Review by Jeger on March 7, 2026.

Like it was yesterday… I was 25 years dumb, full of whiskey, Mexican brick weed and lived for what was then known as the NWOAHM. It was a time of rebirth and reconciliation for Metal in The States. The cursed Nu-Metal movement had burnt itself out with all the drugs and stupid costumes, and bands like Chimaira, God Forbid and Lamb of God were making their presences felt as they laid waste to club after club. I can assure you, kids, to see these bands live during this particular era was fucking priceless, invigorating! Brutal… 

Lamb Of God was the cream of the NWOAHM movement and their first three records under the LOG Moniker: "New American Gospel", "As The Palaces Burn" and "Ashes Of The Wake" are priceless as well. It doesn't matter your background or your taste, whether you're a Black Metal guy like myself or a Prog Dork, these opuses hit the mark. Following LOG's most aspiring album, "Sacrament", which saw the band as they embraced their darker side, "Wrath" was released, and so began the slow and painful disintegration of this band. "Resolution" was the tipping point for me and every album since except for maybe "VII: Sturm Und Drang" has just felt like uninspired drivel. Every song sounds the same…

Now, it's 2026, the world is falling apart more and more each day, LOG frontman, Randy Blythe, has begun to spat off his typical Left Wing rhetoric and the band, sporting a new logo, are set to release their latest album, "Into Oblivion", on March 13 via Epic Records. You would think that with the state of things that a new Lamb Of God album would be starkly relevant. Let's see…

The problem with Lamb Of God's work as of late is that the riffs have become stock, predictable. Guitarist, Mark Morton, spat off a bunch of supposed influences for his guitar play, but I'm not hearing them… The opening title track, outside of some unique atmospheric elements, just sounds like, well, Toyota Camry… Base and boring… The following track kicks off with a bit more speed/power, but it's not long before it's back to the same tired grooves and boy is this band missing Adler behind the kit. He WAS Lamb Of God's heart and soul. His style just fit perfectly. Art Cruz is mediocre in comparison, Vanilla! A little brutality at the end here, which is refreshing: deeper grooves, more malevolent vocalizations and an overall darker tone. And some experimentation paying dividends, as "Sepsis" unfolds to some very un-Lamb Of God-like passages: mammoth bass grooves and Randy on a soap box ranting over "Holy Mother Death" before the brakes are busted off and an onslaught of serpentine riffs and jackhammer rhythms ensue. And yes there are breakdowns o'plenty… These tracks will undoubtedly play very well live. I'm starting to have a bit of faith here. Let's see if they ruin it…

Following a real snoozer in "The Killing Floor", at the midway point, you'll take in "El Vacio". Jeez… I hate listening to Randy sing, especially so beautifully. There's no room for it! Shades of "Embers", an uninspired version… There are moments when Mark shines, there are also moments of stock LOG riffs, lots of those moments. Yep, Lamb Of God diehards will certainly argue this album's greatness, for which there are some flashing moments, but "Blunt Force Blues" ain't it… I feel like I'm up to my knees in early 2000's Heavy Metal cachet, and I'm not necessarily digging it.

Bass dominates the majority of the album. It's the driving force behind everything and the tone is fucking gorgeous. Production quality is naturally through the roof great, but that's to be expected. And finally we have "Devise/Destroy". Our beloved Rednecks decided to close out with some funky Suicidal Tendencies type action, but an altogether disjointed affair is this one. Epic compositions that somehow fail to grip or captivate. Just a repetitive chorus and more of the same stock.

This band is not viable anymore. They're like Hatebreed, just cruising along with the same fans they've had since '05 who've somehow never outgrown this shit, have the band's tattoos and still get off on the whole breakdown thing. Some of you are right where you need to be in your evolution as an Extreme Metal enthusiast, but if you're anything like me, you've long since surpassed this stuff and have moved on to embrace Extreme Metal's artistic side. Black Metal, anyone? A valiant effort with some fun parts here and there, but an overall mediocre record is what we have here. Now, where was I? Ah yes, watching the world burn…

Rating: 7 out of 10