Hard to believe, but this is Lamb of God’s 12th freakin’ album!! I’ve been a ride or die fan for 20 years now; this is a band whose records I pick up whether they’re great or not.
The last few years have been hit or miss; when the records are good, they are outstanding and when they’re not, at least there’s a few great songs. I went into this record excited because of the first two available tracks, “Parasocial Christ” and “Sepsis,” which are both extremely heavy and just feel like a punch in the face. They both feel like Lamb of old and both songs absolutely slay.
The album opens with the title track which switches things up a bit; it’s a tad slower with more extreme, distorted vocals from Randy Blythe and a bit more production on the guitars. It’s a fine intro but just an okay song. Same with “St. Catherine’s Wheel,” an okay song that doesn’t stand out much except for the solo. “El Vacio,” or “The Void” is a fantastic slower track a la “Overlord” and is an immediate standout. An absolute killer that will find its way on my year end list.
“Blunt Force Blues” is another crusher, very heavy, very singable, another good example of classic Lamb of God. Though the tracks are good, I do lament them working with the same producer since 2009 (Josh Wilbur). After a while, yes, things do start to be a little too samey with not enough deviation. Maybe another set of ears might bring something new to the sound. It is nice to see the band still doing some different things from song to song such as “A Thousand Years,” which is slower again but the vocals are full-on hardcore, which is always a nice touch.
There’s no straightforward punk sounding tracks here which is a bit of a disappointment but overall, this is another good collection of Lamb songs.