History & Biography This Virginian crossover band was formed in 1990 as Burn The Priest, but it was only when it did a complete u-turn name-wise that it was met with some success. Lamb Of God is a euphemism for Jesus. Burn The Priest itself was rejected by Noise Records reportedly for its monicker. The band issued a demo and signed with Prosthetic Records. Its debut album, New American Gospel, was out in 2000 and established the band as a left-leaning new force in metal and hardcore. The album was supported through a video for the song Black Label. As The Palaces Burn was produced by Devin Townsend at Montana Studio and featured an appearance by former Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland. The band gained a major label contract when it signed to Epic Records in the USA. A DVD called Terror And Hubris was issued at this time. Ashes Of The Wake had the band touring with Children Of Bodom. The album featured Chris Poland and landed in the Billboard charts. The group toured as part of Ozzfest in 2004. Adler was in and out of Machinations Of Dementia in 2005, a band, which also featured Cannibal Corpse’s Alex Webster. The group toured as part of Gigantour in 2006. Sacrament landed in the Billboard Top 10. The group signed with Roadrunner Records in 2008 and was to issue a DVD in July.
The thrashers picked Wrath as the title for the 2009 album. The record was issued in February by Epic in America and Roadrunner in Europe. Guitarist Mark Morton was not with the band during the last six shows of the band’s European tour in the summer of 2009 as his wife was expecting a baby. Unearth’s Buz McGrath would fill in for the shows. Lamb Of God played its first show in China on Sunday, April 11th, 2010 at Star Live in Beijing. A planned Shanghai show was never licensed. Lamb Of God singer Randy Blythe was held in Prague, Czech Republic after pushing a fan back from the stage more than two years ago. Daniel N. had jumped the stage, reportedly, for a third time. Blythe’s bail was set at $200,000. A Prague Municipal Court dismissed the Prague State Attorney's Office complaint against Lamb Of God singer Randy Blythe's release on bail. However, the court increased Blythe's bail from $200,000, which had already been deposited, to $400,000, reportedly equivalent to twice Randy's annual income. After return shows with singer Randy Blythe at Knotfest in August Lamb Of God has announced an autumn tour starting October 30th in Phoenix, Arizona with In Flames, Hellyeah and Sylosis opening at various stages. Canadian band Protest The Hero, which was successful with an Indiegogo campaign to fund a new album, lost drummer Moe Carlson. Lamb Of God's Chris Adler stepped in during the summer of 2013 to record with the band. According to the Czech Republic's High Court Lamb Of God singer Randy Blythe was "not guilty" in connection with the death of a fan three years prior. Singer Randy Blythe uploaded a short film called Prague: The Devil Is The Details, which he had shot earlier in 2013 in Prague, Czech Republic while he was on trial for manslaughter. Doh! Lamb Of God's previously announced September 28th, 2013 show in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia had been cancelled since the band's show was announced to be infringing on the religious rules of Malaysia. The band would release a tenth-anniversary edition of its As The Palaces Burn album in November. Producer Josh Wilbur worked on the re-release. The band was touring with Testament and Killswitch Engage next. Lamb Of God's bassist John Campbell left the band's North American tour due to a family emergency. His stand-in was Matt DeVries of Fear Factory. Da Capo Press announced June 24th, 2014 as the North American release date for vocalist Randy Blythe's memoir, Dark Days: My Tribulation And Trials. Guitarist Mark Morton of Lamb Of God was sitting out the band's European tour due to a "family emergency." Filling in for him was Paul Waggoner of Between The Buried And Me. Lamb Of God announced a hiatus for activities following the tour. Randy Blythe was composing music for the Richmond Ballet. In mid-2014, Randy Blythe deigned to inform his fan base that he had scalded his penis while drinking coffee.
Megadeth hired drummer Chris Adler to play for the band on its new album. Megadeth and Lamb Of God would co-headline a UK tour in November, 2015. Children Of Bodom and Sylosis would open. Lamb Of God drummer Chris Adler was to pull double duty on the tour following being recruited by Megadeth. VII: Sturm Und Drang, the new full-length album, hit position number one in the charts in Canada. Lamb Of God would embark on a U.S. tour in January of 2016 with support from Anthrax. Lamb Of God cancelled its remaining dates of its European tour due to "security concerns" following the Paris shooting. The support acts Children Of Bodom and Sylosis, however, would continue the trek. Clutch announced 2016 North American tour dates as a guest to Lamb Of God. The tour started May 3rd in New Orleans at the Orpheum and featured Corrosion Of Conformity on all dates. Randy Blythe would fill in for Eyehategod singer Mike IX Williams on the band’s tour with Discharge and Toxic Holocaust in 2016. Phil of Down was most recently signing for Eyehategod as a fill-in. The band released an EP called The Duke in December. The EP’s title track, which was recorded during the recording for the VII: Sturm Und Drang album, was inspired by a band fan named Wayne Ford who was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2010 and died in 2015 at the age of 33. Slayer, Lamb Of God and Behemoth would tour the USA in the summer of 2017. Slayer announced North American shows with Lamb Of God, Anthrax, Behemoth and Testament. Lamb Of God’s predecessor band Burn The Priest was resurrected to issue Legion: XX, which was a cover version album of songs by Agnostic Front, Quicksand, Cro-Mags, Ministry, Big Black and more in 2018. The group’s drummer Chris Adler would not accompany the band on its 2018 North American tour dates with Slayer, Anthrax and Napalm Death. The band recruited Art Cruz (Prong and Winds Of Plague). Chris Adler said that he was forced to miss many of the band's shows that summer because he was undergoing physical and occupational therapy for injuries he had sustained in a motorcycle accident in 2017. Lamb Of God drummer Chris Adler and industry businessman Jason Lekberg launched Kintsugi Management. The management company managed U.K.-based death metal band Dyscarnate. Slayer would tour North America with Lamb Of God, Amon Amarth and Cannibal Corpse in May 2019. Art Cruz was the permanent replacement for drummer Chris Adler as of the summer of 2019. Cruz had been touring with the band for one year as Adler had been undergoing physical therapy following a motorcycle accident. Oddly, Adler had been playing with several other bands such as Hail! Mark Morton was conducting an acoustic tour of the UK in January 2020. Mark Morton has another solo release in 2020. Entitled Ether, the primarily acoustic five-song EP, was due early that year.
Lamb Of God would release a new and self-titled album through Nuclear Blast Records in May 2020. Megadeth‘s previously scheduled North American tour with Lamb Of God, Trivium and In Flames was rescheduled for 2021 from 2020 due to COVID-19. Lamb Of God issued a three-disc edition of its 2020 self-titled album. It contained the album plus two bonus tracks and a live version of the record. A DVD performance of Lamb Of God was on the disc. After being blocked by communist former Virginia politician Lee J. Carter, Mark Morton was addressed by his former drummer Chris Adler, who was now in Megadeth, as "Maybe because you are a fucking douche" on Twitter. Adler subsequently deleted the tweet after Morton tweeted back "I usually wait until after dark to drunk message my exes." Lamb Of God and Megadeth jointly recorded a cover of the Megadeth song Wake Up Dead at the same time. Lamb Of God recruited Joe Badolato, singer for Fit For An Autopsy, for Friday, April 22nd 2022 concert in Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA. The show, part of the band’s The Metal Tour Of The Year tour, required the stand-in because Randy Blythe tested positive for COVID-19 and missed a Michigan show. Subsequently, bassist John Campbell left the tour to take care of an undisclosed family matter. He was replaced for the outstanding shows by Vio-Lence guitarist Phil Demmel. Lamb Of God had a new album, entitled Omens, through Epic Records in October 2021. A single, called Nevermore, was available first. The band and Killswitch Engage were touring. Kreator and Lamb Of God co-wrote a track called State Of Unrest, which was released to coincide with the groups’ European tour in October 2022. Lamb Of God jumped on the cruise bandwagon and announced Headbangers Boat in late 2022, which sailed from Florida, USA on October 31st 2023. Lamb Of God was to perform shows including playing its Ashes Of The Wake 2004 album in its entirety. Also appearing were Mastodon, Vio-Lence, Gatecreeper, Lacuna Coil, Municipal Waste, Gwar, Shadows Fall, God Forbid and Fit For An Autopsy. Lamb Of God and Kreator once again postponed their State Of Unrest European co-headlining tour. The concerts were expected in late 2022, but were pushed to February and March 2023. The band appeared at the reconstituted Milwaukee Metal Fest in 2023. Lamb Of God was announced as the opener for Pantera in 2023. Phil Demmel again filled in for Willie Adler, this time on three South American concerts in April 2023. Lamb Of God would tour the USA in the summer of 2023 with guests Ice Nine Kills, Suicide Silence, The Acacia Strain and Frozen Soul opening. The band commemorated the 20th anniversary of the release of As The Palaces Burn album at Milwaukee Metal Fest on May 28th. Lamb Of God's Headbangers Boat cruise returned to Miami, Florida, USA one day earlier than scheduled in early November 2023 after a man went missing after going overboard. The Norwegian Cruise ship instituted an unsuccessful search that yielded no results. Art Cruz started selling his own clothing line. In what was like a reunion, Lamb Of God and Mastodon were co-headlining the Ashes Of Leviathan tour of North America in the summer of 2024. Kerry King and Malevolence were opening. The band was booked at Jakarta, Indonesia’s Hammersonic 2024 festival. 2024 also brought a new version of the decade-old B-side song Another Nail For Your Coffin. This one featured redone vocals by Malevolence and Kublai Khan TX's Alex and Matt. The Ashes Of The Wake album was also reissued. The band announced its next Headbangers Boat for October 28th 2024. Bands included Napalm Death, Carcass, After Burial and Exodus. As part of its 20th anniversary, Lamb Of God asked Health to remix the song Laid To Rest. Chris Adler launched a rock band called Shallow Rising in 2024. Randy Blythe had a talking tour with the release of his Just Beyond The Light memoir to begin 2025. Lamb Of God’s Headbangers Boat 2025 was sailing from Miami, Florida, USA on October 31st 25. The lineup included Power Trip, Crowbar, Fear Factory, The Black Dahlia Murder, The Exploited, Nekrogoblikon, Gideon, Walls Of Jericho and Category 7.
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