I know I'm going backward (see my first review), but the only whole albums that I've listened to for a while (that don't already have a million reviews on this site) are this and Scarament. This time, I'll start with the small amount of knowledge that i have on the band.
LOG consists of:
D. Randall Blythe-Vocals
Willie Adler-Guitar
Mark Morton-Guitar
Chris Adler-Drums
John Campbell (JC)-Bass
LOG was formerly known as Burn the Priest, and that's just about all I konw.
On to the album itself:
This was a breakthrough for Lamb of God. It showed more diversity in their music, more of their talent, and it proves the potential you thought you saw on As The Palaces Burn and New American Gospel.
The first song off of this album is Laid to Rest. This is one of the most insane and the absolute best track off of this album. It starts with a short guitar intro, then the drums come in, and a little while later, Blythe comes in talking. After a little while longer, the intro riff is repeated and Blythe comes screaming like a chimpmunk on speed (in a devilishly good way though). The song is filled with headbangable riffs, great drumming, and I could talk about it all day but I won't.
After Laid To Rest comes Hourglass. Hourglass starts off with another guitar riff with Adler the 2nd pounding away on the bass drums. It cuts into a quick silence as Blythe comes in growling (more than screaming I guess), and the guitars come back. The best thing about this song, though, is the chours, where everything comes together and blends perfectly.
3rd on the album is Now You've Got Something To Die For. This song is one of their more popular songs, but I never liked it. It throws a lot of off-beats, the lyrics are quite repetitive, and it doesn't flow nicely for me. I usually skip it, but that's just me. Give it a listen anyway.
Another highlight off of this album ht The Faded Line, in which C. Adler provides some of his best work on the entire album. The guitars do a nice job, and the outro is fantastic (lots of noise and effects in the backround, with Blythe screaming his lungs out)
Omerta begins with a speech about "the law of honor", and then starts chugging away. This is another repetitive song, it gets tiring hearing "OMERTA!" thirty-thousand times, but the intro's not bad (Then again, find a LOG song where the intro is bad).
The next two songs show some of the steps forward that LoG has taken with this release. Blood of the Scribe starts smoothly, the the part that jumped out at me was the post-chorus, where some effects are used on the guiars and everything, again, blends together nicely. After, Blythe comes back talking, and finishes with a bloodcurdling scream. The other great part of this song is the interlude, which comes in at 1:35, a strong guitar riff accompanied by superb drumming, good ol' Blythe screaming, and the legibility of a few bass notes make tis part of the song worth rewinding and playing again... and again.
One Gun is probably my second favorite song on the entire album. It comes in with a guitar accompanied by fast drumming, and the one guitar goes alone. This repeats twice, and then the drumming completely changes tempo, allowing Blythe's scream to let you know that this song is gonna be one worth listening to. If you fulfill in listening to it, you'll find a SOLO in the middle, which also made me realize the potential that these guys had at being great soloers (which they brought through in Scarament, but that's a different story.). The whole song is amazing, and is a groundbreaker on the album as a whole.
Break You brings a twist to the album with a fast guitar riff and singing starting at the very beginning. The whole song, though, is only ok, as Blythe brings his extremely high-pitched scream back on the table, in mediocre fashion. Overall, it's skippable.
What I've Become brings back the ol' LOG fell, with Blythe's extremely high-pitched scream suiting the song this time. Another awesome post-chorus, and another SOLO (really quick, though, but guitars come in at the end for a nice touch).
The title track, Ashes of the Wake, proves my point on solos (although only two of the four solos in the song are done by LOG members). Besides that, it sounds like another LOG song, except w/o vocals. Yes, an instrumental,with the exception of some well-thought-out political talk in the beginning and the end.
The album ends with Remorse is for the Dead, which is Vigil-esque, and some parts of it (the acoustic intro, for example) are better than Vigil, But again, at 5:39, the song gets repetitive and hard to listen to more than twice or three times (maybe). The intro is neat, though.
Overall, this was a giant step for the band. Although it's not perfect, LOG just gets better with each album they release.
Recommend Tracks
-Laid To Rest
-Hourglass
-The Faded Line
-Blood of the Scribe
-One Gun
-Ashes of the Wake
4/5 total, IMO
