Tag Archives: lamb of god

Relentless – Brother Von Doom [Review]

Posted on February 4, 2009 | Leave a comment

Relentless is the first full-length studio release from Deathcote records’ own Brother Von Doom. Released September 23rd, 2008.

Brother Von Doom Relentless

From start to finish, this album is a terrifying adventure through some pissed off, face-smashing riffage and solos. The opening track, “Barbarian Destroyer” starts out with some chugging and doom-impending symphonic leads. That’s the last part of the album that isn’t 110% shred. “Eater of Days” is the next track on the album, and starts out with some staccato riffs, and thus the adventure begins.

The vocals on the album aren’t all that good, however, with some of the worst enunciation I have heard in a while (at it’s worst at the beginning of “Eater of Days”). The timbre of Wilson’s growls are great however, and so are his higher pitched screams. seems to have the full arsenal of harsh metal vocal techniques, as well as the range.

The absolute best part of this album though, are the most pissed-off and brutal guitar parts I have ever heard (or, close to it at the very least). As I mentioned before, Relentless is a non-stop barrage of rape-tastic riffs, that will make you want to punch babies or something. Then there are the blistering guitar solos all over the place. The only thing missing as far as guitar goes are sections with chords in them. It’s an all-out riff-fest, all the time. I personally enjoy it a lot, but it leaves the album a bit empty at times, and makes the album seem shorter than it really is (it clocks in at around 37 minutes). Without breaks in the shredding, it all starts to sound the same by the time the end of the album rolls around.

As unrelenting and unidimensional the album it is, it’s still a great listen. What it is lacking simply seems to be the style of what they were aiming for anyway, similar to the Lamb of God approach. A good mix of thrash, technical death, deathcore, and a few other metal sub-genres, Brother Von Doom have found a sound uniquely their own. One hell of a first full-length, that’s for sure.

Track picks: “Judas Kiss” and “Echoes of the Undead” (though, there is not a single weak track on the album)

Overall score: 8/10 devil horns

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Wrath – Lamb of God [Review]

Posted on February 3, 2009 | 1 comment

Wrath is the fifth full-length studio album by southern metalers Lamb of God. Released on February 24th under Epic Records, Roadrunner Records outside of North America.

lamb of god album art

Wrath. There’s a lot of things that have been floating around with album, and there’s been quite a fair amount of buzz (unsurprising since Lamb of God are of the most famous metal bands in the US today). Randy Blythe hasn’t said much about the album, other than it’s not going to be a slacker album, and will be much heavier than recent released by the Virginians.

Wrath is quite clearly and emphatically a Lamb of God album. They have not changed their sound much at all really, but they have stepped it up a notch (or, a few notches from Sacrament). The guys seem to be in tip top metal shape for this effort, and I can really appreciate it.

As far as Lamb of God goes, there are really two “eras” – the early days and the later stuff. The first two albums were really rough and abrasive, and didn’t really have great production. The later two albums lost most of the abrasive sound for more groove riffs and stellar production. Wrath really is a genuine example of the perfect middle ground of these two. Lamb of God have gotten back to the face-tearing, genital-crushing sound they used to have, except it no longer sounds as though it was recorded in a tin can.

The album starts out with a very cliché acoustic guitar part that is okay. From there, they kick in the guitars with overdrive with the heart-wrenching weepy guitars. Just like every other metal album before it (fine, that’s an exaggeration, but we have all heard this a thousand times). While cliché, this is totally different than anything Lamb of God has delivered us before. The track immediately following it is similar, where we get to hear some vocal timbre that Blythe has not used. From the start it is quite obvious they’re taking Wrath in a different direction.

Following the tastes of new stuff are the first singles from the album, “Contractor” and “Set to Fail” – these songs are more up Lamb of God’s alley, and sound like something that could have been lifted straight from As The Palaces Burn or Ashes of the Wake. The rest of the album is still obviously Lamb of God material, but seems to have a bit more attitude and “fuck you” to it.

The last track on the album, “Reclamation” is a great pure metal ending track for an album. The sound of the crashing waves in the beginning/end paired with the down-tuned acoustic guitars is a great sound. A 7:05 epic to close out the beast that is this album, and it is more perfect than I could have ever imagined, employing a lot of interesting guitar work not featured in the rest of the album – from the harmonies to the melodies, it all has a different mood about it, perhaps one of a less aggressive and hateful mood, but more of a depressed yet hopeful mood.

As far as instrumentation goes, Chris Adler is bringing it as hard as ever on this album, and keeps climbing the ranks of metal drummers out there today (still has a long way to go, however – gotta get some speed and more technicality in there). Willie Adler and Mark Morton really aren’t impressing me any more than before, other than the guitar work in “Fake Messiah” – now that’s some good work, boys. Speaking of guitar work, there are some damn fine solos on this album. The best of said solos appear in “Set to Fail” – that solo melts face.

All in all, this album is the best effort from Lamb of God to date, in my estimations. They have finally gotten their sound down, and it feels so natural, as opposed to the forced feel of Sacrament and the practice-session feel of New American Gospel. From start to finish, this album delivers the goods – in a coarse and brutal package. Wrath is right, Lamb of God – you nailed it on this one.

Track picks: “Set to Fail” and “Broken Hands”

Overall score: 9/10 devil horns

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Gojira – The Way of All Flesh [Review]

Posted on September 15, 2008 | 6 comments

The Way of All Flesh is the fourth full-length album from French band Gojira. Set to release October 13th in Europe, and October 14 in the United States. This is their second release on world-wide label Prosthetic Records, the third with French label Listenable.

Gojira the Way of All Flesh

First of all, I just want to say that this is a band that does not get the recognition it deserves. I really hope that this album will serve to change that.

The Way of All Flesh seems to have picked up right where From Mars to Sirius left off, almost literally (specifically note the guitar in the opening part of “Oroborus” and the end of “Global Warming”. This is most definitely a good thing, because From Mars to Sirius was one serious progressive death metal album. From their first album on, this band has gotten noticeably better. With From Mars to Sirius being one of my favorite albums as of late, I was very excited to put this one on.

In terms of the album’s structure, there are no problems. I would not say it is a strength either. Interestingly enough, the album’s first single does not appear in the first 3/4 of the album. It is in fact the third to last track, which is something I have not personally encountered very often. The single is an interesting choice, in my mind, however. It is very much unlike most of their music, whereas a lot of their other stuff was very quick-paced, and involved a lot of speed, half of “Vacuity” is slow, and pulsing – then moves to some familiar stuff – then changes to unfamiliar territory once again. A great track all in all, but a surprising choice and placement on the album.

The two main strengths of this album are it’s consistency and strength of the individual songs. Excluding “The Way of All Flesh”, “A Sight to Behold”, and “The Silver Cord” any of the tracks on this album would have made a solid single. The non-single-worthy tracks, however, are almost essential to the album itself. Each provides a fair change of pace, and a break of the monotony that Gojira can become.

The fact that each song on the album is quite distinct is what separates it from From Mars to Sirius, which could really be the only real difference (aside from the obvious fact that the songs are not exactly the same). On From Mars to Sirius all of the songs sort of blended together after a few listens, whereas this is not the case on The Way of All Flesh.

On a more technical note, the production quality of this album is absolutely perfect. The mixes range quite differently at times, sometimes being guitar heavy such as the track “The Art of Dying” but are also very balance at times, such as the track “Esoteric Surgery”. The one thing I noticed that I really like, though some others may dislike, is the volume of the snare drum and toms. I liked the fact that they were fairly loud in the mix for almost the entire album. They have such a bright, crisp sound that adds a lot to the songs that have such a dark sound. The best example I noticed of this is in the track “Yama’s Messengers” where each snare hit is very clear and obvious in the mix, bringing attention from the constant grind of the guitar and bass drum parts.

With a fresh batch of brutal songs, Gojira has put together a very strong fourth release, and in my opinion their best to date (inches out From Mars to Sirius by a nose). While staying in-character and using slow triplets and grinding guitar sections, they have added a few small dimensions to the mix that only help make the listener appreciate the things that make up what Gojira are known for. Where the band goes from here in unknown to me, but I can almost say for certain that it will be good.

Overall score: 9/10 devil horns

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