Lamb of God (band)
Lamb of God |
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Lamb of God is a Grammy-nominated five-piece metal band from Richmond, Virginia, formerly known as Burn the Priest. They have sold over 1 million albums in the U.S. alone (see discography).
Biography
Lamb of God was formed in 1990 when Mark Morton, Chris Adler, and John Campbell were floor mates at Virginia Commonwealth University. Randy Blythe was only a year ahead of the others in college. After graduation, Morton moved to Chicago to pursue a master's degree, but the band continued. A new guitarist, Abe Spear, was found. In 1995 Randy Blythe was added on vocals when the band decided to move past its instrumental sound. At this point in their career, they were known as Burn the Priest. Morton re-joined the group and Burn the Priest released a 10time platnium full length album soon after. Spear left the band in 1999 after admitting himself to a rehabilitation center outside of Williamsburg, Virginia. This opened a place for Chris Adler's brother, Willie Adler. A year after the second Adler joined, the band changed its name to Lamb of God, after which it signed a record deal with Prosthetic Records.[1]
Their lyrical themes tend to cover religion, society, pain, misery, politics, and heresy, as well as other often personal topics
We play music that straddles the line between prog and traditional rock. I think we make prog-rock more listenable without cheapening the progressiveness of it. The complexity of our music appeals to people who like technical playing, but the arrangements are not so extreme that they fly over the average listener's head. It's a good balance.
— John Campbell, Lamb of God biography[2]
After two well received releases and a DVD (Terror and Hubris) on Prosthetic Records, the band signed a new recording contract with Epic Records in late 2003. Their first release for the label, Ashes of the Wake, debuted at #27 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and has sold over 250,500 copies in the U.S. to date [1].
On August 29, 2005, the band announced that their DVD Killadelphia, which chronicles the band on tour supporting Ashes of the Wake, had received Gold certification from the RIAA. The DVD features a complete live performance at the Trocadero in October 2004 in Philadelphia, and also contains three of their music videos, commentary by the band, outtakes, soundchecks, and plenty of backstage shenanigans.
On January 25, 2006, a press release announced the re-release of Lamb of God's debut album, New American Gospel. The original, along with the self-titled debut Burn the Priest, were both produced by Steve Austin, known for his work with Today Is the Day, Converge, and Unsane. The re-release will be remastered and repackaged with four new tracks, exclusive liner notes from the band and a re-imaging of the album art by longtime band collaborator Ken Adams. The album was re-released on April 4, 2006.
Their newest album, Sacrament, was met with immediate success, debuting at #8 on the U.S. Billboard charts. The same day Sacrament was released, the band's fan club The Congregation was launched.
Before the release of Sacrament, the band took part in the 2006 The Unholy Alliance tour in North America with Slayer, Mastodon, Children of Bodom, and Thine Eyes Bleed, and in Europe with In Flames instead of Mastodon. After Sacrament was released, they joined onto the North American portion of Gigantour, headlined by Megadeth and including Arch Enemy, Opeth, and Overkill. They were touring Europe.
They have also toured with Trivium, Machine Head, and Gojira. They have also been long time friends with the band GWAR, having come from the same city and most members from the same college.
Lamb of God has been nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance" for the song "Redneck" from Sacrament in 2006 for the 49th annual Grammy Awards.
On February 9, 2007 Lamb of God made their national television debut on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. They played "Pathetic" from Sacrament.
On February 29th, the band was confirmed to play the UK's Download Festival 2007. The band is also confirmed as one of the headlining acts in this year's Ozzfest tour alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Static-X, and Lordi.
Equipment
| Randy Blythe |
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| Chris Adler | |
| Mark Morton |
(Mark Morton uses EMG pickups live, as of Download Festival 2007, possibly earlier)
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| Willie Adler |
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| John Campbell |
Mark Morton endorses Jackson Guitars, GHS Strings, Dunlop Electronics, and Rocktron Electronics. Willie Adler endorses ESP guitars and GHS Strings. Chris Adler endorses Mapex Drums, Meinl Cymbals, Pro-Mark sticks and Aquarian drumheads.
Both Morton and Will use drop D tuning (D-A-D-G-B-E) primarily, also standard tuning (E-A-D-G-B-E) and open D tuning (D-A-D-G-B-D) on certain songs. John Campbell also uses drop D tuning (D-A-D-G).
Discography
See: Lamb of God discography for a complete discography.
Studio albums
| Cover | Title |
New American Gospel
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As the Palaces Burn
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Ashes of the Wake
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Sacrament
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Members
Current members
- Randy Blythe - vocals (Burn the Priest (1995)-present)
- Mark Morton - guitar (Burn the Priest (1990)-present)
- Willie Adler - guitar (1999-present)
- John Campbell - bass guitar (Burn the Priest (1990)-present)
- Chris Adler - drums (Burn the Priest (1990)-present)
Video game involvement
- "Laid to Rest" is featured in Guitar Hero II.
- Lamb of God's music can also be found in BaboViolent 2.
- "Redneck" is featured in ATV Offroad Fury 4.
- "Redneck" is also featured in NFL Street 3.
- "Black Label" is featured in Tony Hawk's Underground 2.
Wall of Death
The wall of death occurs at the beginning of the song "Black Label," usually the last song in the set. The crowd divides to the left and right sides of the floor area, and then on Blythe's direction, run wildly towards the other side. This is much more intense than circle pits, which are also seen at Lamb of God concerts.
Two Quicktime videos (6-8mb in size) document the wall of death on the video page of the official Lamb of God website, found here.
However, Randy is no longer allowed to orchestrate walls of death, due to health and safety, although the crowd sometimes perform the wall of death at the beginning of "Black Label", even if Randy did not ask them to.