Lamb of God- VII: Sturm Und Drang review
AngryByrd Earlier this year, when the song Still Echoes dropped, I did a short review of it. I liked the song a lot and I remember saying that of the rest of the album sounded like Still Echoes, it would be pretty good. Oddly enough, this album did the exact opposite of that. Instead of every song sounding like Still Echoes, none of the songs sound alike at all. And because of how diverse this album has been, I would say it's definitely Lamb of God's best album. Never on one album have I heard this much diversity. Lamb of God have definitely expanded their sound and shown that they were capable of much more than anyone thought.As most of you know, the diversity of this album is even evident in the singles. Sure, there are a lot of songs that are pretty straightforward (Still Echoes and Erase This for example) but there most of the songs have something that isn't seen anywhere else on the album. Some even have things that we've never heard from LoG either! Overlord has something that I've always wanted to hear: clean singing from Randy Blythe! And it sounds AWESOME!! And if that wasn't awesome enough, Embers features guest vocals from Chino Moreno!! And clean vocals and guest appearances aren't the only thing. The guitar work is much more varied and creative than any other LoG album!
As far as the little things go, everything is great. Randy's screaming (and singing) is fantastic. Randy has recently announced that he doesn't want to scream a whole lot anymore, which I'm okay with! I would love a clean LoG album! The lyrics are great, and Chris Adler shows off his drum talents on this album flawlessly. While it is very different from any other Lamb of God album, it's still satisfying for long time fans. If you liked all of the other LoG albums, you'll definitely like this one.
The amount of expansion in sound and experimentation on this album is mind blowing. It's really nothing like any other Lamb of God album. If I were to compare it to another one of their albums, I would say it's most like Sacrament because of the guitars. Even then though, it's pretty different. I really think that this album is setting up for a new, more experimental era for Lamb of God! This album is the full Lamb of God experience, and it's absolutely stunning to say the least!
My favorite song from this amazing album (and my new favorite Lamb of God song) is Embers. The song is great on it's own, but Chino's vocals take it to a divine level. I can't really pick a least favorite, but if I had to, I would say Anthropoid. It's still an amazing song though, and a very welcome inclusion on the album.
To be quite honest, I'm stunned. Lamb of God have absolutely destroyed all expectations and made a truly amazing album. And it doesn't just stop with Lamb of God. This is the third album this year that I would consider to be it's respective band's best album. If this cycle continues, this year will be one of the best in music for a while. So far, this year has been incredible for music, and Lamb of God definitely deserve a lot of credit for it. In 2006, Lamb of God said that again they would rise, and they have risen above all. Lamb of God, you guys have truly done an amazing thing. Lamb of God's VII: Sturm Und Drang gets an easy 10/10.