September 26, 2000 - New American Gospel

Three weeks after my last release and about a year and a half since their debut "Burn The Priest", Lamb Of God released their second album (and first officially as Lamb of God) "New American Gospel" on September 26, 2000. Original rhythm guitarist Abe Spear has left the band and replacing him is Willie Adler, brother of drummer Chris Adler. Lamb of God are still playing the same style of groovy and creative heavy metal, but their recording quality has gone up a lot and things sound generally cleaner and tighter. Let's see what the new Lamb of God is all about!

The album begins with "Black Label" and Chris plays some cool drums as the guitars and bass come in with a nice and heavy main riff. Randy Blythe comes in screaming overtop in his wonderfully heavy voice where he hits some really high high notes, as well as some great lower notes as well. Mark Morton and Willie sync up for a really heavy riff midway through, then it's back to the punishing main riff as there is no let-up. Randy is still difficult to understand but he sounds clearer than the last album and the quality of all the music has gone up dramatically, even if the riffs are still just as good as last album. As they approach the final minute things get very quiet and they do a nice job of building up the suspense before hitting us with a super slow, bone-crushingly heavy breakdown to finish off the final minute. Morton plays some super distorted lead guitar overtop and this is a pretty awesome way to wrap things up. Up next is "A Warning" and Chris plays some more cool drums to keep the beat going while Morton and Willie team up for another hard-hitting and heavy main guitar riff. Blythe's screaming reminds me more of their debut on this song with some fast, monotone screams and I think everything sounds pretty good. Morton really speeds things up for a bit with some nice fast guitar and Randy's high screams sound great in this part, before they return to the solid main riff to close things out. Track 3 is 'In The Absence Of The Sacred" and it's got a super groovy and pretty sweet main riff that is impossible not to headbang along to. Blythe's low screams sound really heavy and sweet as well and Morton plays a ton of cool guitar on this song, including a really catchy riff that slows down and then speeds up and just sounds so fucking good! Words don't do proper justice to all the great heavy music stuffed into this song, especially the breakdown that finishes things off; it's slow and simple, but earthshakingly heavy and I love it so much! Easily my favourite so far, and the other two weren't bad at all! The next track is "Letter To The Unborn" and this is another song that words couldn't possibly do justice to. Chris Adler's drums are phenomenal the whole way with a ton of super fast stuff that is perfectly on time. The guitars are also blindingly fast for the most part, but when they slow things down things sound so heavy and so good. Randy does some amazing high screams in the verse as well as some wonderful low screams in the chorus. Who could ask for more? Back to back spectacular tunes! Track 5 is "The Black Dahlia" and it's got a pretty typically solid main riff with Chris playing some more fantastic drums. Randy screams quickly overtop in a typically heavy verse and although it is typical, it's also pretty sweet. These guys just seemingly do not make bad songs; I think this one might've been the least good one yet, but it was still filled with lots of heavy goodness, including one really long high scream by Blythe that sounds pretty crazy. Up next is "Terror And Hubris In The House Of Frank Pollard" and it's got a super slow main riff that is also nice and heavy played by Willie and John Campbell on bass, and Morton plays some distorted lead guitar overtop that sounds prett wicked. Blythe screams in a nice high voice for the first little bit, then he returns to his lower and wonderful main scream as the music speeds up and things sound pretty great. They hit reset and do it all again, which I din't mind one bit, and then they close out the sing with a groovy new riff that follows the same formula of a slow, chugging backing riff and Morton playing some nice faster lead guitar overtop. Just another pretty sweet metal tune! Track 7 is another long title, "The Subtle Arts Of Murder And Persuasion" and Morton starts us off with a pretty cool guitar riff and everyone builds around it nicely, especially a nice drum beat by Adler. Blythe screams nicely overtop as usual and after a couple rounds of jamming out this "slower" riff, they speed things up a lot with a pretty cool new riff led by some sweet guitars. Randy holds his final scream of the song for a good long while and these guys just don't make music that is even remotely poor apparently, another good song! The next track is "Pariah" and the first minute is a really cool instrumental part that leads perfectly into a heavy main riff with Randy sounding awesome screaming overtop this awesome and heavy riff. Words don't do proper justice to the several different and cool guitar riffs in this song and how well Morton's lead guitar pairs with Blythe's phenomenal high screams. This was another not just good, but excellent song! Track 9 is "Confessional" and Chris starts us off this time with a catchy and interesting drum beat and the guitar and bass nicely builds off of that to make another unique and heavy main riff. Blythe doesn't come in until almost a minute and a half in, but he definitely spices things up with some nice screams and Adler switches to some even faster, phenomenal drums. This faster riff comprises pretty mix the rest of the song, but with Lamb of God you never mind if they stick to the main riff, because it's always something pretty sweet! The final song on the album is "O.D.H.G.A.B.F.E." and they kick right into a slow, groovy and super catchy main riff led by some cool guitar and with lots of opportunities for Adler to show off on drums. Blythe holds some really long high screams and he sounds great as usual. After a couple slow rounds they speed it up for some nice faster stuff with some great guitar and drums, then they return to the slow, groovy main riff to close us out.

That is the end of "New American Gospel" and I thought it was a fantastic second album by Lamb of God. See above for all the details, but that was a really good heavy metal album and I think it improved upon their debut "Burn The Priest" in just about every way possible! I can't wait to see how they continue to improve!