Lamb of God did OK with their second album. “As The Palaces Burn” was my first contact with LoG. It’s a very nice record. It’s like Pantera meets Meshuggah kind of record. Their third album, “Ashes of the Wake” did nothing to me. I played the record over and over but nothing got my attention. I think of it like the leftovers from “ATPB”. There’s one or two good tracks but the rest is just the same thing over and over. I didn’t expect much from “Sacrament” because of that. And don’t expect much from a record is normally a good thing. If the record is good that’s a nice surprise, if it’s bad, well, I didn’t expect much anyway so…
Fortunately “Sacrament” was a nice surprise. Not as nice as: “ohh my GOD there’s two oiled up naked blonds on my bed”, but, a nice surprise nevertheless.
First thing I noticed, when I played “Sacrament”, was that they are more melodic. The second thing was that Pantera incarnated in LoG. At least on track #3 “Redneck”, It’s Pantera all the way. Even the vocals reminds me Phil Anselmo on some parts.
So… LoG sharpened their melodic side, some tracks are more speed up than the ones on the other albums, I noticed the solos are better too, the songs seem more balanced and less boring, but still, I do not think LoG is here to stay. The melodic approach might be an attempt to capture more audience, and that’s going to happen for sure. Even with the other albums I had kids talking to me about how LoG was great and whatever, but I don’t think that’s enough. They are OK. But OK bands do not survive for years to come. And you know what? the kids will, eventually, grow up and, probably, will get into other type of bands. See what happened to Limp Bizkit. They and their infants ruled the world [yeah, right] and now it’s like: “Limp who?!”. It’s not the same type of audience but is just an example.
“Sacrament” is surely better then “Ashes of the Wake” but my favorite still is “As the Palaces Burn”. If you’re are a LoG fan buy “Sacrament”, you’ll like it. If you’re not, I don’t think you’ll be amazed by this record. Highlights for the tracks “Blacken The Cursed Sun” and “Requiem” though. Really nice tracks.
Personally I’ll stick with Pantera, Meshuggah and At The Gates [the GODS of Melodic Death Metal]. Better check those blondies now ^^
Lamb of God – Redneck