ALBUM REVIEW: Lamb of God – Lamb of God

Self-titled albums are a curious business. Does naming an album after the name of your band indicate signs that the creative juices are drying up or does it reflect a band’s collective stamp on who they are and what they sound like? For LAMB OF GOD, it’s certainly not the former as their eighth studio effort, the aforementioned self-titled album, stands as the most authentic and ruthless the band want to sound like.

In a sense, it feels like LAMB OF GOD‘s decision to go down the self-titled route couldn’t have been timed more appropriately. There’s a lot riding on this album. Five years have passed since 2015’s Sturm Und Drang, marking the longest gap between releases, and with the band sub-headlining to SLAYER on their extensive farewell tour, for this new album, it represents the final cog in the machine for LAMB OF GOD to cement their position as a frontrunner to become one of metal’s flagship names. Fortunate then, that Lamb of God more than delivers the goods.

Opener, and single release, Memento Mori is a resounding and confident album opener. Carrying the signature LAMB OF GOD sound, you can’t help but smile. LAMB OF GOD are back and they mean business. Crunching riffs? Check. Bombastic drumwork? Check. Randy Blythe‘s commanding and distinguishable vocals? Check. As soon as the moody instrumental and spoken words pave way, we are greeted with the first jaw-dropping moment on the record.

From there, LAMB OF GOD keep on swinging and display the qualities that have made the band such an institution within the modern metal landscape. Checkmate oozes with bounce as guitarists Mark Morton and Willie Adler exchange that classic LAMB OF GOD riffery to wonderful effect whilst Gears boasts some blistering drumming from new boy Art Cruz, who combines with his bandmates so slickly, it makes the track one of the punchiest on the entire album. Speaking of Cruz, he consistently showcases his skill across the record – extinguishing any lingering doubts as to whether he could fill the large shoes left by Chris Adler‘s departure last year. We knew he had the qualities in the live environment, but it is oh so brilliant to hear he can thrive on record too.

If the opening barrage blew off the cobwebs, it is the one-two gut-punch of Reality Bath and New Colossal Hate that showcase the band’s potency for adrenaline-surging metal. Boasting some wonderful use of pacing that keeps the song flowing organically, Reality Bath feels slightly more reserved that what came before, but it works wonders in sinking its claws in. New Colossal Hate on the other hand, goes for the jugular through sheer bombastic power and you just know it’s destined to become a live favourite.

Resurrection Man‘s crunching mid-tempo chug is absolutely colossal in its musical power before the tempo is ramped up for a speedy and emphatic finish whilst album closer On The Hook ensures the same energy we’ve heard throughout is maintained for an explosive and triumphant finish, this album just delivers adrenaline-surging metal in absolute abundance. And for an added treat, there is also a splattering of guest vocal appearances on the new album, carrying on what we saw on Sturm Und Drang. This time out, we are treated to HATEBREED‘s Jamey Jasta and TESTAMENT‘s Chuck Billy, who lend their throats on Poison Dream and Routes respectively. Whilst Jasta‘s contributions are solid enough without really standing out as well as it probably should, Chuck Billy‘s contributions to Routes makes for one of the best guest appearances we’ve heard this year. Billy and Randy Blythe combine so well, trading vocal exchanges so slick it helps propel the track’s impact to greater heights.

And yet for all of the album’s rage and potency for sonic destruction, you can’t help feel that something is missing for Lamb of God to stand shoulder to shoulder with the band’s classic records like Ashes of the Wake or Sacrament. Whether that is the limited deployment of Randy‘s clean vocal experimentation (aside from the stellar Bloodshot Eyes), a curveball that left floors firmly on the floor on Sturm Und Drang‘s Overlord, or quite simply, the very fact that this album sounds exactly what you’d expect from LAMB OF GOD. It’s undoubtedly a solid and concise album but you just can’t help but feel there is something missing to propel the album far beyond the stratosphere and into the history books.

LAMB OF GOD said they decided to go down the self-titled route as it is a statement, a statement of who they are in the here and now, the product of decades of experience. In that sense, the band have more than delivered an album that represents just that. The final product of everything they have done before, Lamb of God is the quintessential album from Virginia’s finest, one which more than showcases everything that made the band such a household name within heavy music. This is LAMB OF GOD; they are hungry, they are energetic and they show that they have plenty of gas left in the tank to be in it for the long haul. They are ready to claim metal’s throne.

Rating: 8/10

Lamb of God is set for release on June 19th via Nuclear Blast Records. The band grace the cover of our brand new digital issue. Subscribe to our Patreon Page to read it!

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