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Lamb Of God // Ronnie James Dio Stage // BOA22 // Sunday 14th August

Lamb Of God

It’s time for the final headliner of the weekend and some of the crowd have been waiting all day and all weekend to see Lamb Of God play.
Once the curtain drops on stage the crowd go crazy and the band begin playing “Memento Mori ”. Randy Blythe is a bundle of energy as he bounds all over the stage banging his head and spinning his dreads. The crowd is moving just as much as you can see hair flying back and forth across the arena. The entire front of the crowd seems to be moving as one as they rock to the beat of the music. The crowd surfers can be seen in hordes heading for the stage. Incredibly a few people even attempted to surf on inflatable beds and boats and while I’m not sure if they made it all the way across, a guy in a flamingo pool float did!
Blythe continues to be an incredible front man throughout the set as he addresses the crowd continuously and instructs them to jump and rock out. The crowd need little encouragement though as they throw themselves into the music and sing along with tracks like “Walk With Me In Hell” and “You’ve Got Something To Die For”. When the stage drops black between songs, the crowd are eager for more chanting the band’s name and clapping for them to come back and play another.
Blythe takes a moment midway through the set to thank the crowd for staying to watch them through the heat of the weekend. He also does some shout outs for bands such as EyeHateGod, Discharge, GWAR and Killing Joke who played across the weekend. The next track is dedicated to all the bands who have played and as they head into “512” the crowd goes mental. As the lights hit the crowd, a huge circle pit can be seen right in the middle as the body’s continue to surf over the crowd.
Having never seen Lamb Of God play before, I’m completely blown away by their performance and fully understand the excitement to see them tonight. From the strobe lighting to the pyro, the whole show is an experience you don’t want to miss. Each member of the band works perfectly to create the sound that is distinctly that of Lamb Of God and are vital in making the show work.
With not long left till the end of the show, the band play “Laid To Rest” and the arena erupts. Before playing the last song though Blythe addresses the crowd one last time again thanking them for being there and encouraging them to go crazy one last time and open the biggest circle pit Bloodstock has ever seen. Before playing “Redneck” he takes a further moment you acknowledge the work that the festival does for the Sophie Lancaster Foundation and dedicates the song to both Sophie and Sylvia. Once the band starts as expected the arena go mental and the pit opens up. The largest wave I think of the entire weekend begins if crowd surfers and everyone let’s go for one last time at Bloodstock 2022!
The roots of Lamb of God were planted in the year 1990, when Mark Morton, Chris Adler and John Campbell were friends at Virginia Commonwealth University. After graduation, Morton moved to Chicago to pursue a master’s degree, but the band continued. A new guitarist, Abe Spear, replaced Morton as the band retired its instrumental sound and added Randy Blythe on vocals. The quartet, known then as Burn the Priest, became a fixture in the tightly-knit Richmond music scene. To compete with the high-level of musicianship displayed by their contemporaries, the band adopted a rigid practice schedule.
The band was playing around Virginia when Mark Morton moved back from Chicago and re-joined the group. Soon after, Burn the Priest released a self-titled full-length album on Legion Records. Abe left soon after, which opened a spot for guitarist, and brother to Chris – Willie Adler.
A year after the second Adler joined, in 2000, Burn the Priest changed its name to Lamb of God, and signed a record deal with Prosthetic Records. The band’s independent-debut, ‘New American Gospel’, was released in the year 2000. Two years of extensive touring to support the album raised Lamb of God’s profile before the band released the critically acclaimed, ‘As The Palaces Burn’ (2003). The band hit the road again and began headlining tours across the globe. They then released ‘Terror and Hubris’, a DVD, featuring early live performances, videos for “Ruin” and “Black Label” and behind-the-scenes footage highlighting the work ethic, humility and sense of humour of one of the most respected and influential bands around today. Gradually, Lamb of God’s persistence paid off. Their 2003 disc, ‘As The Palaces Burn’ earned them a new level of respect and admiration, but it was 2004’s virulent major label debut (Epic Records) Ashes of the Wake that turned the band into true contenders for the metal throne.
August 22, 2006 brought ‘Sacrament’, a stunning example of how diverse, articulate and pummelling metal can be. It’s a record that emphasises just how far the band members have come as players, writers and people and stands as a true testament of triumph over adversity. With ‘Sacrament’, Lamb of God has stoked the flames by stripping the flesh to the bone and examining the carnage. The songs are bleak and dark, yet key ingredients of a ride that’s as breathless, exhilarating and terrifying as an overdose.
In 2009, Lamb of God released their sixth studio album ‘Wrath’ which debuted at No. 2 on the billboard top 200. The track ‘Set to Fail’ also received a Grammy nomination amongst other Metal heavyweights such as Megadeth, Slayer, Judas Priest, and Ministry. They spent the remainder of 2009 touring in support of the new album and touring through most of 2010.
On January 26, 2014, Randy Blythe posted a picture and a statement on his Instagram saying he would be taking a long break from Lamb of God. The band, after the then-current album cycle, would be on hiatus, except for some summer festival appearances. By September, however, Blythe revealed that he was planning to release a new Lamb of God record, which uses lyrics he had written while he was incarcerated in 2012 along with his book, Dark Days: A Memoir in early 2015. The band began teasing a new album, with the placeholder title Lamb of God VII via Instagram and Twitter in late April 2015. A website, lambofgodvii.com, initially comprising an empty black screen, went online in early May. The “VII” (the roman numeral for the number seven) refers to the album being the band’s seventh, and does not take into account the first of their albums, released with a slightly different line-up as Burn the Priest. On May 15, 2015, it was announced that the title of the new album ‘VII: Sturm und Drang’, would be released in July via Epic and Nuclear Blast Entertainment.
On April 4, 2017, Blythe said it was time for the band to “really go on hiatus” after their summer North American tour; this was in reference to the first hiatus being on the back of his release from prison and acquittal. On August 10, guitarist Mark Morton confirmed that the band would be going on hiatus but stated that they would still be making music but did not hint at whether this was either for an upcoming release or indeed for Lamb of God at all.
On March 22, 2018, Lamb of God announced that on May 18, 2018, they would release a cover album, Legion: XX under their original name Burn the Priest. It is the band’s first album as Burn the Priest since their 1999 album.
On July 19, 2019, the band released a statement informing that they had indeed parted ways with Chris Adler, with Winds of Plague and former Prong drummer Art Cruz being named the new drummer of Lamb of God. They additionally stated that they had begun pre-production on their forthcoming 10th album.
On February 5, 2020, the band released “Checkmate” as the debut single from their self-titled album, ‘Lamb of God’, which marks the first song to feature new drummer Art Cruz. The album was initially planned to be released on May 8, but was postponed to June 19, 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Members
Art Cruz (2019 – present)
Chris Adler (1999 – 2019)
John Campbell (1999 – present)
Mark Morton (1999 – present)
Randy Blythe (1999 – present)
Willie Adler (1999 – present)