After creating colossal compositions such as ‘As The Palaces Burn’, ‘Ashes of the Wake’, and ‘Sacrament’, pushing likelihood would be pushing luck. With albums prior to this, Lamb of God grew in popularity by the trifold. When an achievement is met, the expectations are raised higher, and you set the bar for yourself. Some wouldn't be able to handle such demands. Does this Virginia metal group shield themselves from the pressure? I believe so, and it leaves us with a noble follow up entitled ‘Wrath’.
This time we will start by mentioning the hindering points to the record. This factor is the most subjective aspect of the review, but there is nothing really new about ‘Wrath’. There were very little traits of experimentation, aside from the beginning instrumental acoustics. With Lamb of God, they usually open their albums with a heavy hitting starting track. This album does not follow that regulation. To me, the first two songs, ‘In your Words’, and ‘Set to Fail’ were standouts. The rest weren't so bad, but I did sense some average, unspectacular numbers here and there.
I felt pretty skeptical with the vocal performance. The clean singing did not impress me very well, but the typical low growls and screeches hit hard as Lamb of God usually do. There was something about the clean vocals that felt off to me. But it was very minimal, appearing in just a couple of tracks. The lyrics on the other hand, leave nothing abrupt, as they are penned intelligently, and don't come off as immature. Contrary to the band name, Lamb of God’s main source of lyric approach does not always stem off of religion. With their songwriting approach, be heads up on angry, insightful messages backed up by typic heavy metal instrumentation.
Now that was not meant to be an insult to the other instruments. They play a major part in giving Lamb of God their hailed status. You will find yourself head banging, tapping your feet, or move in some way. They resemble an illustrative freight train doomed to hit you in your face; technical, fast, and murderous. Symbolic to said freight train, it does not stop for any railroad crossing, and certainly won't toot its presence. Guitar solos are a plus as well. They can be found all over.
Similar story with the drums and bass. They are fast and provide the much needed layers of brutality to create the foundation of the song. It wouldn't make sense for them to play at a completely different tempo, or else they would completely defeat the purpose of a rhythm section, and vice versa with the guitars. Though the guitars tend to garner the spotlight, that doesn't make them more important than the others. I'd argue that the drummer is one of the biggest talents of the group. In all of Lamb of God’s history, the drumming has never disappointed me. The stench of adrenaline pumps you up with each creative strike of the kit. The best part is that it all seems effortless for him.
A reasonable expectation for ‘Wrath’ would be Lamb of God doing their usual thing they do best: crafting all out, high energy metal hits. It's not entirely different from previous records, and it's a result most would expect. This means taking the safe route. You don't alienate your fan base, but you artistically suffer from predictability. A painter may amaze you with a perfectly painted picture, but would anyone enjoy seeing that replicated multiple times? The answer to that question lies in the eye of the beholder.
