No one could accuse Lamb of God of having unrealistic expectations when the band first unleashed its heaviest of metal sounds on audiences.
"We started this in 1994 doing heavy metal when definitely metal was not big-time stuff," said bassist John Campbell in a recent phone interview. "We've always played kind of mathy, weird metal, not your typical (style). We thought we could go tour from Richmond (Va.) to Chicago and hit some bases and that would be cool."
Obviously, the band has gone a lot further than that over the past decade. Indeed, the band is the primary support act for Megadeth on this year's Gigantour, which also features Opeth and Arch Enemy. The tour rolls into USANA Amphitheatre in West Valley City on Friday.
Lamb of God, based out of Richmond, became one of the first of the current wave of extreme metal/hardcore bands to land a major label record deal when it signed with Epic Records. And as perhaps the genre's leading band, the band has helped push a hardcore/extreme metal scene that has been an underground phenomenon to the brink of mainstream acceptance.
This Gigantour gig coincides with the release of the band's new album, "Sacrament," which is already being touted as one of the year's most anticipated metal releases and an album that could carry the band into mainstream metal stardom.
Just the fact that major label Epic Records signed the band says something about the burgeoning audience that is discovering — and enjoying — hardcore and extreme metal.
Campbell noted that Epic doesn't expect the band to thrive at radio, deliver mammoth first-week sales of its new CDs and move millions of units with each album.
"I think they'll throw a track at radio and see who picks it," Campbell said. "I don't think they're terribly aggressive about it, because when we even first sat down with them we pretty much immediately said, 'You know, this is not a radio band you're signing.'
Not having the instant success of some major label acts shouldn't bother the band, which has been anything but an overnight sensation in the first place.
The band's beginnings actually go back to 1990 when Campbell, guitarist Mark Morton and drummer Chris Adler met as students at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, and began playing as an instrumental trio before adding Randy Blythe on vocals.
Calling the band Burn the Priest (a name changed later because of the controversy it created), the group debuted with a self-titled "Burn the Priest" CD before adding a second guitarist — the drummer's younger brother, Willie Adler — signing to Prosthetic Records, and in 2000 releasing its first CD as Lamb Of God, "New American Gospel."
Two years of touring helped establish the band on the underground scene and set the stage for the 2003 CD, "As The Palaces Burn," which won raves from magazines such as "Revolver" and "Metal Hammer." This helped pave the way for the deal with Epic Records.
Hoping to seize the momentum generated over the preceding couple of years, the band accepted a tight deadline to write and record its debut for Epic, "Ashes of the Wake," which once again offered plenty of grinding guitar riffage to go with Blythe's gutteral vocal screams.
Campbell did not want to go into detail in describing "Sacrament." But he did offer a few thoughts about the CD, which once again was produced by Machine.
"It's our absolute best songwriting, Campbell said. "… I'm really excited for this thing to be finished and mixed and know what its character is.
"We cover absolutely all of our (stylistic) bases on this record, … it definitely fits right into place," he said.
Gigantour
When: Friday at 5:30 p.m.
Where: USANA Amphitheatre, 5400 S. 6200 West, West Valley City
Featuring: Megadeth, Lamb of God, Opeth, and Arch Enemy
Tickets: $10-$45, available at Smith's Tix locations (800-888-TIXX, www.smithstix.com)
Info: www.usana-amp.com/
Source: http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/193227/3/
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