“Now you’ve got something to die for”, roars Lamb Of God vocalist Randy Blythe on 2004 breakout album Ashes Of The Wake. While previous albums New American Gospel and As The Palaces Burn sought to establish a link between classic metal bands (especially Pantera) and creating something new and exciting on their own. That is exactly why Lamb Of God are one of the biggest metal bands around, and creating a timeless sound is why they outlasted basically all of their peers.
More than almost any other metal album of the 2000’s, Ashes Of The Wake was both a snapshot of the world as a whole (much of the album references The War In Iraq) and high-intensity, crunchy groove metal. The album is somewhat top-heavy with lethal tracks like “Laid To Rest” and “Hourglass”, but the second half of the album is just as good. Tracks like “The Faded Line” and especially “Blood Of The Scribe” have to be counted among numerous highlights here, and it’s the highly impressive drumming from Chris Adler on the latter track that is also worth noting.
Undoubtedly one of the more consistent bands in metal to date, Lamb Of God’s Ashes Of The Wake remains a huge triumph in what modern metal should sound like – heavy, intelligent, and well-constructed. Even 14 years after its release. it still sounds urgent. And really, shouldn’t metal always have that trait?
