Though I’ve seen them over the years more times than I can count, it was their participation in last year’s Back to the Beginning that singlehandedly rekindled my love for Lamb of God. Yes, go ahead and revoke my “true metal” card, but back when I was 10 years old, I honestly believed LoG, alongside Pantera and Slayer, were the most brutal bands on earth. Of course, I’d fall down the extreme metal rabbit hole not long after. However, for a young kid whose knowledge of this music and scene was largely limited to what he heard on the radio and saw on VH1 Classic, I knew that LoG were leaps and bounds more intense than say Mötley Crüe or Triumph.
As a result, albums like As the Palaces Burn (2003), Ashes of the Wake (2004), and Sacrament (2006) hold a near and dear spot in my heart. I don’t listen to them regularly, but they are great to revisit once in a blue moon, especially in the gym. In this regard, I file them alongside Meshuggah’s Destroy, Erase, Improve (1995) or Strapping Young Lad’s discography in the “albums that got me where I am today” category. And where am I today, exactly? Sitting behind a computer reviewing Into Oblivion, Lamb of God’s 10th studio album. If you’d told me almost 20 years ago that I’d be pushing 30 and reviewing new music from this band, even I wouldn’t have believed it, but here we are.
Notice how, when looking back upon LoG’s catalog, I gravitate towards their ’00s run as opposed to, well, everything that came after. This is for two reasons, one personal and one not so much. First, by the time the ’10s really took hold, I’d largely lost interest in LoG as an active recording band. My sights had shifted towards the more extreme, underground, and obscure (i.e. Brocas Helm, Cirith Ungol, Deceased, etc.) Secondly, the ’10s albums of theirs that I do recall checking out weren’t that great. Sure, there’d be a song here or there that packed the punch of the olden days, but by and large, LoG came off as a band who, at this point in their career, were going through the motions, similar to Slayer and AC/DC. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
This brings us to 2026, in which LoG find themselves in the midst of quite a peculiar heavy music landscape. In the 26 years that have passed since their debut album, countless bands have come and gone, reaping the rewards and laughing to the bank on the back of the sound that LoG solidified in the ’00s. In turn, we’re subjected to an album that, by and large, feels like not just a response to this realization, but an embrace. It is a “student teaches the master” album in the same way Thin Lizzy’s Thunder and Lightning or Judas Priest’s Painkiller are…yet whereas those albums see those bands expanding upon their legacies by co-opting new musical approaches, Into Oblivion feels like a bandwagon affair, the musical equivalent of the Steve Buscemi meme.
Does that make it an irredeemable album? Not necessarily. Like every LoG album before it from Wrath (2009) onwards, there are some certifiable bangers, the strongest being “Parasocial Christ” with its unrelenting groove-thrash attack. Cuts like “St. Catherine’s Wheel” and “Blunt Force Blues” sounded lifted straight out of the band’s ’00 heyday with their knuckle-dragging demeanor, and “The Killing Floor” is too damn hooky for its own good, so much so that I’m able to look past the absurd djent-isms. “Sepsis” will likely divide fans the most, its pummeling industrialized sludge coming off as a blatant homage to Godflesh, and hitting said sweet spot with confidence.
As for the other half of Into Oblivion, it speaks largely to my point of the fourth paragraph, starting with the opening title track. Is this LoG? Maybe, but I’d believe it to be any number of generic NPC metalcore bands who’ve graced the Hot Topic t-shirt wall and butt rock radio playlists first. Speaking of butt rock, the less that’s said about the sappy, neutered Ozzfest parking lot-core bullshit of “El Vacío” and “A Thousand Years”, the better. “Bully” sounds like Knocked Loose trying to sound like LoG, which admittedly is better than Knocked Loose trying to sound like Knocked Loose, but still. Come the closing “Devise / Destroy”, even the old school ’00s post-thrash maneuvers feel played out.
So there you have it: Another LoG album for a new generation of young headbangers who’ve yet to discover anything heavier. It makes sense that this album fits in with the other bands already adored by this crowd (i.e. Gojira, Knocked Loose, *shudders* Sleep Token, etc.). It also makes sense that, for the most part, it doesn’t click with me, because much like LoG, I too am Steve Buscemi in this instance. Enjoy LoG, fellow kids, but also be sure to check out their first 5 albums before you give Into Oblivion a spin.
5 out of 10
Label: Century Media Records
Genre: Groove Metal
For fans of: Gojira, Meshuggah, Knocked Loose
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