passing,’ is surprisingly acoustic. Acoustic? On a LoG CD? I had to make sure I didn’t buy something else by mistake. By that time, the first thirty seconds had passed and the signature sound of Lamb of God was there: in the guitar riffs, the drums. That signature style and sound was there and I was enthralled. If this is the opening, what else could be following?
A lot. ‘In Your Words’ explodes and is one of my favourite songs on the album. Opening with a drum roll and an incredible scream by Randy Blythe, ‘In Your Words’ is obviously a loud, angry tirade against the music industry (or a literal cash cow with sickly tits, I dunno).
After the majority of the song plays, the song explodes again at 3:25. As if the song has gone full circle, Blythe belts out another scream and the song carries itself for a minute or so, hard and heavy, before finally fading out.
‘Set To Fail’ follows and is signature Lamb of God. Heavy, chock full of screams. I don’t know what the fuss is over Blythe’s “semi-clean vocals” in the chorus. So you can understand what the hell he’s saying a little easier. Who cares?
It’s not until ‘Grace’ that my interest is piqued again. Opening similar to ‘The Passing,’ (as in it’s not unrelentingly brutal for at least a few seconds), ‘Grace’ unloads. It’s catchy, heavy, and on Big Joe Mix 2009. Have I been putting off explaining that this whole time? I’ll get to it eventually.
‘Everything to Nothing’ follows in the same vein. It’s a bad-ass assault, deviating from the Lamb of God norm only in the quick pace with which Blythe sings/growls his verses.
From start to finish, Lamb of God’s seventh studio album is brutal, unrelenting and far from disappointing. Speaking only for myself, it continues a trend in which only two songs per album since Ashes of the Wake stand out the most: 'Laid to Rest' and 'Omerta;' 'Walk with Me In Hell' and ‘Redneck;’ ‘In Your Words’ and ‘Grace.’
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