Lamb Of God: New Resolution

11 January 2012

by Rod Whitfield

For well over a decade and a half, Richmond, Virginia's Lamb of God have been flying the flag of uncompromising American heavy metal across the world. Forming in 1994 as Burn the Priest, the band have released six crushing albums, and are set to release their seventh in early 2012. For drummer, founding member and the very un-rock star like Chris Adler, the band has never been about cashing in on trends or softening their sound and approach to cater for a broader audience or radio playlists.

“I definitely think that one of the things that we all rally against is kind of having things getting watered down, or softening up as we go on,” he states with conviction, “you know, seeing some of the bands that we loved as kids get older, and the material gets weaker, and they find a hit that's a ballad and then the next record is all ballads. It's so disappointing as a fan. So we, as fans, want to stay true to why we're doing this. It's not to fit in, it's not to sell a million records. Metal has always been about being outside of the mainstream, regardless of how popular we are, or how popular metal gets, that concept is still really important to me. Just to understand that it's about rebellion and that's kind of the point. So we don't want to lighten up, or try to appease more people. We're interested in staying on the edge.”

This attitude and philosophy very much continues on the new album, the aptly titled Resolution, in fact they even seem to ram the point home even harder on the newie. With all members now around the 40-year mark, one could forgive them for easing back on the accelerator a little and creating music that may give them a slightly cushier ride. Especially in a day and age where making a living from music is becoming more and more difficult. But the new album is as crushing and combative in style as ever, and Chris and the band are extremely happy with the results of their efforts.

“Incredible,” Adler enthuses, “I'm really proud of my own performance, and the guys', and the way we kinda all came together and really made this thing happen. And it was not necessarily a surprise, but we didn't take it for granted that we could just do this.

“One of the things that we kept in mind from the beginning, was that, being fans of music and heavy bands, I don't know any band that I like, where I would say that my favourite record was their seventh record!” he laughs, “It's usually the first, second or third. So knew coming in, that if we're going to keep making records, and we don't have to keep making records, but if we're going to keep making them, we have to keep making something that's as important and relevant and gets to the people that are listening to us as much as anything we've done before. And it's not easy to do. So we have to really dig deep and improve upon the things that we do already as well as we can. It's a lot of effort on our part but in the end, like I said, we're all very, very proud of the result.”

The album arrives at a very convenient time for Aussie Lamb Of God fans, since it drops just a few weeks before the band arrives Down Under for another appearance at the massive Soundwave Festival, where they feature alongside what is pretty much a who's who of heavy music on the planet, such as System of a Down, Slipknot, Devin Townsend, Machine Head, Gojira and so many more. Our country holds a special place in the band's heart. “One of my favourite places in the world is Melbourne, Australia,” he states, “I've got a friend there Doug, from Rare Records who helped me secure my VISA stuff, and to move there would be my goal in life.

“We all genuinely love being down there,” he goes on, “ and the way the Soundwave Festival is run, from the top to the bottom, including all the different types of bands that are on there, it's always been a lot of fun and a really easy and comfortable way to tour. We love the people, we love coming there in the summer, it's a nice break from here, where it's snowy and crap. It's perfect all round man, we couldn't ask for anything more!”