Lamb of God are here with their tenth studio album, Into Oblivion, an almost 40-minute barrage of metalcore-infused groove metal with heavy riffs and gurgling screams to prove they’re not here to fuck around and 26 years after their debut, they’re still as nasty as ever.#
One thing I’ve come to realise writing reviews this year is that, for a good number of the bands I’m talking about, I’ve missed a handful of their later releases. Most of my catalogue, at least where Lamb of God is concerned, stopped at around 2006 with their album Sacrament. That’s five albums I’ve missed out on, so I guess I have some homework to do.
That being said, Into Oblivion doesn’t feel like an album dropped twenty years after Sacrament. Something that plagues heavy bands that have a lengthy catalogue is that, over the years, their music becomes too overproduced, too polished, or steers more toward a softer, radio-friendly vibe. Lamb of God, on the other hand, are as consistent as ever with this album. As someone only familiar with their more popular records, I’m surprised just how well this is with Ashes of the Wake and As the Palaces Burn.
It’s a new record in the sense that the music is new, but not a band trying to do something different. Lamb of God do what they do well, and this record doesn’t feel like they were trying to evolve or progress as a band. Into Oblivion is, from what I’ve seen online, a return to the band’s roots, and despite not being overly familiar with their apparently more experimental records from the past couple of years, I think this is a welcome return.
There’s an energy that oozes from this album that I’ve come to expect from Lamb of God. It’s a rabid animal ripping and tearing their way through flesh as, track after track, you’re swiped at with the distinctive groove metal riffs and Randy’s guttural vocal delivery, all while the drums pound at your head, reminding you of what Lamb of God is capable of.
Stylistically, the album is through and through a groove metal album, but in certain tracks there is a touch of metalcore and even doom metal, blended into the band’s sound in such a way that it doesn’t feel overly jarring. When the band mellows out in tracks like El Vacio or A Thousand Years, it’s not a ballad; it’s still crushing, but just slightly less weight. That’s something I’ve always applauded with Lamb of God; they can bring the level down slightly but remain, at its core, heavy without being too soft.
Overall, Into Oblivion is unequivocally a Lamb of God album. That’s all that needs to be said here. For me, it sits comfortably among Ashes of the Wake and As the Palaces Burn, but with a slightly more modern production. It’s not squeaky clean and polished, but it’s not as distinctly raw either; it’s a middle ground that I can live with. The album also isn’t trying too hard to be a throwback album, either; it just kinda… is?
Score: 7.5/10
Into Oblivion by Lamb of God dropped on March 13 via Epic Records.