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Lamb of God: Sacrament
25/09/07 || The Duff
Whatever happened to these guys in the eyes of metalheads? They release a decent debut, outstanding sophomore effort, only to build their popularity by following up with two very strong albums that got the recognition they deserved for being somewhat fresh and hook-laden while maintaining the all-important aggressive edge. Then their new album, ‘‘Sacrament’‘ is due out, all interest in the band falters before a fan backlash in response to, let’s face it, an effort with flaws but still consisting of the same groove-ridden, sufficiently complex and to-the-point metal that this band has churned out for years. Then the ultimate slap in the face, GD takes more than a day to review it.
I would say that this succeeds over ‘‘Ashes of the Wake’‘, as although I really dig that album, ‘‘Sacrament’‘ appears infused with a bit more variation so as to render its immediate predecessor somewhat derivative and stale (this has nothing on ‘‘As the Palaces Burn’‘ and all that came before it). Sure, some of it is complete Pantera rip-off, but at the same time, I don’t think any of these are examples of blatant plagiarism, but more an opportunity for the band to use its status as a group somewhat verging on the innovative so as to sit back and allow their influences shine through in a way to make obvious the admiration they hold for the bands they grew up listening to.
The drumming of Chris Adler has been much improved; the guy has always revealed his talent on past albums, but not since “New American Gospel” have his skills been so unharnessed. The guitars are excellent, as to be expected, with many more solos that don’t so much “add something to the song” but instead display the awesome shredding skills of both guitarists. It’s about fucken time these guys showed what they were worth, packing a vibrato that would make the Queen of England’s dead vagina reverberate with ecstasy (all due respect).
The lyrics are what you would expect from Randy Blythe – “I hate this guy, I hate that guy, I doubt I could ever make love to a woman without mashing her teeth in, and I’M ANGRY!”, but with a political twist. Actually, it would appear as though the guy is confronting religion this time around (not the toughest of victims, it being all water-tight and stuff, but then I hear that this fella gets his ass handed to him on a plate on a regular basis, so… you take the victories you can find) as well as delving into self-exploration and the many faces of depression/addiction. Happy, happy, joy, joy.
The lyrics are intelligently written, but considering the guy insults 99.9999999999% of the World’s population in the booklet due to the state our planet is in right now, without realizing that this probably encapsulates a great portion of Lamb of God fans, makes me think that the guy ain’t the best of people from whom to devise your philosophies on life.
I miss the days where understanding wherever the fuck Randy Blythe was in the song, even with the lyrics in front of you, was about as detrimental to your health as cumming to the sight of Judy Finnigan spread-eagled and dribbling maple syrup down her snatch, but the guy sure has worked to improve his abilities as a vocalist over the course of five full-lengths, so kudos to him.
Many standout tracks (I’m especially fond of “Descending”, a bit of a departure from the regular LoG formula) including a whole shitload of catchy choruses and great guitar riffs make this a very strong album, and anyone who enjoyed this band’s past works is likely to be just as impressed with where the band has taken things on “Sacrament”. This isn’t the cum-fiesta masterpiece they were promising before the album’s release, but then again, this band has never been that exceptional, just very, very solid, and “Sacrament” maintains Lamb of God’s consistent track-record.
8 bouts facing Richard’s wrath out of 10.
- Information
- Released: 2006
- Label: Sony/Epic
- Website: www.lamb-of-god.com
- Band
- Randy Blythe: vocals
- Will Adler: guitar
- Mark Morton: guitar
- John Campbell: bass
- Chris Adler: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Walk with me
- 02. Again we rise
- 03. Redneck
- 04. Pathetic
- 05. Foot to the throat
- 06. Descending
- 07. Blacken the cursed sun
- 08. Forgotten (lost angels)
- 09. Requiem
- 10. More time to kill
- 11. Beating on death’s door
