Lamb Of God - Resolution

Published February 02 2012

*=Staff's pick	Straight For The Sun Desolation* Ghost Walking* Guilty The Undertow* The Number Six Barbarosa Invictus Cheated Insurrection* Terminally Unique To The End Visitation King Me

Genre	Groove Metal/Metalcore	Randy Blythe	Vocals
Tracks	14	Mark Morton	Guitar
Running time	56 Min.	Willie Adler	Guitar
Label	Roadrunner	John Campbell	Bass
Release	24 January 2012	Chris Adler	Drums
Country	USA	-	Keyboard
Producer	Josh Wilbur
Similar artists	Pantera, Testament

One of the reasons I like Lamb Of God is their consistency. You simply know what you're going to get when you put on a record from these guys. Now, you can claim that this can get numbingly boring - a band that doesn't change much in their original formula risk becoming very non-attractive. Curiously enough this does not apply to the Virginians.

There are, of course, reason for this - the band, like so many others playing on in the same style, dares to put their faith in two factors. Firstly, the knowledge that they are killer musicians, secondly that they have the ability to write songs that will make people go bezerk even if not all songs are up to this level.

Fresh "Resolution" is in this light a very typical album from Lamb Of God - the playing is staggeringly good from note one. Mostly the group unleashes their facepummeling metal, but the band still has the ability to groove in such an insane way that one cannot be but impressed. And this is still so even while the band at times takes a sharp turn down un-original alley. Just listen to Cheated and try not to think about Pantera.

Ghost Walking is with its acoustic intro one of the best songs the band has written, and this goes for songs like Desolation, The Undertow and Insurrection that make out the quartet of songs that I enjoy the most on the record.

Performancewise I have little to object to. Randy Blythe sounds as pissed as ever, but I have to say that at times the fact that he is enjoying himself royally shines through. The guitarplaying, and I'm thinking mainly about the soloing that's going on here, is excellent. The riffs in themselves can feel, in comparison to prior releases, a bit fatigued which is sad as Mark Morton and Willie Adler are stringbenders of such quality.

The drumming is a joy to listen to, as usual when it comes to Chris Adler, and it's sweet to hear a drummer that really drives the songs in the way that he does.

Resolution is, despite the excellent playing and good, solid production somewhat of a disappointment. At times the band delivers big time, but there are some songs that just doesn't do it for me.