Lamb Of God, Omens (Epic 2022)

October 7, 2022 Wayne EdwardsEpic Records, Groove Metal, Heavy Metal, Lamb of God, Metalcore, Omens, Richmond, Virginia

Omens is the ninth album from Lamb Of God and one of their strongest to date.

Starting out in Richmond, Virginia under the name Burn The Priest, Lamb Of God has a history nearly thirty years long. From New American Gospel in 2000 to the newest record, Omens, they have laid down the grooves and the metalcore like no other. Each new album is a massive occasion for fans, and the latest one is destined to be a stand-out set in their impressive history. The band is Randy Blythe (vocals), Mark Morton (guitar), Willie Adler (guitar), John Campbell (bass), and Art Cruz (drums).

It all starts out on a jarring note with “Nevermore” – a wailing, battering beginning that fills you with trepidation. A little dissonance is in there too to permanently unbalance you. Blythe’s voice grinds you up as you listen, then reassuring, melodic singing offers a soothing repast, but you know what is coming next. Great opener. “Vanishing” is next and it is rougher, if anything – a straight-up pummeling. The adrenaline continues to flow and spew, and the guitars line you up and shake you down. “To The Grave” wraps up the first triplet and the ligatures are tight by the end of that one.

“Ditch” is one of my favorite tracks on the record. It is a bloody raking of your senses, an aural calamity. This leads to the title track and the end of side one. “Omens” is a linear assault that shows you straight up what the deal is and leaves it with you. It is a heavy weight for you to decide what it means.

The second half of the album has all the grain of the first, and to me it seems even darker in tone. “Gomorrah” flat out tells you how bad things are, and on songs like “Grayscale” you feel as if the clock is ticking and the final bits of sand are about to filter through the narrow neck of the hourglass. The set ends with “September Song,” the longest track and perhaps the most somber. Mysterious desert vibes reach out and surround you at the front, entrancing and then hypnotizing. One minute in the terror starts and it never really lets up, even with the spacey interlude and the off ramp. This album is a monster. Highly recommended.

Omens is out now in a variety of forms through Epic Records. Check out the options at the links below.

Photo by Wayne Edwards.

Links.

Lamb Of God website, https://www.lamb-of-god.com/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/lambofgod/

Epic Records, https://epicrecords.shop.musictoday.com/dept/lamb-of-god

Inkcarceration is coming up in a couple weeks — Set times released.

June 29, 2022 Wayne EdwardsBlack Label Society, Black Veil Brides, Breaking Benjamin, Disturbed, Evanesence, Heavy Metal, Inkcarceration, Korn, Lamb of God, Mansfield, Ohio, Papa Roach, Seether

Inkcarceration happens July 15-17 at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. Some tickets are still available to see headliners Korn, Breaking Benjamin, and Disturbed, along with a strong second line of Black Label Society, Evanesence, Papa Roach, Seether, Lamb of God, Black Veil Brides, and many more.

Grab Inkcarceration tickets here: https://inkcarceration2022.frontgatetickets.com/

Happy New Year’s Eve 2020

December 31, 2020April 14, 2022 Wayne EdwardsAftershock, Burlington, Cannibal Corpse, Clutch, Connecticut, Corrosion of Conformity, Dopethrone, Elder, Elephant Tree, Fishbone, Hartford, Heavy Metal, Heavy Montreal, Higher Ground, In This Moment, Incantation, Lamb of God, Montreal, New Year's Eve 2020, Perdition Temple, Sacramento, Spirit Adrift, Subterran, Testament, Webster Theater

I don’t have to tell you about 2020 – you were there, too. Usually, at the end of the year, I spend December choosing some photos to repost for good vibes and great memories, but this year I didn’t take a single photograph of a live show. Yeah. So, I am going to post a few photos from 2019 that did not see that light of day then, just for fun. I am keeping the cameras warm for 2021 because hope springs eternal.

There was a lot of excellent music released this year. We published 188 reviews in 2020, a lot more than we thought we would. There are so many “Best of 2020” lists out there that I decided not to do one for FFMB. Instead, I am throwing up a couple of covers from albums we didn’t review this year that were really good – just couldn’t get to everything. We’ll try to do better in 2021.

Thanks to everybody involved with Flying Fiddlesticks Music Blog and the Shardik Media Cabal. Deep gratitude and thanks to all the bands, record labels, venues, publicists, and promoters keeping music alive for all of us.

We’re still here and we are carrying on in 2021. See you out there.

All live performance photos by Wayne Edwards.

Aftershock

Heavy Montreal

Clubs

Albums

Lamb of God, Lamb of God review (Epic Records 2020)

June 21, 2020 Wayne EdwardsEpic Records, Lamb of God, Nuclear Blast Records

For their eighth album, Lamb of God has gone self-titled. It makes perfect sense as it speaks directly to their fans and demonstrates that the band will always be exactly who they want to be.

Randy Blythe, Mark Morton, Will Adler, John Campbell, and Art Cruz. Fans already know who is whom in this lineup, and recognize Cruz is recording for the first time with the band after being the touring drummer for some time. Lamb of God is one of the most recognizable and highly regarded bands in heavy music today. The Richmond, Virginia-based band started out as Burn the Priest in the mid 1990s. They released their first Lamb of God album, New American Gospel, twenty years ago, and have been stalwart metal workers ever since. Ashes of the Wake and Sacrament were a sort of tipping point for the band where their notoriety rose to the level of nonerasable. It has been five years since their last studio album – the longest gap in the discography – so fans are more than ready for new music.

The new album is filled to overflowing with fresh, blistering riffs. The rhythm section is a rippling marching force, laying down the cadence and pounding out the attack. Randy Blythe has an iron voice that seems to strengthen with every album and every song. As a special bonus, there are guest appearances by Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed and Chuck Billy of Testament.

There is a narrative arc to this album. The first song is “Memento Mori,” which is usually translated as something along the lines of “remember you are going to die.” That’s a mood setter if there ever was one. Blythe has said in interviews that the album should be listened to in order because of the story it tells. He has gone on to say that they establish social issues in the first part of the album and that later songs provide an idea of how to resist what seems like a rising tide of horrors in contemporary society. Things might be messed up, and it is a struggle, but it is not the end. So don’t pick a song to listen to out of context, at least not the first time through. Sit down and listen to the whole album, front to back. It is all great music and you’ll have a better experience this way. You can always listen to your favorites again and again.

Lamb of God is out now and available absolutely everywhere. Epic Records has physical copies in many forms, and there are nice import choices from Nuclear Blast. This is one of the best releases so far this year. Highly recommended.

Band photos by Wayne Edwards, Aftershock 2019.

Links.

https://www.lamb-of-god.com/

https://www.facebook.com/lambofgod/

https://epicrecords.shop.musictoday.com/dept/lamb-of-god

T-Shirt Inventory, Sixth Wave

May 3, 2020April 14, 2022 Wayne EdwardsAlice Cooper, Anthrax, Behemoth, Black Sabbath, Green Death, Lamb of God, Long Beach CA, Motorhead, Pike Bar & Fish Grill, Slayer, T-Shirt Inventory, Testament

Week six was heavy week at the T-Shirt Inventory Project. By the end of the week I had turned nostalgic and just wanted a beer. Actually, I pretty much always want a beer.