LAMB OF GOD - Ashes of the Wake: Livestream Review
Pictured: Willie Adler John Campbell Mark Morton Art Cruz + Randy Blythe - LAMB OF GOD
Photo by: Travis Shinn
Rising from the Ashes of the Wake
Written by: Tom Wilson – Sense Music Media
“Whoever reveals to the law against his fellow man is either a fool, or a coward. Whoever cannot take care of themselves without that law is both. For a wounded man should say to his assailant, “If I die, you are forgiven, but if I live, I will kill you. Such is the rule of honour.”
- Randy Blythe, Omerta
Pictured: Art Cruz, Randy Blythe, Willie Adler, Mark Morton + John Campbell
One of the biggest bands of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal scene of the late 90s/early 2000s, LAMB OF GOD have been pulverising eardrums and straining neck muscles for more than two decades. Between relentless tours, Grammy nods and worldwide acclaim, front-man Randy Blythe also found the time to get sober and stay that way for over ten years, and spent almost a year of his life defending himself from manslaughter charges in the Czech Republic (which he was fortunately found not guilty). Original drummer Chris Adler left – somewhat dramatically – and was replaced by PRONG and WINDS OF PLAGUE sticks man Art Cruz. 2020 saw them release their tenth album, Lamb of God, and they performed it front-to-back in a livestream on the 18th.
Now, LAMB OF GOD from Richmond motherfucking Virginia are hitting the online stage again, playing one of their most revered records in its entirety for the first time ever. 2004’s Ashes of the Wake is a searing slice of the world as it was more than fifteen years ago. Released into a musical landscape still reeling from September 11th, the Patriot Act and the invasion of Iraq, this is a record with a lot to say. Randy Blythe is not shy when it comes to speaking his mind, and on this album he lyrically unloaded on the Gulf War’s longer, more depressing sequel (which was only just getting started when this album came out – the Battle of Fallujah happened later that year).
The Review
The livestream is not without its dramatic fanfare. The band take the stage to the sounds of distant battle, before they rip into the famous opening riffs of Laid to Rest, and the metal masterclass begins.
Art Cruz is having an absolutely brilliant time and doesn’t care who knows it, beaming smiles at his bandmates as he pounds away with bassist John Campbell. With massive dreadlocks, a WU-TANG CLAN shirt and one foot up on the monitor, Randy Blythe just might be the coolest guy on the planet as he bellows his way through Now You’ve Got Something To Die For and Omerta.
For guys who have spent the last quarter-century crushing skulls in the live environment, playing a socially distanced set to a bunch of masked-up camera operators instead of an audience must be awkward, but you wouldn’t know it to look at them tonight. With no crowd, the focus is 100% on the five guys onstage, and as the camera stalks and prowls around them, it makes you appreciate just how goddamn well-oiled they are as a group. The riff interplay between Mark Morton and Willie Adler is almost supernaturally tight, as if they’re sharing the same consciousness – Morton the gnarly shape-thrower, Adler almost eerily calm and composed as his fingers race up and down the neck of his guitar.
The set tonight breaks up the album into chunks interspersed with atmospheric segues, giving both the band members and the songs themselves some room to breathe. An eerie passage of reversed speech introduces title track Ashes of the Wake, before Mark and Willie engage “face melt” mode and spend the next few minutes shredding like maniacs.
“I love that song,” Randy says with a smile at the end. “You guys should play it at every show.” Awash in blue stage light and squealing feedback, Blythe introduces the next offering. “This is a song about a house around the corner from here, called “Dirtbag Manor”. It’s for all the residents who wallowed in freakish misery with me there.” Remorse is for the Dead slowly builds into a crushing display of skill, before the Ashes of the Wake set is brought to a close.
Randy starts the encore by remarking that their album New American Gospel is turning 20, and drummer Art reveals that he was twelve years old when that album came out. Randy introduces the first song as being about a run-in he had with the police as a young man, and the band drop the hammer on O.D.H.G.A.B.F.E (Officer Dick Head Gets A Black Fucking Eye). The Subtle Art of Murder and Persuasion follows, before Randy announces the last song.
“We have one more song. It’s a song we don’t play anymore, but because you’re stuck at home, and you can’t sue us, we’ll play it for you,” Randy laughs. It can only be one song, and Art starts pounding his snare to open Black Label, leaving fans wondering how they can pull off a Wall of Death in their living rooms.
The Verdict
If you are a guitarist and found that you couldn’t play worth a damn around 7AM Saturday morning, that’s because LAMB OF GOD were using all of the riffs. Every last one of them. Sorry, but there are only so many to go around.
8/10
Watch
You can still buy a ticket to catch this event, plus some exclusive merch. Better hurry – it expires Sunday night!
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