About Lamb of God
Lamb of God is an American heavy metal band from Richmond, Virginia. Formed in 1994 as Burn the Priest, the group consists of bassist John Campbell, vocalist Randy Blythe, guitarists Mark Morton and Willie Adler, and drummer Art Cruz. The band is considered a significant member of the new wave of American heavy metal movement.
Since their formation, Lamb of God has released eleven studio albums, including two under the name Burn the Priest; their most recent album, Omens, was released in October 2022. The band has also released one live album, one compilation album, three DVDs, two EPs, and twenty-eight singles.
The band's cumulative sales equal almost two million in the United States, including two albums certified Gold by the RIAA. In 2010 and 2011 the band received Grammy nominations for songs from their 2009 album Wrath. They also received a nomination in 2016 for their song "512". Lamb of God has toured with the Ozzfest twice. Other appearances include Download Festival and Sonisphere Festival in the UK, Soundwave Festival, Mayhem Festival 2010 and Gigantour. From 2008 to 2010 they toured as part of Metallica's World Magnetic Tour, and supported Slayer on their final world tour in 2018 and 2019.
In 1994, bassist John Campbell, drummer Chris Adler, and guitarists Mark Morton and Matt Conner started a band named Burn the Priest. The band members knew each other from the college they were all attending, Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, Virginia. Morton and Conner left the band soon after its inception to pursue a master's degree and work on other bands respectively. Adler and Campbell replaced Morton with Abe Spear. For the next five years, the band practiced in Richmond and around Virginia. In 1995, the band released its self-titled first demo. After the demo, Burn the Priest recorded two split EPs with Agents of Satan and ZED respectively. After the band's first three demos, Burn the Priest added vocalist Randy Blythe to its line up.
In 1997, Morton returned to the band. Two years later, the band released its first full-length self-titled album, Burn the Priest, through Legion Records. Mikey Brosnan of Legion Records saved up $2,500 for the recording and then broke them in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, through DIY shows. The album was produced by Today Is the Day guitarist and vocalist Steve Austin. Spear left the band, leaving an open position for a guitarist. Adler's younger brother Willie became the band's second guitarist a year later, and a deal with Prosthetic Records was signed. Contrary to rumour, the band did not change their name to Lamb of God after being banned from venues; these bans occurred afterwards. They changed their name because of the altered line-up and to avoid being mistaken for a satanic metal band.
With a new name and label, the band released its second album, New American Gospel, in September 2000. Patrick Kennedy of Allmusic compared the band to Pantera stating, "The essential signatures of post-Pantera metal are in abundance on Lamb of God's inaugural album. New American Gospel provides a mighty oak upon which gritty American metal's faith is maintained, effectively bridging the '90s' insistence upon drill-sergeant technicality and the old school's determined focus on riff construction." Chris Adler commented: "This is a classic record. We had all the elements come together to make one of the heaviest, yet contagious records of our career. It was difficult to contain us—we didn't even understand at the time what we had created."
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