Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 at 3:00pm by MetalSucks
Seeing a huge band in a small venue before their new album touring cycle kicks off is the absolute best. Just look at the above photograph of Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe crowd-surfing at the Troc in Philly on January 26th; that kind of intense band-to-audience bond would never happen if the band were playing the size venue they’re now capable of filling. MS photographer Mariel “Tormentia” Pietrykoski captured all the energy on film when Lamb of God rocked Philadelphia’s Trocadero along with The Acacia Strain on a quick run of small venues during the release week of LoG’s new album Resolution last month. Check out those pics after the break, and also be sure not to miss Vince’s live review of the NYC show and Sammy’s official writeup of the album.
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 at 4:00pm by Axl Rosenberg
Mash-ups have obviously been done to death, but every now and then you come across one which works amazingly well, and, well… sheesh. This Lamb of God/Ke$ha amalgamation is one of those things that’s so well-done it’s hard to believe it’s a not a real collaboration between the artists. And I say that as someone who generally thinks we as a society should give Ke$ha a cement bath ASAP.
We’re back! January 24th marked the first big release date of 2012, and now the numbers are in for the final first-week tallies. As expected, Lamb of God took the top spot in the Current Hard Music Chart (and #3 overall behind Adele [115,972] and Tim McGraw [67,530]), while Lacuna Coil landed at #2. New records by Blessed by a Broken Heart, Aborted, Primal Fear and Abigail Williams also ended up in the Top 100. Check out the numbers after the break.
Axl wore his most vile death metal shirt in an attempt to avoid being selected as a juror in this great City of New York, but lo and behold, his plan backfired and he was chosen anyway. So it’s been the Vince party over here since Wednesday with plenty of help from all of our most excellent contributors — special big ups to Anso DF for pitching in extra! Here’s what went down:
Friday, January 27th, 2012 at 2:40pm by Sammy O'Hagar
I haven’t really been on board with Lamb of God actively since As the Palaces Burn. I’ve kept up with them, but after a few spins (especially with their last two albums), I’ve been disinterested. The familiar Lamb of God sound is there, but the appeal isn’t. It’s not bad music, just sort of… existent. And for a band often hailed as one of the torchbearers of modern metal, that’s not enough. True, they aren’t the same scrappy bunch of Southern longhairs that made the weird, dark groove metal of New American Gospel – nor should they be — but for me, that didn’t excuse reasonably inoffensive metal on cruise control. But after a while, I recognized that it could simply be me and my relationship with LoG fandom, and chocked it up to a “no offense, but this isn’t for me anymore” frame of mind.
Regularly, here is where I would say, “But Lamb of God’s latest, Resolution, restores my faith in their ability to slay motherfuckers like a hybrid of Ted Bundy and Genghis Kahn,” or something less caffeinated and hackneyed. But I’m stopping short of that, because there’s still that slickness Lamb of God added around the time of Ashes of the Wake that doesn’t sit well with me. That being said, this is the first album where I feel like they’re comfortable in their role as a well-funded major label act. Sure, the production is slick, and there are a few bizarro-radio singles here, but more importantly, the music sticks while still being thoroughly Lamb of God. The songwriting may be a little more streamlined, but there’s also more underneath it than there had been as of late. Perhaps Resolution is not the bridge upon which old and new LoG fans can high-five eachother — if such a thing is even in the cards — but a little more of a warm welcome than I’ve come to expect from them.
Here’s when you know that a band has finally “made it”: when they’ve got their own stage carpets, custom-monogrammed with the band’s logo, to stomp and spit all over as they play live every night. These are no scrims, props or hanging stage-banners, mind you: only the members themselves and those up in the balcony will ever see them, and those things have gotta cost $500-$1,000 each, easy. And THAT, my friends, is success, a definition by which Lamb of God are now in the bigtime.
“New York City’s always been good to us,” bellowed newly-dreadlocked Lamb of God vocalist Randy Blythe, frenetically pacing from one side of the stage to the other in his trademark camo shorts, in that specific Randy Blythe galloping gate. “We go way back here. We used to play The Wetlands, CBGB’s, all those places,” said Blythe, seemingly not realizing (or maybe just not caring) that the majority of those in attendance were too young or too suburban to have ever attended a show at either. “Last time through we played a little venue called Madison Square Garden, with Metallica. This is much more our style — I like to see your faces!” Indeed, it was refreshing to see Lamb of God at the relatively tiny 1,200-capacity Irving Plaza; last time I saw them headline was in 2007 at the Roseland Ballroom, three times the size of Irving, and the band has only EXPLODED in popularity since then.
The intimacy of this show was what made it so special. Big bands will do this from time to time, do a quick tour of “underplays” immediately prior to or during the release week of an album to generate hype, build buzz, and give back to the diehards. And those shows are always a blast; this one had been circled on my calendar as a highlight for the month of January the very minute it was announced. Lamb of God did not disappoint.
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 at 10:00am by Vic Vaughn
Just because this week isn’t as awesome as last week doesn’t mean we don’t have some cool new shit coming out. New releases from Lamb Of God, Lacuna Coil, Dodecahedron, Aborted, Primal Fear and more in this week’s wrap-up after the jump.
Monday, January 23rd, 2012 at 3:30pm by Axl Rosenberg
Well, this is it! The first really major release of the new year, and certainly one of the most heavily anticipated albums of 2012, Lamb of God’s Resolution comes out tomorrow on Epic.
But it’s streaming right now, in its entirety, right here.
So give it a listen, and then engage in the oh-so-fun debating in our comments section below. How do you think it stacks up against other Lamb of God releases? Is it everything you hoped for? More? Less? What elements of it, if any, caught you off guard? Did it sway you with regards to Randy Blythe’s current presidential bid? We’re excited to hear what you have to say…
Friday, January 20th, 2012 at 4:30pm by MetalSucks
Banner Designed by Cysquatch
Welcome to “Question of the Week,” a (not really at all) weekly debate amongst the MetalSucks staff regarding a recent hot button issue.
Following the not-necessarily-logical-but-certainly-MetalSucksian conclusion that we need to counteract our recent Albums That Will Fuck Your Face Off in 2012 series, in which we preview some albums coming out this year about which we are totally stoked, this week we asked our writers:
WHAT ALBUM WILL HIT YOU IN THE FACE WITH A LIMP DICK IN 2012?
Thursday, January 19th, 2012 at 2:30pm by Axl Rosenberg
Last month Lamb of God debuted a lyric video for their new single, “Ghost Walking” (a song which originally debuted right here on MetalSucks!), but we all know that lyric videos aren’t real videos. So now we get an actual video, which is fully animated, so you don’t have to look at the band’s ugly mugs, and they didn’t have to be on a set performing the song over and over and over and over and over… my point being, hey, this worked out for everyone!
“Ghost Walking” appears on Lamb of God’s Resolution, which comes out this Tuesday via Epic Records.
Randy Blythe is a busy man these days! Amidst his hectic barn-storming Presidential campaign schedule the Lamb of God frontman has somehow found time to stay active in the press and on the social networks. Or maybe all that stuff IS his Presidential campaign? Sly, Randy… sly.
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 at 1:30pm by Axl Rosenberg
If you still have any doubts that being in a band is for losers, watch Why You Do This, the documentary by Car Bomb’s Michael Dafferner. It is a cold, hard bitch slap of reality. Including interviews with Richard Christy, Randy Blythe, Joe Duplantier, Ben Falgoust, and a bunch of other cool dudes, Why You Do Thispremiered last year at the Queens World Film Festival, and is now streaming online in full. Check it out:
If you enjoyed that, you can order a DVD right here.
Monday, January 9th, 2012 at 4:20pm by Axl Rosenberg
Last week, we posted video of Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe rehearsing with Cannabis Corpse, who he was going to front for the memorial show in honor of late GWAR guitarist Cory Smoot; that show took place this past Saturday, so now, of course, we have video of the actual performance. Here’s the entire set…
…and here’s some bonus footage — Blythe shaving GWAR front man/MetalSucks columnist Dave “Oderus Urungus” Brockie’s head on stage:
Thursday, January 5th, 2012 at 10:30am by Axl Rosenberg
If you were reading Vince’s news round-ups during the first half of our holiday break last month, than you already know that Cannabis Corpse have split with with vocalist Andy “Weedgrinder” Horn and guitarist Nick “Nikropolis” Poulos. What we didn’t get to report, however, is that the band has recruited Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe to be their vocalist for one night only, when they play a memorial show for late GWAR guitarist Cory Smoot on January 7 in Richmond, VA.
Now Blythe has released some video footage of his rehearsals for the band, and, uh, yeah, this sounds frickin’ awesome:
I can’t make it to Richmond this Saturday for the show, but if you can, you obviously should, ’cause it seems like it’s gonna be an amazing time, and it’s obviously for a good cause. Get all the relevant details here.
Today is seemingly “news about albums that are coming out in early 2012″ day. To that end:
Soilwork are writing a new album called The Living Infinite. Generic quote time: Speed Strid says that “people can expect a continuation of the intensity and presence of The Panic Broadcast, only taken to a higher level” and wishes us all a merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Gee, thanks, Speed!
Gojira have issued their third studio update video, this one showing bassist Jean-Michel Labadie laying down his tracks. Labadie is the member of Gojira I feel like I know the least about; I’d love to get to know that guy! Gojira are presumably all done or close to done recording their album by now… very exciting.
Lamb of God released a new trailer for their new album Resolution (January 24th, Epic Records), and it features a good chunk of a previously unheard song. Check it out above, and listen to the first single “Ghost Walking” here if you haven’t yet.
Whew, what a week. I don’t know where you all are, but here in NYC it’s 5pm and it’s already been completely dark outside for a while. FML. Here’s what happened this week:
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 at 11:00am by Axl Rosenberg
As a few of you seem to have noticed, yesterday MetalSucks was very, very proud — like pinch us is this really happening??? proud — to debut “Ghost Walking,” the new single from Lamb of God; now the band has released a lyric video for that song, which you can check out below. I find it real helpful, ’cause I can’t always understand what Randy Blythe is saying. For example, I was walking around all weekend thinking the first line in the song is “Do you remember when work was fun?”, which is not at all what Blythe is screaming. (Freud would say my misinterpretation means something, but Freud is dead and I love my job, so whatever.) So “Ghost Walking” is not a song about how bad it sucks to have a regular nine-to-five job. Fascinating.
“Ghost Walking” is available as a digital single now; it will appear on Lamb of God’s forthcoming release Resolution, which comes out on January 24. You can pre-order it now in one of several different combo packages through Lamb of God’s official webstore.
Monday, December 5th, 2011 at 7:00am by MetalSucks
By the time Resolution comes out on January 24th, 2012 it will have been almost three full years since the release of Lamb of God’s last album of new material, Wrath. Three years is a long time for fans to wait for new music from a band, but Lamb of God aren’t just any band. From their humble beginnings in Richmond, VA in the mid ’90s, Lamb of God grew to become one of the celebrated champions at the top of the budding New Wave of American Heavy Metal scene in the early 2000s. A decade later, thanks to relentless worldwide touring and a dogged devotion to improving their musical chops while staying true to their roots, Lamb of God are inarguably the biggest modern metal band in the world. If you don’t believe us, try this little thought experiment out for size: what other band this side of Metallica (who stopped qualifying for the “modern” tag long before Lamb of God released their first album) whips the metalsphere into such a dizzying fury whenever they release new music? Lamb of God may reach the dreaded/vaunted “legacy” status some day, but that day is not today: one listen to their brand new track “Ghost Walking” should prove that Lamb of God are is vibrant and relevant as ever.
Get your exclusive first listen of “Ghost Walking” below, then pre-order Resolution in one of several different combo packages through Lamb of God’s official webstore.
Before there were blogs there were these things called magazines, and the only metal magazine we still get excited about reading every month isDecibel. Here’s managing editor Andrew Bonazelli…
Lamb of God and their new American goatees get the cover, and Agoraphobic Nosebleed and their frozen corpses stuffed with holiday cheer get the flexi, but the main component of Decibel’s January issue that will get the internet’s privates in a knot is the Top 40 Albums of the Year list. I’ve been at this job since 2005, and back in the day I recall reading about how “adventurous” and “fresh” the list was, but then snarkiness was invented in roughly 2009, and now it’s, at best, “polarizing.” But “polarizing” is good! Ghost are polarizing! Gnaw Their Tongues: polarizing! Nickelback playing halftime at the Lions game tomorrow: considering the intended audience and surrounding context: believe it or not, polarizing! It definitely won’t be dull, ’cause despite the fact that we’ll lovingly fellate 3-6 albums you adore, the rest will drive you fucking nuts, and you’ll hurt our feelings in comments sections across the universe. We all know the drill. Anyway, I don’t want to go on about the Top 40 much more, because Albert made me write the print edition intro again, and the requisite bitterness, arrogance and self-deprecation is already piled on there. Check the issue out in the webstore, and go Megatron!
-AB
The January 2012 issue of Decibel also features Behemoth, Opeth, Mastodon, and a Cryptopsy Hall of Fame, and can be ordered here. But why not justget a full subscription to ensure that you never miss one an issue?
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011 at 11:00am by Axl Rosenberg
So there’s been a rumor going around that Lamb of God were doing a headlining tour with support coming from The Acacia Strain, and now we know that the rumor is kinda true: in January, the band will playing six club shows (read: gigs in venues smaller than the ones they usually play) on the east coast. The Acacia Strain, along with Too Late the Hero, will appear at five of those six shows. So, not a full tour, but still pretty cool.
These concerts should be a lot of fun… they’re the band’s first dates in support of their new album, Resolution, and I don’t think LoG have played in rooms this small since their As the Palaces Burn days, if not earlier. Dates are after the jump.
(from 
