| Lamb of God | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Country | Richmond, Virginia, USA |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Genres | Groove metal |
| Labels | Epic Records |
| Members |
Randy Blythe Mark Morton Willie Adler John Campbell Chris Adler |
Lamb of God is a five-piece American Groove Metal band from Richmond, Virginia, formerly known as Burn the Priest.
Biography
The roots of Lamb of God were planted in 1990 when
Mark Morton,
Chris Adler and
John Campbell were floor
mates at
Virginia Commonwealth University. After graduation, Morton moved to
Chicago to pursue a master's degree, but the band continued. A new guitarist,
Abe Spear, was found.
Randy Blythe was added on vocals when the band decided to move past its
instrumental sound. At this point in their career, they were known as Burn the
Priest. Morton re-joined the group and Burn the Priest released a self-titled
full length album soon after. Abe then left the band which opened a place for
Chris Adler's brother,
Willie Adler.
The band's style is generally considered post-thrash or thrash metal with death metal influences. The playing is fast and somewhat technical, with particular elements such as palm-muted riffs and non-standard song structures. Their lyrical themes tend to cover religion, pain, misery, politics, heresy as well as other often personal topics.
"We play music that straddles the line between prog and traditional rock," explains Campbell. "I think we make prog-rock more listenable without cheapening the progressiveness of it. The complexity of our music appeals to people who like technical playing, but the arrangements are not so extreme that they fly over the average listener's head. It's a good balance." (taken from www.lamb-of-god.com).
After two well received releases and a DVD (Terror
and Hubris) on Prosthetic Records, the band signed a new
recording
contract with Epic Records in late 2003. Their first release for the label,
"Ashes Of The Wake", debuted at No.27 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and has
sold around 250,000 copies in the U.S. to date
[1].
On August 29th, 2005, the band announced that their DVD, "Killadelphia", which chronicles the band on tour supporting their album "Ashes of the Wake", had received Gold certification from the RIAA. The DVD features a complete live performance at the Trocadero on October 2004 in Philadelphia, and also contains three of their music videos, commentary by the band, outtakes, soundchecks, and plenty of backstage shenanigans.
On January 25th, 2006, a press release announced the
rerelease of Lamb of God's debut album,
New American Gospel. The original, along with the self titled debut Burn
the Priest, were both produced by Steve Austin, known for his
work with Today
Is the Day, Converge and Unsane. The re-release will be remastered and
repackaged with four new tracks, exclusive liner notes from the band and a
re-imaging of the album art by longtime band collaborator Ken Adams. The album
was rereleased on April 4th, 2006.
Lamb of God is also part of a tour titled "Gigantour." The line-up includes Megadeth, Lamb of God, Arch Enemy, Overkill, and Opeth. The tour will take place throughout 2006.
Discography
Studio albums
- New American Gospel - (2000)
- As the Palaces Burn - (2003)
- Ashes of the Wake - (2004)
- Sacrament - (2006)
Live albums
- Killadelphia - (2005)
Videography
- Terror and Hubris (2003)
- Killadelphia (2005)
- The Making of Sacrament (2006) (Bundled with Sacrament)
Music Videos
- Black Label (Music video, 2000)
- Ruin (Music video, 2003)
- 11th Hour (Music video, 2004)
- As the Palaces Burn (Music video, 2004)
- Laid to Rest (In Studio) (Music video, 2004)
- Laid to Rest (Music video, 2004)
- Now You've Got Something To Die For (Music video, 2005)
- Redneck (Music video, 2006)
- Redneck (In Studio) (On Sacrament special edition DVD) (Music Video 2006)
Members
- Randy Blythe - Vocals (1995-Present)
- Mark Morton - Guitar (1990-Present)
- Willie Adler - Guitar (1999-Present)
- John Campbell - Bass (1990-Present)
- Chris Adler - Drums (1990-Present)
Former members
- Abe Spear - Guitar
Other releases
- Split With ZED (Split 7", 1997, released under the name Burn the Priest, Goatboy Records)
- Split With Agents Of Satan (Split 7", 1998, released under the name Burn the Priest, Deaf American Recordings)
- Sevens and More - (1998, released under the name Burn the Priest, mp3.com)
- Burn the Priest - (1998, released under the name Burn the Priest, Legion Records)
- Walk With Me In Hell (EP), Released August 8th, 2006. This disc was exclusive to Hot Topic. It featured Walk With Me In Hell from the Sacrament album, and also the video and making-of footage for Redneck.
Wall of Death
The wall of death occurs at the beginning of the song "Black
Label," usually the last song in the set. The crowd nearest
the stage
makes a wide
circle pit, and at Randy's signal, runs towards the center of the pit,
wildly
moshing.
Due to concert-goers getting hurt, and the threat of many lawsuits, Randy Blythe no longer orchestrates the wall of death during "Black Label." But the fans still sometimes do it without being asked to.
Two quicktime videos (6-8mb in size) document the wall of death on the video page of the official Lamb of God website, found here.