Wrath

The album's introduction recalls that of the legendary Metallica opus "Master of Puppets." It's not unlike the first minute or so of "Battery," ? a calm, acoustic passage that grows deeper and more hauntingly harmonic with each passing second.

It's not something you'd expect from Virginia metallers Lamb of God, known about as much for their calm, acoustic passages as for hip-hop. (Read: not at all.) But it's something you'd expect even less from an album that winds up being the band's most brutal release to date.

The album is "Wrath," and aside from that two-minute opening piece called "The Passing," it's comprised entirely of intense, face-melting riffage and pure metal maelstrom. "Wrath" sees Lamb of God move farther away from its unfortunate association with the metalcore sub-genre and closer to a wider recognition of the greatness they've always exemplified.

For much of its existence, the band was compared to legendary metal band Pantera, and not without reason. Both bands relied strongly on grooving elements in orchestrating their riff-heavy sounds, and both were among the heaviest bands of their days. But here, Lamb of God set themselves apart from Pantera; they're more intense, more complex ? in short, they're better.

It's odd, because vocalist Randy Blythe diversifies his guttural vocal style in such a way that he winds up sounding more like Pantera singer Phil Anselmo than ever before. Instead of just the throaty growl of the band's past efforts we get, well/a milder growl, one that at least attempts to inject some melodicism amongst the brutality on songs like "In Your Words" and "Set To Fail."

Guitarists Mark Morton and Willie Adler are firing fiercer than ever, and even manage to rip off a solo or two in the midst of all the ass kicking. Their performances sum up "Wrath" perfectly: it goes beyond giving you just the mayhem you'd expect, opting instead to completely exceed one's expectations.

In general, Lamb of God just feels more epic this time around. Gone are the days where this bunch of "Rednecks" would leave our ears in "Ruin" with its cacophony. Now, it would seem, the band finally has a purpose.

Bow down, metal community, there's a new sheriff in town.