Lamb of God - Metal Show of 2015
This is the metal bill of the Autumn in the UK, a hot molten ticket, sold out and people are queuing down the length of a busy roadworks that is Birmingham city centre these days. Security is upped a notch understandably after the events in Paris two nights ago, and there is a certain amount of tension in the air following that fateful night, all bags searched - no exceptions especially photographers!.
Doors are early because Sylosis have already played by the time I get through the queue, and up next were the Finnish metal kings ‘Children of Bodom’ who fuelled the crowd with some mighty tunes.
But tonight is the last night of this UK tour, a double headliner and Megadeth will play last, however, having stood near the front for both I can tell you by feeling of anticipation, heat, crush and number of t shirts, its really ‘Lamb of God’ that the crowd have come to see. Its no surprise really as its been a while since the Resolution tour in January 2014 when they last played Birmingham, and other than a Download appearance this is really the only chance to catch the Richmond Virginian metal monsters in the area in 2015.
Starting off with ‘Walk with me in Hell’ taken from their Sacrament album it’s a relentless assault that opens their account and gets everyone in the hall bouncing, Randy Blythe immediately commanding the stage and pacing the floor left to right with such energy, tension and rage, and a deep voice like he’s been gargling oil for the last 2 hours. He does not stop, prowling the floor like a cat waiting to pounce or bouncing off the monitors showering the front row in sweat from his short dreads.
Next up its ‘Now You’ve Got Something to Die For’ another older track from Ashes of the Wake, LOG not content with just pushing the Sturm und Drang (latest album) tracks out, and the brummie fans lap up the classics. Chris Adler is in the drum seat for the first of two lengthy heavy sessions as he’s also on Megadeth duty later!
Third track in and ‘Still Echoes’ from the latest record releases a machine gun drum effort from Adler that had me checking for holes in my chest, and with the bass of John Campbell right in front of me I’m wondering whether I’ll be leaving the venue completely intact. Campbell is staring directly at me like Saruman the White about to cast a spell, and then in a twist of neck his hair completely covers his face and beard, Willie Adler (Chris’s younger brother) alongside, reversed baseball cap and screaming coming from both his guitar and voice. Mark Morton is just a blend of beard, hair, black t shirt, camo shorts and guitar riffs - its hard to tell where one ends and the other starts. It’s a force to be reckoned with and there is no hiding place.
A brief chance to catch your breath as Blythe tells everyone how important Birmingham UK is to them by dedicating ‘512’ to the root of metal as he sees it - Black Sabbath (from Birmingham), and as you would expect the local fans here are loving that.
‘Ghost Walking’, ‘Ruin’, ‘Hourglass’, ‘Omerta’, ‘Set to Fail’ and ‘Vigil’ all follow and it isn’t until ‘Laid to Rest’ that we get our next break. Unfortunately, this time its halfway through the song when Blythe spots someone in the crowd in trouble and decides to halt the show. We get a 10 minute break as medics are called to sort the guy out, and the band throw plastic bottles of water into the crowd with Adler clearly concerned that everyone stays safe.
Maybe it’s the events in Paris, or Blythe’s previous issues and court case that have heightened his appreciation of ensuring his fans are safe during a show. Either way the result is we lose ‘Black Label’ off the setlist, which doesn’t go down too well, however, final choice of ‘Redneck’ assures that Lamb of God leave Birmingham with the crowd begging for more and with memories of a high energy, groove speedcore metal show that will hopefully return to these shores very soon.
