Review Summary: An uneven, mediocre release with a couple of solid songs that still shows their strength as a band.
When people talk about Lamb of God nowadays - they are mostly revered by some as the leader of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal movement also known as Metalcore. They are talked about as a band that has meshed their sound with minor experimentation such as adding sludge/doom influences in their later albums or just adding small touches of clean vocals to complement the banshee like shrieks and growls of their vocalist that made them sound like Pantera in a way. Whether that is a good compliment or not always depends on who you ask. Their detractors though have been on a warpath lately in regards to the way the band's sound and songs have been monotonous. They haven't experimented enough, their album sounds like an AC/DC retread, their vocalist penchant for talking about politics was tiring and insipid that he should just stop preaching and get himself an eyeliner and a Brazilian body wax.
Bottomline is that the band has been producing critically and "commercially" successful albums for close to a decade now, sooner or later the growing amount of cynicism and detractors will finally increase since they've been on top of that mountain for too long and there's really no way to go but down.
Resolution will probably be that album the detractors will talk about as the album that will prove their point. While the production and musicianship is still strong and crushing - the songwriting leaves left much to be desired. Gone are the sharp riffs and memorable lines the band is known for. It does sound like the band's going thru the motions of producing songs that sounds like...Lamb of God. The lyrics are still excellent for the genre...but you have heard it all before. The tempo shifts at breakneck speed and then it goes into a breakdown that's suppose to make you change the way you headbang or scissor kick. It's a lose-lose situation for a band in this situation because they do know what they are that they are really limited at what they can do. Adding an orchestra and an opera singer might count as groundbreaking 15 years ago - now it sounds like grasping at straws to show "growth" as musicians. Black Metal bands or Faux Black Metal bands have the make up and ability to make it sound interesting but Lamb of God...they make it sound like they were adding Taco Bell meat to a Paella dish.
While there are still decent tunes such as "Desolation", "Undertow", "Terminally Unique" and "To the End". These decent to good tracks do sound calculated and doesn't have that organic feel that old Lamb of God songs have. "King Me" has some interesting sections but the orchestra and the opera singers sounds like the band are trying to be...wait for it...pretentious.
Resolution will probably grow into a decent to good listen when you have it on repeat for the 20th time, but as of now - the album is just so tiring and mediocre to listen to that having radioactive tacos is far more rewarding regardless if it gives you Diarrhea.
