Since I started with one of the bigger hip hop releases of the year, I thought the first metal review should be a big one too. So here we are with Lamb of God's latest offering Resolution. This is the band's seventh album, eighth if you count the album released under the name Burn the Priest. Lamb of God had their work cut out for them trying to follow up to 2009's Wrath. Did they succeed? Let's look at the track-by-track.
1. Straight for the Sun - What a hell of an opener. For those used to LoG's normally fast tempo this song will seem odd, it's a slower, sludgier song. Almost a mix of Lamb of God and the band High on Fire, a great song though, Randy's vocals are spot on.
2. Desolation - I love when tracks lead right into the next, this track picks up the pace to normal LoG speed without missing a beat. Mark Morton and Willie Adler's guitar work is definitely on display on this track and they sound as good as ever.
3. Ghost Walking - This song starts off with an acoustic intro, reminiscent of the track Grace from Wrath. This song evolves into a monster of a track that is pure gold. Instrumentation sounds straight off of Sacrament. This one kicks ass, just like Lamb of God should.
4. Guilty - As with every Lamb of God album, there's always those few songs that are just okay. They kick ass, vocally and musically they are great but for some reason just stick out. This track is one of those, it starts getting memorable and hitting hard around 2 minutes in but overall is not a standout.
5. The Number Six - This song is straight filler for me. Has a great chorus but the verses leave little to be desired and I just get too bored in between the chorus' to get into the song.
6. Barbosa - Here's a break in the action, just a short minute and a half acoustic interlude with light soloing over it. It leads perfectly into track 7.
7. Invictus - Lamb of God is back to top speed on this one. The riff machines that they are known for is definitely still a label that they deserve, evident by this song. Surprisingly the guitar work actually overtakes Randy's vocals, which is hard to do considering he has one of the most recognizable voices around.
8. Cheated - Here we go, a short two and a half minute thrasher of a song. Lamb of God definitely dug into their 80's thrash roots for this one and it works fantastically in their favor. A huge standout.
9. Insurrection - On this track we hear clean vocals for the first time in Lamb of God's catalog, arguments can be made for other song such as Dead Seeds but he really sings on this song. Though the departure in sound is admirable, the song is forgettable at best.
10. Terminally Unique - This song falls under the "Another Lamb of God" flag for me. One of those songs that's good, not a standout, you know, just another Lamb of God song, not much to say on this one.
11. To the End - As soon as I think that the latter half of the album is lacking in quality, this song comes along. It's a little different for them but Randy's vocals are spectacular, the guitar work as always is fantastic. I'm surprised it took me so long to mention Chris Adler's drumming but it is just has great on this album as all of the others. He truly is the backbone to the LoG sound.
12. Visitation - Another top-notch song off of this album, Randy really shows off his range on this one, full of high screams. The solo on this song is nothing short of great.
13. King Me - As the past 3 LoG albums have concluded with the longest song on the album, Resolution does not change that. King Me is reminiscent of Remorse for the Dead and Reclamation off of 2004's Ashes of the Wake and 2009's Wrath, respectively. Those 2 songs are among the best on the albums they reside on, King Me is just the same. Lamb of God definitely know what they're doing with this song and it shows, it is a beautiful and amazing song and end to this 2012 album.
Overall - For a band that has been around since the late 1990's you'd think they'd be losing steam by now but Lamb of God has been like fine wine, only getting better with age. Wrath seemed like the band was rejuvenated and reborn. The direction they are heading in is one that fits the band and tears up anything they've done before. With Randy Blythe sounding amazing as always, Mark Morton and Willie Adler shredding it up on guitar, John Campbell holding it all together on bass and Chris Adler just annihilating it on drums, Lamb of God is and always will be a force to be reckoned with. This album is a great addition to their already legendary catalog.
Rating - 8.5/10
I feel this is accurate. Lamb of God really delivered on this album. I wasn't too fond of wrath mostly for the fact that the snare drum sounded awful to me, and just annoyed me every time I heard it, but that's just my opinion. This was definitely a step up from that. Resolution was very fun to listen to and very heavy. Good review.
ReplyDeleteBetween Wrath and Resolution i think i like Wrath more, but it's also had much more time to sink in, Resolution is still pretty fresh.
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