I don’t think it is possible to overstate how pivotal 2003 was for Lamb of God. As the Palaces Burn was an unequivocal success, and deservedly so. It was 38 minutes of all out headbanging ferocity built on an updated take on classic thrash, Swedish influences, and some major groove. However, they unleashed this monster at a time when MTV was looking to recreate (read: re-cash in) a focus on metal. As the culture makers were launching the new and somewhat improved Headbangers Ball, they were looking for young, loud, and (whether or not they’d admit it) American talent, to hold up as bastions of the modern metal scene. Lamb of God, Shadows Fall, and to a lesser degree, Mastodon fit the bill perfectly, and were featured weekly on the show, along with the network’s other unfortunate focus, metalcore of the eye liner and girl jean variety. And of course, there is not just Headbangers Ball “the show”; there is “the tour”, “the albums”, and the list will probably go on and on. Fortunately, these three bands were supporting stellar albums and deserved this exposure, unlike many of the other bands that spring boarded into the mainstream. With all this success and attention, there has been much speculation about how these three bands will follow up their success. And all will be made clear soon, as each of these bands is releasing a new album in the next month. Having heard all three, I’d say that Mastodon made a better album, and Shadows Fall a slightly weaker one. And Lamb of God? Well, they made more or less the same album—and I’m not complaining one fucking bit.

On Ashes of the Wake, Lamb of God have picked up exactly where they left off and have served up a second course of first class metal. It’s all back—the neck breaking riffs, crunching thrash, and monster grooves. Also back is Randy Blythe’s deeper, growling bark that was a welcome evolution from the higher pitched shriek of the New American Gospel days. And although he does still use that approach from time to time, it now sounds much more controlled. Blythe also unleashes several of those major league, blow your hair back, peel your face screams. “Laid to Rest” is the first single and opens the album in style. A demo version of this track has been available for download for the last couple months, so I assume that most fans have heard this song. For me, the only question was whether the band would sustain this quality throughout the album, rather than run out of gas or start experimenting. No worries, Ashes of the Wake starts and finishes in fifth gear. In fact, it is difficult to even pick out the stand out tracks; the album is consistently good. “The Faded Line” is as good as any though, and it and “Hourglass” are early candidates for favorites. They each incorporate all the weapons in the Lamb of God arsenal and all have tight thrash-n-groove riffs that get the head bouncing and keep it bouncing.

One notable change on this album is the much improved production. This gives the songs a more robust sound and also makes the drums a bit more prominent. And hey, if you’ve got a drummer like Chris Adler, you play to your strengths. His playing accentuates the riffs perfectly. A million drummers play fast, the difference is in the details—what you add and vary, and more often than not Adler has the right answer.

I suppose some will criticize the band for not branching out enough from their last album. And there is some validity to that, but the band has developed such a distinct and successful balance of styles and between old and new that I just can’t complain about getting more of the same. It is not as fresh the second time around, but Ashes of the Wake still packs quite a punch.