There’s a moment during this album when the music stops, frontman Randy Blythe utters one commandment “go!” and after a brief silence, the music crashes in. It’s a moment where you don’t just feel the inevitable wall of death closing in, but also the acceptance of Randall Blythe as one of the great voices of modern metal. A voice who not only has complete command of the music, but also his audience too.
The song, ‘Blunt Force Blues’, is a track which in more ways that one signals that Lamb Of God are not just back, but back with a vengeance. The early singles should have been a forewarning. ‘Parasocial Christ’ being one of those face obliterating moments, whilst the title track shades back to their earlier Ashes Of The Wake days. ‘Blunt Force Blues’ rides in on a riff made from molten metal before fully embracing the groove that made Lamb Of God so exciting in the first place.
Outside of these tracks is where it gets interesting though. ‘The Killing Floor’ is a highlight, with its staccato riffing playing off a brutal rhythm. It’s as heavy as Lamb Of God have ever got, although ‘Bully’ pushes this to the limits later on. ‘St Catherine’s Wheel’ threatens to set fire just like the proverbial firework, whilst ‘Devise/Destroy’ rattles the album to a brutal stop. It’s not all molten riffs though and when they slow it down on the impressive ‘El Vacio’, you really get a sense of how in command of their sound the band are. ‘A Thousand Years’ is another moment, with Blythe’s vocals being particularly potent.
Lamb Of God don’t make bad albums, although you sense a divisiveness in their fan base at times with a yearning for the more groove oriented date of Ashes Of The Wake and Sacrament. They are a band who have been on their own particular journey though, going through some dark periods at times, and there is a sense of revitalisation and “fuck you” attitude on In Oblivion. It’s their state of the union address, and they mean business. The album is not just a return to heady form, but also one that sounds like a new chapter has begun. Essential listening.
