Lamb of god must surely be considered one of the finest exponents of their genre. Since they first appeared, slashing and burning as Lamb of God (when they really first impacted upon the UK consciousness), they have remained remarkably consistent in the quality of their output although it is arguable that ‘Sacrament’, with its toned-down aggression was rather less impressive than its full-on successor, the remarkable ‘Wrath’. It should come, therefore, as no surprise that with the release of ‘resolution’ little has changed in the world of LOG and the new album represents a refined and road-aged continuation of the sonic assault found on ‘wrath’.
There are a few curveballs, however, and the opening track for ‘resolution’, the grinding ‘straight for the sun’ does a grand job of introducing LOG to the uninitiated as Black Sabbath-worshipping doom metallers. A slow, ground out, down-tuned bruiser, it has more in common with Heaven and Hell than ‘redneck’ and it serves as a fine, if rather brief, entry to the record. A truly awe-inspiring rolling drum fill (courtesy of ace sticks-man Chris Adler) tells us that LOG are back with a vengeance as the track segues into ‘Desolation’, a track that holds no surprises for LOG fans but which does a fine job as cementing their reputation as leaders of the pack. Randy Blythe is as commanding as ever, his vocals delivered with an intensity matched only by Phil Anselmo, whilst Mark Morton and Willie Adler prove to be as on the money as ever with their brutal riffs and occasional snatches of melodic soloing. ‘Ghost walking’ opens with a cool acoustic riff that recalls Zakk Wylde’s bruising fretwork before the main riff takes over and Randy proclaims with some venom “there is no-one left to save…”. ‘Guilty’ offers no such gentle easing in – it just screams and rails at you from the outset with a barely contained rage that will be familiar to those who have followed LOG over the years. Equally, ‘undertow’ is a track bristling with brutality, but it also has an underlying sense of melody making it memorable and a great solo also raises the bar, showcasing a hitherto-buried classic rock sensibility underpinning LOG’s brightly buffed modern sheen, as if the band are flexing their musical muscles even whilst remaining true to the musical blueprint they laid down on ‘New American Gospel’. ‘The number six’ even sees Randy indulge in some clean singing on a chorus that will stick in your brain long after the record has finished and once again you’re struck by the underlying melodies to the songs – they are stronger than on previous outings and yet the band have retained the core heaviness that made them so special when they came bursting on the scene in the nu-metal addled 2000’s. Indeed, it is a sign of how far LOG are content to diversify that at one point during ‘the number six’ they even shift gear into Faith No More territory for a jazz-infused, spoken word section (craftily sandwiched between a riff of near-unfathomable heaviness) and bassist John Campbell is given a chance to shine with some great fretwork too.
The biggest surprise of the album, however, is the brooding ‘Barbarossa’, a track that cobines howling feedback and gentle acoustic work to create a real sense of atmosphere that is both harrowing and exciting in equal measure. When the riff does come in, it is a syncopated beast that somehow never quite goes where its expected to and then we’re into the more straight-forward workout of ‘invictus’ – a rather more typical LOG workout that would have sat comfortably at home on ‘wrath’. ‘Cheated’ takes the LOG blueprint and throws in a sprinkling of hardcore for good measure making it the fastest and least controlled number on the CD – it works well breaking up the more familiar LOG chugging template, but as a standalone song it’s the weakest track on the album. ‘insurrection’ is a massive highlight, however, a complete divergence from the band’s normal template that combines chugging guitars with a creepy, strained vocal and a sense of dynamics that builds upon what has come before and gives a real sense of the band trying something different. ‘Terminally unique’ returns to the more tried and tested formulae but it has a nice riff that recalls ‘now you’ve got something to die for’ and it leads nicely to the equally demented ‘to the end’. ‘Visitation’ has a nice shift between the paired down intro riff and the full on assault of the verse and then, all too soon, we arrive at the final track, ‘king me’ – another track that expands upon the band’s horizons by sounding like a cross between Faith no more, LOG and Cradle of filth. It’s a slow, string-laden number and it sounds immense even while it sounds like nothing LOG have ever attempted before. It provides a brave and unusual ending to a fine album.
In all honesty, you already know if you like Lamb of God or not, and despite the band displaying a deeper confidence in their musical abilities on ‘resolution’ there is no significant change from the band’s previous output – ‘king me’ and ‘Barbarossa’ notwithstanding . For fans of the band ‘Resolution’ will, of course, prove to be another reason for celebration, and it is a fine example of powerful, hook-laden groove metal, and certainly the album stands out for me as it offers up a greater degree of invention than ‘wrath’. Whichever way you look at it, Lamb of God are one of the most consistent metal acts out there, never bowing to pressure or trends and maintaining an intensity that frequently burns itself right out of the speakers and onto its surroundings. If you’re looking for a shot of pure metal adrenalin, tempered with a rare intelligence then ‘resolution’ will certainly be your album.
