Despite mainstream television distancing themselves ever further from what’s cool, and a handful of other disappointing “metal” ventures, 2009 surely showed us a good time.

First and foremost, this was a killer year for releases from both veterans and young-bloods alike. Quality albums seemed to be dropping on a weekly basis (including some great re-releases), and the fall release schedule was unlike anything I’d ever seen… chock full of outstanding records from the likes of likes of Baroness, Immortal, Skeletonwitch, Slayer and more. There was barely enough time to keep track of everything, and I’m certain I’ll still be listening with fresh ears well into the new year.

This year also presented us with some amazingly well-crafted documentaries in Flight 666 and Anvil! The Story of Anvil. In addition to being extremely enjoyable, both films have received critical acclaim, and hopefully, helped dispel some of the bias towards metalheads worldwide (we’re not all dip-shit losers after all).

2009 has also given us a variety of cool things to spend our money on, including but not limited to: Mercyful Fate shoes, heavy metal cookbooks, Enslaved vinyl box sets, Precious Metal, and plenty of challenging tracks for the little plastic baby guitars we all own.

From the looks of it, 2010 will continue to ride the wave of awesomeness with new releases from Dillinger, High on Fire, Meshuggah, Nachtmystium, Torche (and more); as well as fantastic tours and another promising documentary for us to enjoy. Here’s to hoping we all continue to deliver. Happy New Year y’all.

Stay Heavy.

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…”

 

Download audio file (Set_To_Fail-Drums.mp3)