Review by Rachel Jablonski
Just as nature is best unrefined, so is Lamb of God. Confirming to me for the third time that their raw sound is best translated live, this time on Gigantour 2006, the band from Richmond, VA proves solid on stage, their sound and polished presence quite illustrious. Earlier Lamb of God records such as As the Palaces Burn, produced by mastermind Devin Townsend, nicely capture the energy and rough metal sound. Logically, the aura was also acquired on the band’s Killadelphia release, a disc derived from a live performance recorded in 2004 at Trocadero nightclub in Philadelphia. However the band's latest two releases, Ashes of the Wake – my number one album of 2004 – and the new release titled Sacrament, both by a producer named Machine, seem to lose the raw element that makes Lamb of God so great.
Sacrament begins a haunting musical ensemble, a rebellious guitar riff and vocal whispers that set the tone for the hard-hitting piece both in tempo and mood. Pray for the end of this wide awake nightmare, vocalist Randy Blythe begs in “Walk with Me in Hell.” Pray for deliverance, some kind of purpose. Religious symbols and imagery consistent throughout the album assist in illustrating the common theme, living with and through internal pain. As opposed to Ashes of the Wake, which was highly aimed politically in regard to the war in Iraq, Sacrament tends to be more inwardly focused as songs like “Walk with Me in Hell” and “Blacken the Cursed Sun” clearly reveal.
“Blacken the Cursed Sun” is a dark, rhythmic track that beautifully represents the crucial lyrics. Blacken the cursed sun, you’re not the only one, to have sunk so far and low, there is no tomorrow, Blythe exclaims in his rough trademark vocals, the contrasts of deep growls to high screeches intense. Unfortunately, however, not all lyrics on the album are quite so powerful.
The number of clichés used lyrically throughout the album would have my AP English teacher’s red pen in frenzy. Throw stones in a house of glass say the lyrics in “Redneck,” the first single off the album which has a simple, catchy chorus. Other lyrical lines such as like a bull in a china shop, beating on death’s door, shoulder left to cry and card that you dealt scream cliché and thus lose effective meaning. Luckily, the guitar driven music makes up for the occasional lack in lyrics. Guitar solos and great musical breakdowns, even though excessively mixed, still make for an enjoyable listen that gives listeners an urge to see Lamb of God live.