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Lamb of God’s highly anticipated fifth studio album, Wrath, is another attempt for the band to establish its dominance in the post-Pantera era of American metal. The band delivers another hard-hitting record to add to its illustrious collection, but sadly enough, does little to assert its place as the leaders of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal.The follow-up to the band’s 2006 brutal mainstream bullet, Sacrament, is another display that the band has not slowed down since their days as Burn The Priest. The album is filled with signs of a mature band ready to take their sound to greater levels, even experimenting with a sound that Lamb of God fans never thought they would hear – acoustic guitars.

The album’s opening track, “The Passing,” is an instrumental track that has one of the best soft intros ever written, reminiscent of Metallica in the 80s. The album then erupts with headbanging riffs and the shrill of the best frontman in metal today, Randy Blythe.

The rest of the album is a compilation of hard hitting riffs, machine gun drumming, the occasional acoustic guitar, and a vocal delivery that demands attention.

The stand-alone album itself is solid. But what could have been a great follow-up to Sacrament, turns out to leave you wondering exactly that – what could have been.

The lyrics in the album will grow a bit tired for fans of the band. While Blythe is just as angry as ever, the lyrics are a bit cliché. Blythe is still speaking about topics covered in past albums. The ability to perform for the masses is almost ignored here as he is preaching to the choir. But his delivery throughout the album will overshadow the lyrical content, making you accept the message he’s trying to get across.

The songs also feature the bizarre absence of choruses. While each track builds-up towards one, the closest thing to a chorus comes on “In Your Words” which is uncharacteristic of the band.

The biggest disappointment is the lack of solos. Sacrament established lead guitarist Mark Morton as one of the best guitarist in metal, but a follow-up performance is nowhere to be heard. The few solos that Morton had on the album were nothing special and put Morton back to being just another lead guitarist.

The predictable, cliché lyrics and lack of solos failed to separate Lamb of God from the rest of the bands out there.

While metal fans are going to argue what could of or should have been the fact remains that Wrath just isn’t great.

Lamb of God’s ‘Wrath’ blends right in with the stagnant American metal genre. (Alfredo Aleman)

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