Champions of modern American death metal, LAMB OF GOD’s
newest release, “Resolution” sees
the band once again grabbing their fans by the throat. Granted, they haven’t
taken too many steps outside of the box that “Ashes Of The Wake” built, but why should they? This is a band that
wielded their weapon of choice long ago and has been able to consistently bash
the crap out of everyone in sight with it ever since. Even the band’s
detractors have to give them some credit for that. What’s more important is
that their fans are going to thoroughly enjoy this album.
“Resolution”
is exactly what you would expect from LAMB
OF GOD; give or take a little depending on your attention to detail. For
the most part, this is an album with few surprises. However, when they do
extend their grasp, the end result is quite head-turning. Opener “Straight For The Sun” is a slow and
sludgey monster that serves as a bulldozer, clearing the path for the rest of
the album. “The Number Six” is arguably
the biggest step in the progressive direction that LOG has ever taken.
Sonically and structurally, this song is miles from the band’s Southern-fried
standard and sticks out as one of the album’s best moments. Bonus points for
bassist John Campbell for stepping
out from behind the curtain with his brief, but badass walking bass solo. The multi-faceted and almost bi-polar “King Me” intertwines spacey
psychedelia and epic melodies with LOG’s
familiar groove. One of the album’s darkest offering, “Insurrection” is another tune that sees the band exploring new
territory; particularly Blythe who
brings a welcome, chilling element to the table on this song. “Terminally Unique” attempts to capture
a similar vibe, but doesn’t quite hit the bullseye. “Visitation,” however, is able to straddle the fence and comes
across as one of the disc’s most complete tunes.
The majority of “Resolution”
is LAMB OF GOD doing what LAMB OF GOD does best. Willie Adler and Mark Morton go wild on riff-driven ragers like “Desolation” and “Guilty.” “The Undertow”
and “Ghost Walking” serve up more
Southern groove than you can shake a dinged-up Flying-V at and drummer Chris Adler can take credit for fueling
every one of these fires with his percussive mastery. Sure, these songs a nestled
nicely in the comfort zone, especially “Ghost
Walking,” given its comparability to “Redneck,”
but it’s not like the band is serving up turds here either.
As a whole, there is little about “Resolution” to bitch about. Each of these fourteen songs has
something to offer and are all delivered with LOG’s expected level of energy and skill. It was cool to hear the
band take a few chances and the fact those risks paid off so well sweetened the
deal that much more. Even the safest moments on this album only saw the band
going to their own well, instead of just plopping out some generic,
paint-by-numbers crap designed to please the masses. I won’t call “Resolution” the apex of LAMB OF GOD’s
career, but it sure in the hell proves these boys still mean business. – Ryan Ogle
I have heard some of Lamb of God's music and I thought it all sounded the same, honestly. After reading your review, though, I may be willing to give them another chance.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard the Lamb of God's music. But after reading your review, I think I will listen to some of them now.
ReplyDeleteLike Xiaomeng, I also have never heard of them but its good to hear that all their songs off their new album is good. I am so tired of artists only having a couple good songs on their album and the rest is crappy.
ReplyDelete