Lamb Of God : "Into Oblivion"

 Lamb of God is one of the biggest bands in metal today. Yet they have never scored higher than an 8.5 here. What does that even mean, you ask? They get the job done without being original enough to make me give their albums more than a few spins while I am reviewing them. If I am in the mood for this type of thing, I either listen to Pantera or Slayer. I did like their "Sacrament" album, which I listened to quite a bit, but after that, everything started sounding the same. Production-wise, they follow the trends. Previous albums have taken notes from Slipknot; this one finds their producer taking cues from how Gojira and Behemoth dial in their sound. 

Randy Blythe has a bigger personality off stage than on. He is rail thin so it's hard to take a scrawy dude barking at you like bad ass. "Parasoial Crisis" is better than the title that opens the album, as it sounds overproduced and generic. "Sepsis" is even better, in fact, the most memorable of the first three songs. The first has a more spoken thing going on that complements the groove. "The Killing Floor" is more of a thrashing groove, which is what works best for them. There are some pretty mean riffs on it. 

"El Vacio" is more melodic and shows that despite his miserable performance at the Ozzy farewell show, Randy's singing voice has improved, though it does prove my point regarding how they have taken notes from Slipknot. "St Catherine's Wheel" is pretty much on point for them as it is well done for what it is, but what it is does not resonate with me as it sounds like everything else.  I prefer the groove of "Blunt Force Blues" which goes to show I might as well jsut listen to Pantera. 

"Bully" is a generic modern metal battery to your ear drums where "A Thousand Years" has more of a hook to it, making it more memorable. "Devise/ Destroy" might as well be a Slipknot cover. Much like their other albums, this one gets an 8.5, it sounds great and is well done, made for the dull masses who do not care if music is original or not. I blame alcohol intake for this numbing of musical sensibilities.