Almost 3 years after Sacrament, the mighty Lamb of God return with their anticipated sixth studio album, Wrath. Tending to a new direction with the album’s production, Lamb of God have hit their tonal mark, though the songwriting and substance behind the great sound leave something to be desired.

Lamb of God are one of the most respected metal bands in their scene, having proven and improved themselves time and time again on each of their studio releases. The last album, Sacrament was a critical acclaim, featuring monster tracks like “Walk With Me in Hell” and “Descending”. Sacrament debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200, was awarded Album of the Year by Revolver Magazine, and received a 2007 Grammy nomination, bested only by Slayer. Furthermore, Sacrament was not the first time Lamb of God earned such success. Classics like “Laid to Rest” and “The Faded Line”, which never seem to lose their originality or quality to time, come off their 2004 release Ashes of the Wake.

Both Sacrament and Ashes of the Wake, alongside the preceding albums, comprise an impressive resumé, but it can be considered that part of their success comes from sticking to a tried and proven formula, and their newest release, Wrath, unsurprisingly sticks to that formula. By no means a half-hearted effort, the album carries punch and character that bests most metal bands out there, but right from the first listen, you can expect more of the same old Lamb of God.

The quality aspects of Wrath are the same as those on all recent Lamb of God albums.

The songs are driven by a powerhouse duo of guitarists Willie Adler and Mark Morton, who are arguably most responsible for the band’s signature sound. The guitar riffs are always relentlessly heavy and tight, but never get fast enough to lose their groove. However, despite these qualities, unlike the previous albums, Wrath never really seems to feature any exceptional standout riffs like in “The Faded Line”, “Redneck”, “Blood of the Scribe” and so forth. Even after a few listens of the album, there are not too many moments on the album with which one can associate particularly memorable harmonic or melodic lines, save for ambitious openings on tracks such as “In Your Words”. The standout track that has riffs that you will find yourself nodding away to most is “Grace”, however the chorus may leave you unsatisfied. Many times on the record, Adler and Morton will break into solos, but much like the rest of the album, it will leave the listener with mixed feelings. One solo can occur after an appropriate build in intensity, and carry the energy right to their finish, such as on “Grace” and “Choke Sermon”, while another will feel as more of a long-winded afterthought and the song would have felt just the same without it. On “Everything to Nothing”, the solo seems neither here nor there, starting off with the song’s thrashy theme, but then moving on to throwing up blues-y grooves in combination with a wah pedal, before returning to finish the song – never quite feeling like a bottom line.

One of the largest highlights of the work on Wrath can be attributed to Chris Adler. The drumming on the album is consistent, yet almost never feels contrived or too repetitive. Right from the get-go, “Set to Fail” features tight drum lines that are reminiscent of death metal, close to, but never quite breaking into a blast beat. C. Adler never hesitates to throw triplets to accent and underline key moments riffed out by the guitars, and makes use of the dynamic strengths of each and every piece of his kit. On “Grace” for instance, Adler throws in glistening cymbals, then a super-tight tom roll to mark the last eight notes of the main verse riff. C. Adler uses his double kick, but not to such extent that it loses impact when he breaks into 16th and 32nd notes. The tom rolls appropriately beef up sections, and cymbal attacks sound properly chaotic.

It is worth mentioning that the vocal strength of Wrath stems from Randy Blythe’s unfaltering charisma and conviction, which has shaped and improved over the course of their six albums. However, much like the rest of Lamb of God, Blythe’s vocal work never reinvents, or even deviates much from the sound that has been in the making for over a decade. His vocal range does improve on Wrath, with a few more ferocious highs and lower lows, but for the bulk of the album, one can expect more of the same, raw Blythe roaring.

One of the most surprising changes on Wrath is their choice of producer, considering their success with Sacrament and Ashes of the Wake, which were both produced by Machine. Their producer of choice for the 2009 release was Josh Wilbur. Although Lamb of God seem to have been taking the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach, this time around they aimed to make their album less produced and polished, as Mark Morton stated in an interview:

“This one's really raw and real-sounding, from every angle, and we're celebrating imperfections on this record. We're choosing what takes stay on the record based more on their character and personality than how completely mechanically precise they are. It's more about vibe and attitude in the takes than it is about, 'Wow, that was perfect.' It's the perfect ones that get thrown away, because they're just too sterile.” (http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=108413, 2008)

The risk of changing their producer seemed to pay off for Lamb of God. They achieved their goal of making a more “real” sounding album, as the guitars’ tone carry a little more “crunch” that was more watered down by distortion on previous records. The only disappointing characteristic of Wrath’s guitar sound is the lack of powerful pinch harmonics, that seem to fall just short each time they are used to highlight a climactic moment in a riff. Chris Adler’s drums sound very tight, with very punching attack and just enough decay time. The songs all sound very full without becoming a wall of sound, and the only thing that seems to be buried within the mix, unless you’re really listening for it, is John Campbell’s bass work, which is a disappointment considering he lays down (reserved, yet) quality basslines for each song.

All in all, Wrath is a quality groove / thrash metal album released by a band that is known for doing what they do best, but the elements of progress are so few and far between, that the release will leave you feeling like you’ve heard it all before, and wondering what comes next. Wrath ultimately resembles a stepping stone in Lamb of God’s career, rather than a finished, stand-alone album they were aiming for.

Standout tracks: Grace, Set to Fail, Reclamation, and Choke Sermon