Chris’ Review:

Wrath starts with an intriguing pair of opening tracks that make a heavy statement based more on guitar textures and subtle tension than I would expect from Lamb of God. Just as unexpectedly, they pull it off extremely well and left me excited to hear where else they would take this new style.

Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed that the rest of the album didn’t take as many risks and relied heavily on LoG’s familiar percussive metal precision. While they do this as well as anyone, more than a couple songs feel like they’re at least a minute too long. My only other complaints come when the vocals go Full Anselmo over the otherwise outstanding production.

Wrath may barely squeak over the high bar that Lamb of God has set for themselves, but that means you can still find some pretty fine metal on this album.

Chris’ Rating:

King says: “Very likely to be in heavy rotation on my annual Easter Egg Hunt soundtrack this year.”

Justin’s Review:

Over the course of their career, Lamb of God have haven’t strayed too far from what they do best… and that’s fine by me. Wrath is another of LoG’s professed “pure American metal” offerings, and while it may not be braking any new barriers, it certainly delivers some memorable riffage.

After some backlash over Sacrament (come on people… it’s not that bad), LoG have simultaneously spread their wings (the Opeth-ish ending of In Your Words is a nice splash of variety), and gone back to a more straight-ahead approach (Set to Fail and Contractor are perfect examples of what I assume “pure American metal” should sound like… pummeling from the get-go and deserving of numerous repeat listens). Bravo on both accounts.

As with most Lamb of God albums, Wrath has a few sleepy-time-tracks (is it me, or does the beginning of Choke Sermon sound an awful lot like another LoG song you might’ve played on Guitar Hero?); but really, who gives a shit about those? That’s what iTunes playlists are for!

As a side note… the Wrath Deluxe Edition offers up a second disc containing mp3s of the base tracks (drums, bass, guitars and vocals) for every song on the album. So if you are into dicking around in Garageband or enjoy heavy metal karaoke, I’d suggest picking up this version.

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “Man… Chris Adler fucking rules…”

 

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