Formed in 1994, Richmond, Virginia-based metallers Lamb of God is a significant member of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal movement. They released their first LP Burn the Priest (as Burn the Priest) in 1999. I've seen Lamb of God good a few times during summer festivals which led me to get into their music and to own most of their albums. I do appreciate their sound and lyrics, and of course Randy and the dudes make an awesome live show. But I can't say I am a longtime avid fan. The last two albums were quite good, but different from each other so I was curious to see where they are going now. The 2020 self titled album is their tenth studio album. Lamb of God will be the first studio album of all-new material by the band since 2015's VII: Sturm und Drang, making it the longest gap between their albums, and the first to feature Art Cruz as the replacement of original drummer Chris Adler, who left the band in 2019.
Lamb of God is a straightforward metal album, 10 songs in 45 minutes, no intros, interludes or instrumentals. It's a very groove metal oriented guitar album. It's full of thrash and southern metal guitar riffs. And while the album is very concise, it explores subtle changes and plays with the band's influences. Some of those explorations are heightened by a couple of guests. On "Poison Dream" Jamey Jasta helps bring the hardcore to the front with a song that ended up sounding just like Hatebreed. "Routes" feat. Chuck Billy displays Lamb of God thrash moments. The album closer "On The Hook" continues to explore the thrash side of the band. There's some sludgy songs such as "Resurrection Man" in which the lyrics reminded me immediately of Mercyful Fate's "Evil". "Checkmate" and "Memento Mori" which are the first two singles and first songs on the album are very powerful headbangers. They soon start to sound familiar and you can hear them live in summer festivals among their classic live tunes.
Randy Blythe can not only growl and scream in different ways creating therefore an interesting variety to the album, but he also explores again with clean singing in the track "Bloodshot Eyes". The good thing is it doesn't mean that the song is any less heavy than the rest of the album. The lyrics are as always very influenced by the current state of the world, specially in the USA. For some reason the guitar work, specially the riffage by Mark Morton and Willie Adler impressed me more than on previous albums. Unfortunately not enough solos, but when you find one, it works really well like the cool solo in "Gears". The new comer Art Cruz did a good job not only holding the drums helm but also bringing new blood and fresh energy to the rest of the band. And John Campbell is a solid bass player with some good moments throughout the album. The production is modern and very clear, balanced and not too loud. Moreover, it's also organic and full of raw energy.
I'm not a big fan of self titled albums late in one's career, those albums carry a lot of weight and more often than not they don't fulfill the expectations. In Lamb of God's case, it's not really an issue as it is a very good album. It also demarcates a new era for the band and for that the title fits. It's not their best but still a true headbanger of an album that stays true to their own sound and slightly explores a few of their influences. There are some instant classics here and the album is certain to please old and new fans alike.
SCORE: 82/100
Genre: Groove Metal
Released by Nuclear Blast Records on June 19th, 2020
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Rating System*
99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad
* slightly adapted on May 24th, 2020 due to statistical review
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