In a heroic effort to avoid becoming genre has-beens, Lamb Of God reintroduces their unique blend of bare bones thrash/metalcore with 'Wrath'. It's an album filled to the brim with biblical connotations, the endless riff magic of the Adler/Morton guitar duo, and violent lyrics. Kicking things off in style, 'The Passing' is a two minute instrumental that oh so gently excites the listener's expectations for the music to come. But no matter how tender its whining guitar harmonies and slow drumbeats are, it leaves curious ears ill-prepared for the awesome chugs that begin 'In Your Words', an opener that's epic, catchy, and downright menacing, with Randy Blythe sounding as—for lack of a better word—wrathful as ever.

The handful of songs that follow is familiar territory for those who've stuck with the band since 'New American Gospel' (2000). There's the grooving radio-hit 'Set to Fail', which hews closely to 'Redneck' from the previous album (2006's 'Sacrament'); then the evil hillbilly vibe of 'Contractor' has the band mining dated international news like the Iraq war for lyrical content. While 'Fake Messiah' packs the same potency of the previous two songs, it pales in comparison to the sophisticated 'Grace', whose soft intro morphs into a groove-driven neck twisting roller coaster.

Tracks like 'Broken Hands', 'Dead Seeds', and 'Everything to Nothing' exist to carry the album's momentum forward. But even if these were considered filler, they'd still be pretty damn good filler. Comes to show that Lamb Of God know what works for their audience. 'Choke Sermon' is just more of the same anger and hooks until the sound of waves gently crashing against a shore introduces 'Reclamation'. In terms of scope and sheer length, this is the biggest song the band has ever attempted. A furious, brooding dirge clocking in at seven minutes, 'Reclamation' has its fair share of jaw dropping moments. If this is the sound Lamb Of God want to explore in future albums, then these guys shouldn't worry about recycling past albums.

Even with two bonus tracks adding ten more minutes to 'Wrath's running time, the previous eleven songs are more than enough for metalheads craving a thrash metal buzz. With nary a blemish and executed to near-perfection, Lamb Of God's newest sees the band raising their own standards. Anyone want to call this album of the year?

Rating: 9 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Miguel Miranda
05/16/2009 16:23