Since its formation, Lamb of God has released six studio albums, one live album, and three DVDs. The band's cumulative sales equal almost two million in the United States. In 2007 the band received a Grammy nomination for their 2006 album Sacrament. Lamb of God has toured with the Ozzfest twice and appeared on Slayer's The Unholy Alliance Tour in 2006. They have also played at many other major festivals around the world including Download Festival and Sonisphere Festival in the UK, Soundwave Festival and Gigantour. Recently, (as in 2008-2009) they have toured with Metallica (World Magnetic Tour). Lamb of God will be on the main stage of Rockstar Mayhem Festival in 2010.
History
In 1994, guitarist Mark Morton, drummer Chris Adler and bassist John Campbell started a band named Burn the Priest. The band members knew each other from the college they were all attending, Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, Virginia.[4] Morton left the band soon after its inception to receive his master's degree. Adler and Campbell replaced Morton with Abe Spear. For the next five years, the band practiced in Richmond and around Virginia. In 1995, the band released its self-titled first demo. After the demo, Burn the Priest recorded two split albums with Agents of Satan and ZED respectively.[5] After the band's first three demos, Burn the Priest added vocalist Randall Blythe to its line up.[5]
In 1997, Morton returned to the band. Two years later, the band released its first full-length self-titled album, Burn the Priest, through Legion Records. Mikey Bronsnan of Legion Records saved up $2,500 for the recording and then broke them in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania through DIY shows.[6] The album was produced by Today Is the Day guitarist and vocalist Steve Austin. Spear left the band, leaving an open position for a guitarist. Chris Adler's brother, Willie Adler, became the band's second guitarist a year later, and a deal with Prosthetic Records was signed.[5] After being banned from playing in certain places (some venue owners believing the band possessed an "evil" name),[7] Burn the Priest changed their name to Lamb of God.
New American Gospel and As the Palaces Burn (2000–2003)
With a new name and label, the band released its second album, New American Gospel, in September 2000.[8] Patrick Kennedy of Allmusic compared the band to Pantera stating, "The essential signatures of post-Pantera metal are in abundance on Lamb of God's inaugural album. New American Gospel provides a mighty oak upon which gritty American metal's faith is maintained, effectively bridging the '90s' insistence upon drill-sergeant technicality and the old school's determined focus on riff construction."[8] Chris Adler commented: "This is a classic record. We had all the elements come together to make one of the heaviest, yet contagious records of our career. It was difficult to contain us—we didn't even understand at the time what we had created."[9]
Lamb of God toured for two years before releasing its third studio album, As the Palaces Burn, on May 6, 2003. Kirk Miller of Rolling Stone gave the album three out of five stars, writing that "unlike many of their overreaching, Slipknot-influenced contemporaries, Lamb of God deliver a meticulously crafted metal assault."[10] The album was voted the number one album of 2003 by both Revolver Magazine and Metal Hammer. The band toured on the first Headbangers Ball tour, where they recorded a DVD including live performances and a documentary, titled Terror and Hubris. The DVD was a success, debuting at number 31 on the Billboard Top Music Videos chart.[11][12]
Ashes of the Wake (2004–2005)
Lamb of God released Ashes of the Wake in August 2004, which debuted at number 27 on the Billboard 200, and sold over 35,000 copies in its first week.[13][14] The album was distributed through the band's new record label, Epic Records. Johnny Loftus of Allmusic praised the album, saying "With the genre getting clogged by PVC goofs and Alice in Chains impersonators, Lamb of God balances the equation of power, rage, tradition, and craft. It kills the filler."[15] The title track of the album featured Testament and ex–Megadeth guitarists Alex Skolnick and Chris Poland, respectively.[15]
The band supported Ashes of the Wake with extensive touring, including a second stage slot on Ozzfest in 2004,[16] and the 2005 Sounds of the Underground tour.[17] The band was awarded 2nd Best Album of the Year by Revolver Magazine behind Mastodon's Leviathan, and was awarded Best Music Video for "Now You've Got Something to Die For" (2005).[18] While on tour, the band recorded a performance and released it with the name of Killadelphia. The release was made available as a DVD and a CD.[19] The DVD was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2007.[20]
In 2006, the first single from the album, "Laid to Rest", was featured as a playable track in Guitar Hero II[1] and rereleased for Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, and was later used as downloadable content for Rock Band[2].
Sacrament (2005–2007)
In August 2006 Lamb of God released its fifth studio album, Sacrament. The album debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 and sold nearly 65,000 copies in its first week of sales, nearly doubling the first week sales of Ashes of the Wake.[13] The album received generally positive reviews, with Cosmo Lee of Stylus Magazine stating, "Sacrament has the band's most memorable songs to date. Musically, there's no fat. The band plays with laser precision and songs move smoothly through riffs and transitions."[21] Ed Thompson of IGN referred to Sacrament "one of the best metal albums of 2006",[22] and Jon Pareles of Blender called it a "speed rush all the way through".[23]
The band appeared on major tours to support the album, including The Unholy Alliance with Slayer, Mastodon, Children of Bodom, and Thine Eyes Bleed,[24] Gigantour, supporting Megadeth;[25] main stage at Ozzfest;[16] an appearance at the Download Festival, and an exclusive co-headlining tour with Killswitch Engage, Soilwork, and Devil Driver where Killswitch Engage and Lamb of God shared headlining spots alternately each show.[26] Lamb of God was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 2007 Grammy Awards for "Redneck", but lost out to Slayer's "Eyes of the Insane".[27]
In December 2007, the band re-released the album as Sacrament: Deluxe Producer Edition. The release contained all of the original songs from Sacrament on the first disc, and the second disc was a CD-ROM featuring all of the vocal, bass, guitar, and drum tracks in 192kbit/s MP3 format, enabling the buyer to produce their own interpretation of the songs. Blythe stated, "you sometimes have to do something special to get kids to even buy an album these days rather than download it."[28] The band is taking a break to write new material throughout 2008 and prepare a new record for release, slated for 2009. The band is negotiating for a new record label to distribute records outside the United States. Chris Adler stated Epic Records in the United States "couldn't be more perfect", but wants a different label for international releases.[29] The band later inked a deal with Roadrunner on 1 May 2008 for distribution outside the United States.[citation needed]
Walk with Me in Hell and Wrath (2008 onward)
In August, 2008, it was announced that the band had commenced work on the follow-up to Sacrament, and that its release was scheduled for February, 2009. Josh Wilbur was also named as the producer for the record.[30] They will also be touring with Metallica as a direct support act starting in December 2008.[31]
The recording process of the new record was made available to view online live through the band's website, with two webcams installed in the studio (specifically in the drum room and mixing room).[32]
Their latest album is named Wrath [33] and was released on February 23, 2009 internationally via Roadrunner Records and on February 24, 2009 in America via Epic Records. The album is dedicated to Mikey Bronsnan, who helped them get started in Philadelphia, PA. In November 2008, Bronsnan was killed by a drunk driver. According to drummer Chris Adler, "Without Mikey, we'd very well might not be a band today."[34] Drummer Chris Adler was quoted saying "This album is going to surprise a lot of people. Typically bands that get to where we are in our career begin to slack off, smell the roses and regurgitate. We chose a different path. No one wants to hear another band member hyping a new record. ‘Wrath’ needs no hype. We have topped ourselves and on February 24 you will feel it." With that said, "Wrath" debuted on the Billboard 200 at number two, selling over 68,000 copies in its first week.[35]
In support of Wrath, the band in spring of 2009 embarked on the first leg of their world tour, No Fear Energy Tour headlined by themselves with main support from Children of Bodom and As I Lay Dying, and rotating opening slots with God Forbid and Municipal Waste.[36] The tour was a massive success for the band with rave reviews and large turnouts at each show. The band played in Europe in the summer to perform with Metallica on the World Magnetic Tour along with Mastodon, while also playing headlining shows of their own and performing at major European festivals. For the final six dates of the tour, Unearth's Buz McGrath filled in for Mark Morton, as he left early to be with his wife and his first child.
Lamb of God has been announced to also serve as Metallica's direct support for the North American leg of their 2009 world tour, as well as finishing the year off by headlining shows in Australia and New Zealand with Shadows Fall and DevilDriver.
Commenting on the dispute over lineup slots at the UK Sonisphere Festival where Limp Bizkit were booked into the slot previously given to Machine Head, Willie Adler said of Limp Bizkit "I wouldn’t wanna open up for Limp Bizkit! They’ve been out of the scene for so long, I mean, who cares? Who cares about Limp Bizkit? [...] Fuck those dudes! Fuck that band, and fuck all the people who work for that fuckin’ band!" [37]
Lamb of God has also been nominated for a Grammy in 2010 for the Best Metal Performance category, with "Set to Fail" but lost out to Judas Priest.
Lamb of God will be playing Download Festival 2010 after being confirmed via the official Download Festival website at 00.30 on February 16th 2010, this will be their third time at Download Festival.
Happy Birthday Congregation!
The Congregation is entering it's 4th year, and we welcome you to come along for the ride! In honor of this most awesome occasion, the Year 4 Congregation shirt and patch are available NOW!
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METAL!!!
Lamb of God's "Walk With Me In Hell" Goes Platinum
'Walk With Me In Hell', the third DVD from Richmond, VA's metal icons LAMB OF GOD, has officially reached platinum status. The DVD originally debuted at #2 on BillboardÃs Video Music chart, selling over 13,000 units in its first week of release. 'Walk With Me In Hell' shipped gold that week and came in behind pop mainstay John Mayer.LAMB OF GOD's prior DVD, the platinum-certified 'Killadelphia,' sold 8,000 units in its first week and debuted at #4 on the charts.
The band is currently in Europe touring to support their latest album, 'Wrath', which exploded onto the Billboard 200 back in February, debuting at #2 and selling over 67,000 units in its first week.
