Kingcrimsonprog
Wrath is Lamb of God's sixth full length studio album. Picking up where Sacrament left off and adding a lot more speed, some more acoustic bits here and there and a lot of straight up metal riffs, the album is a triumph from beginning to end.
Randy's incredible vocals are particularly strong on this new album, in fact he has never sounded better as he Shouts, Screams or Talks (in that creepy Phil Anselmo way) his way through the album with many more voices and sounds than on previous albums. The lyrics are similarly stronger than on previous releases in addition to the vocal patterns being some of the strongest the band have had to date making this album Randy's tour de force.
The production is also superb, the guitar tone is the perfect mixture of clarity and heaviness, the drums are all audible and professional and all the vocals and instruments just gel perfectly.
Lamb of God may be espoused by the kind of people who overuse the word `Brutal,' and Journalists who like to uses phrases like `Guitars that melt your face off,' or `Listening to this will ACTUALLY kill your Grandmother,' but that shouldn't detract from your enjoyment of what has to be one of the most exciting and enjoyable Metal bands out there.
Their musicianship is of such a high standard, every member is an expert at their instrument and no one feels like a weak link, the bass is better than you would expect, the guitar solos are musical and have a more classic rock feel to them than you'd expect, the riffs are entertaining as hell and the drumming is particularly impressive.
The album has a lot of variety from the clean, dual guitar harmony featuring opener, to the super hard and fast `Grace,' and the mixture of twisting build ups and straight metal of `Broken Hands,' to the very diverse album closer `Reclamation,' you'll never be bored by samey songs or one dimensional riffing.
Wrath is an excellent mixture of the catchy and politically charged style of Ashes of The Wake and the brooding, dark and ultra professional style of Sacrament; with songs like the unbelievably catchy `Contractor,' discussing the situation in the middle east to the sound of a fast, chuggy verse with groove metal choruses, sitting alongside the dark and atmospheric closer `Reclamation,' with a more biblical/flood theme and a mixture of acoustic guitar interludes, slow building post rock passages and good old fashion metal finishing the album in style.
Wrath is an absolute joy to listen to, its one of the best albums of 2009 and its one of the best Lamb of God albums out there. Highly Recommended.