Lamb of God worship nightly

ILLUSTRATION by LUKE MCGARRY

You think Lamb of God have the name of a worship band who should be opening for Godstock 2007 instead of co-headlining the Long Beach Arena this Saturday. But then you learn they spent the first nine years of their career as Burn the Priest, and all of a sudden their sound makes a little more sense. Since their start in 1990, Lamb of God have pulled in a Grammy nomination, celebrated a platinum DVD release and a released a new version of their breakout Sacrament album in a deluxe producer’s edition. While the concept of remix-ready CDs has been extensively used by Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and fueled promotional campaigns of bands ranging from Thrice to Evanescence, Sacrament marks the first time an extreme metal band has made available full tracks to dub reinterpretations and karaoke mixes. They’re a visceral act, known as much for the colossal “wall of death” (a Pict-style open charge pitting one half of the audience against the other) as for vicious band infighting, apparent in the fistfight between Randy Blythe (vocals) and Mark Morton (guitar) documented in behind the scenes footage on the platinum Killadelphia DVD. The fight left Blythe with a black eye and Morton with a broken pinkie, a serious liability when you’re playing the main stage at Ozzfest or opening for Slayer. Saturday marks Lamb of God’s only California appearance with Boston’s metalcore heavyweights Killswitch Engage before the band takes a sabbatical—so to speak—in 2008 to begin the writing process for its next release.

LAMB OF GOD WITH KILLSWITCH ENGAGE LONG BEACH ARENA | 300 E OCEAN BLVD | LONG BEACH 90802 | 562.436.3661 | SAT 5:30PM | $10-35

Tags: killswitch engage, lamb of god, metal, Music