Lamb of God - Lamb of God (2020)

Epic/Nuclear Blast Records, June 19, 2020

Tracklist

1. Memento Mori

2. Checkmate

3.Gears

4. Reality Bath

5. New Colossal Hate

6. Resurrection Man

7. Poison Dream
8. Routes
9. Bloodshot Eyes
10. On the Hook
11. Ghost Shaped People (bonus)

Whenever a band self-titles an upcoming project eight albums into their career, it can  be for any number of reasons. In Lamb of God's case, the title acts as a statement that this project is through and through, unmistakably a Lamb of God album. If you are a fan of the Richmond-based metal crew, you know what you are getting here, as Lamb of God doubles down on the elements that make them unique. However, one noticeable thing has changed - the lineup. New drummer Art Cruz appears on his first album with the band, replacing Chris Adler who left in 2019.  

Due to the release date getting pushed back to June, Lamb of God premiered several singles from the album ahead of its release. These early tracks range in quality from excellent to average. The first of these was "Checkmate", which is structurally and stylistically similar to "Ghost Walking" off the Resolution album.  It is pretty decent, but nothing remarkable. "Memento Mori" was the second single release, and as far as opening tracks go it's a perfect choice.   Reminiscent of the sound on VII: Sturm und Drang while sounding unique, "Memento Mori" incorporates rare clean vocals from Randy Blythe along with a moody atmosphere and a dynamic sound.  "New Colossal Hate" is a pretty standard Lamb of God song, and "Routes" was the fourth and final single to be released.  Inspired by Randy Blythe's trip to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation during the NODAPL protests, "Routes" is one of the stronger songs on the album and features Testament vocalist Chuck Billy (who himself is Native American).  This track is relentless and thrashy yet melodic.  Along with "Poison Dream", which features Jamey Jasta, "Memento Mori" and "Routes" are the best songs on this self-titled effort.

Randy Blythe is a very intelligent man and this is clear in his writing.  The majority of the songs here are focused on a current societal issue and deal with it in a nuanced way. His lyricism is very strong whether he's discussing school shootings ("Reality Bath") the opioid crisis ("On the Hook") xenophobia ("New Colossal Hate") or the Dakota Access pipeline ("Routes"). On a local scale, "On the Hook" is especially relevant within the band's home state of Virginia.  The lyrics discuss the prevalent narcotic addiction and unemployment in the southwest area of the state (and Appalachia coal country in general) after the closure of the mines.  However, the heavy "Resurrection Man" seems a bit out of place topically, as it pays homage to the old Mercyful Fate song "Evil" and the lyrics are not as strong compared with the rest of the album.  

Overall, this is thoroughly a Lamb of God album that will satisfy all fans of the band.  That being said, this band has stronger albums in their discography.  It's not something I would consider their magnum opus or an album that breaks new ground, but it holds true to their Pure American Metal standard.   Lamb of God continues to consistently deliver quality, and this album receives a 7.5/10 rating. 

Hollow Front - Loose Threads (2020)

Independent release, June 19, 2020

Tracklist

1. Afflicted

2. Nameless

3. Loose Threads

4. Left Behind

5. Vagabond

6. Wishful Thinking

7. Falling Apart
8. P.A.N.I.C.
9. Ghosted
10. The Itch
11. Serendipity

Hollow Front is an independent Michigan-based metalcore band. Their debut full-length, Hollow Threads, is their first release in two years, following an EP called Still Life which was put out on local label Beckwith Records. This group plays a style of metalcore in the vein of bands like Invent Animate, Wage War or Fit For a King that occasionally veers into a heavier direction.  The atmospheric opener "Afflicted" belies Hollow Front's aggressive side, as this track is actually much more melodic than the rest of the album. "Afflicted" is a clear highlight which shows the band's strengths right away.  Also appearing early on, the title track follows a similar direction, again emphasizing guitarist Dakota Alvarez's clean vocals in the beginning before the heavy sections that come later.  Both of these tracks retain a nice back-and-forth dynamic between the cleans and Tyler Tate's harsh vocals.  Dakota Alvarez's vocals are underutilized in this album and I would have liked to hear more from him.  He's got a great voice and deserves to be prominent on more than just two out of eleven tracks.

The band shows a few different sides to their sound.  While the two most melodic tracks show up at the start of the album, the most aggressive ones appear towards the end.  Tracks nine and ten, "Ghosted" and "The Itch", are the heaviest songs.  Both are intense, breakdown-heavy and cross over into deathcore territory.   Elsewhere, Loose Threads has an inclination for incorporating keyboards into heavy tracks. "Nameless" and "Falling Apart" use a simple keyboard line for some contrast atop an aggressive sound with vocals that are predominantly screamed.  Here they seem to be going for a similar style as Make Them Suffer's "Widower", and it works for them.  "P.A.N.I.C." also has a brief quiet keyboard section in the middle. 

Loose Threads does show room for growth.  Tracks like "Left Behind" and "Wishful Thinking" are merely average and lack a strong hook or staying power apart from with an interesting guitar line in the opening.  The album's pacing could also be improved as we have a long stretch of similar sounding aggressive metalcore tracks following the first three tracks.  The tracklist is a bit unbalanced and seems to just get heavier and more aggressive as it goes along.  While their sound isn't particularly unique, this is not an issue for a group at such an early stage of their career.  Hollow Front is a promising young band with room to grow and further develop their own identity in the future.   For now, they have a solid debut album to their credit which gets a score of 7/10.

Haste the Day - Attack of the Wolf King (2010)

Solid State Records, June 29, 2010

Tracklist

1.Wake Up the Sun

2. Dog Like Vultures

3.The Quiet, Deadly Ticking

4. Travesty

5.Merit for Sadness

6.The Un-Manifest

7. The Place Where Most Deny
8. White As Snow
9. Crush Resistance
10. Walk With a Crooked Spin
11. My Name is Darkness

This entry is one in a series of ten-year retrospectives from my favorite albums of 2010.

There seems to be a theme of wolves within Christian metalcore, with bands such as Wolves at the Gate and To Speak of Wolves making their mark in the scene.  Before Wolves at the Gate released their debut album, there was Attack of the Wolf King, which I consider to be Haste the Day’s best and most engaging album by a wide margin.  The band has had some lineup changes over the years most notably with original harsh vocalist Jimmy Ryan leaving before Pressure the Hinges and returning after the band reunited.  The band has definitely made some catchy and memorable songs over the years like “Stitches”, “Chorus of Angels” and “When Everything Falls”, but the albums themselves tended to be follow a similar formula the whole way through.  Attack of the Wolf King, however, mixes different styles and moods showing different creative ideas and within the metalcore genre.

This album is not short of standout tracks.  “Travesty” has an upbeat chorus and sounds bright and uplifting, while “Crush Resistance” is aggressive and menacing.  Taking a slower approach but still heavily guitar driven is “White As Snow”.  This song follows an alternative metal style and is capped off with an excellent guitar riff that stands in place of a bridge.  As one would infer from the title and cover art, the lyrics are themed around sheep and wolves (and also include multiple references to jackals).  Stephen Keech's vocals also are much improved from his first album, particularly the lower range screaming.  

The songwriting is another strong point, as the songs use metaphors to tell a story and making good use of imagery.  Some of the songs are rather clear in terms of their message like "Travesty", which talks about grace, while others like "Walk With a Crooked Spine" are more ambiguous.  The sheep and wolf theme stays consistent throughout the album, and it's a nicely done concept record.  As a whole, Attack of the Wolf King is easily the most interesting and diverse album Haste the Day has released.  It earns a score of 8/10. 

My Top 25 Hard Rock and Metal Albums of 2019

Earlier in 2020, I finalized and published an in-depth list of my favorite metal and hard rock albums from that year.  I am uploading that Google Docs file to this blog as well, and may individually revisit some of these albums on my blog as the need arises.  The full ranking is below, and you can follow the link below for a detailed explanation of my choices.

The Full Breakdown

The Basic List:  

25. Insomnium - Heart Like a Grave (Oct 4) 7/10

24. Valis Ablaze - Render (Jul 19) 7/10

23. Downfall of Gaia - Ethic of Radical Finitude (Feb 8) 7/10

22. Gravemind - Conduit (Jul 19) 7.5/10

21. Mark Morton - Anesthetic (Mar 1) 7.5/10

20. Fever 333 - Strength in Numb333rs (Jan 11) 7.5/10

19. Palisades - Erase the Pain (Dec 28) 7.5/10

18. Wrvth - No Rising Sun (Aug 23) 7.5/10

17. Wolves at the Gate - Eclipse (Jul 26) 7.5/10

16. Lacuna Coil - Black Anima (Oct 11) 7.5/10

15.  La Dispute - Panorama (Mar 22) 8/10

14. Killswitch Engage - Atonement (Aug 16) 8/10

13. Jinjer - Macro (Oct 25) 8/10

12. Death Angel - Humanicide (May 31) 8/10

11. Dayseeker - Sleeptalk (Sep 27) 8/10

10.  Tool - Fear Inoculum (Aug 30) 8/10

9. Fire From the Gods - American Sun (Nov 1) 8/10

8. After the Burial - Evergreen (Apr 19) 8/10

7. Auras - Binary Garden (Jul 12) 8.5/10

6. Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind (Aug 9) 8.5/10

5. Cult of Luna - A Dawn to Fear (Sep 20) 9/10

4. Fit For An Autopsy - The Sea of Tragic Beasts (Oct 25) 9/10

3. Thousand Below - Gone In Your Wake (Oct 4) 9/10

2. Unprocessed - Artificial Void (Aug 9) 9.5/10

1. Northlane - Alien (Aug 2) 10/10