The band, Lamb of God, is a staple among the new heavy metal rock scene. Their sound is a mix between Pantera and Slayer. For the new-school metal listeners, LoG is similar in sound to Throwdown and Chimaira. With the rise of their 2004 album, Ashes of the Wake (my all-time favorite of theirs), LoG have continued to rise to the heights of superstar status. Lamb of God has performed at two appearances at Ozzfest, one on the second stage in 2004 and the other headlining Ozzfest 2007. This was just the beginning of the success of Lamb of God. Their 2006 album, Sacrament, received a Grammy nomination as well as the song “In Your Words” from 2009 album Wrath. There is no doubt Lamb of God will continue to blow our eardrums off with their sound for years to come.
Hide the children, 86-year-old grandma Agnes and keep your parents locked out of your room. Lamb of God is back with a furious vengeance. They released their seventh studio album, Resolution, January 24, 2012. This is the follow-up album to the 2009 release, Wrath. For those true original (Ashes of the Wake, As the Palaces Burn) LoG fans, this album sounds a little bit different. Don’t Panic. The music will grow on you as it has on me. For those Lamb of God fans that enjoyed their album Wrath, you are in for a second dosing of similar hardcore lyrics, rattling guitar riffs, thump-out-of-your-chest drums and off the chain vocals.
The album begins with 30 seconds of two hardcore screams and slow paced deep entranced metal guitar licks. The pace quickly changes when the next track comes on, “Desolution.” Similar to this track, “Guilty” and “Cheated” have fast paced tunes, cranking out the hardest licks of the album. What I enjoy most about this album as a whole is the contrasting styles between the tracks. It is refreshing and the listeners of Resolution will see what I mean. Each individual song has its own stamp, like “Ghost Walking” with its eerie introduction and the all instrumental track, “Barbarossa.” The song “The Number Six” is pure melodic and cuts away from the thrash and angry sounds.
The pretty sounds of the last two mentioned songs quickly dissipate with the remaining tracks of the album. The sounds shift back to in your face and nonstop. “Invictus,” “Terminally Unique” and “Visitation” provide listeners with guitar solos and groovy sounds. Yes, I know that sounds completely crazy coming from the typical Lamb of God sounds, but in its own way, it is groovy. The three favorite tracks of mine on the album are “Insurrection,” “To the End,” and “King Me.” These three pump out the best of what LoG has to offer. This includes the guitar riffs that accent the Middle Eastern sound (or being in a strange desert), the bass which has the sounds of explosion and the vocals with the hardcore signature Lamb of God normally provides. If you are a new-school Lamb of God fan, an old-school Lamb of God fan or are being introduced to this American Classic, come out and grab an album and enjoy the rush.