Lamb of God is an American groove metal band, originally formed under the n… Read Full Bio ↴Lamb of God is an American groove metal band, originally formed under the name Burn the Priest.
The roots of Lamb of God were planted in the year 1990, when Mark Morton, Chris Adler and John Campbell were friends at Virginia Commonwealth University. The trio began playing at Adler's house in Richmond weathering chilly conditions. "There was no heat in the house," recalls Campbell. "We would hang around the kerosene heaters, get really drunk and write metal songs. Fumes and Black Label beer were definitely what fueled our early days."
After graduation, Morton moved to Chicago to pursue a master's degree, but the band continued. A new guitarist, Abe Spear, replaced Morton as the band retired its instrumental sound and added Randy Blythe on vocals.
The quartet, known then as Burn the Priest, became a fixture in the tightly-knit Richmond music scene. To compete with the high-level of musicianship displayed by their contemporaries, the band adopted a rigid practice schedule. "To this day, we practice five days a week out of necessity," says Campbell. "The bands in Richmond can flat outplay you and if you don't practice, they will blow you off the stage. Bands like Breadwinner and Sliang Laos - two local math-metal bands - could play insanely complicated music note perfect. They inspired us to raise the bar musically and taught us the work ethic we needed to be a success."
The band was playing around Virginia when Mark Morton moved back from Chicago and re-joined the group. Soon after, Burn the Priest released a self-titled full length album on Legion Records. Abe left soon after, which opened a spot for guitarist, and brother to Chris - Willie Adler.
A year after the second Adler joined, in 2000, Burn the Priest changed its name to Lamb of God, and signed a record deal with Prosthetic Records. The band's independent-debut, New American Gospel, was released in the year 2000. "This album was all about creating a rhythmic and pummeling musical landscape with riff after riff," explains Morton. Drummer Adler notes: ''This is a classic record. We had all the elements come together to make one of the heaviest, yet contagious records of our career. It was difficult to contain us - we didn't even understand at the time what we had created."
Two years of extensive touring to support the album raised Lamb of God's profile before the band released the critically acclaimed, As The Palaces Burn (2003). ATPB won record of the year honors in such notable magazines as Revolver and Metal Hammer while garnering mainstream press in Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly.
The band hit the road again and began headlining tours across the globe. In the fall of 2003 Lamb of God was a co-headliner on the first ever MTV's Headbanger's Ball Tour which elevated Lamb of God beyond the underground. The band then released Terror and Hubris, a DVD, featuring early live performances, videos for "Ruin" and "Black Label" and behind-the-scenes footage highlighting the work ethic, humility and sense of humor of one of the most respected and influential bands around today. The DVD proved to be a commercial success as it entered the Billboard Music DVD Charts at #32.
Gradually, Lamb of God's persistence paid off. Their 2003 disc, As The Palaces Burn earned them a new level of respect and admiration, but it was 2004's virulent major label debut (Epic Records) Ashes of the Wake that turned the band into true contenders for the metal throne. By mid 2006, the record had sold over 275,000 copies. Revolver magazine voted it the album of the year, a Guitar World readers poll deemed it best metal album and awarded the band "most valuable players," "best shredders" and "best riffs." The video for "Now You've Got Something to Die For" earned "best video" from both Headbanger's Ball and Revolver. And a DVD chronicling the tour and life on the road with the band, Killadelphia, has gone gold. Lamb of God supported Ashes with more relentless touring, now playing mostly arenas and festivals, starting with a headlining run on Second Stage at Ozzfest 2004, and ending by headlining the North American Sounds of The Underground Festival in 2005.
The political angst that fueled the lyrics on As The Palaces Burn continues unabated on Ashes of the Wake. However, Blythe admits that his plans to write songs about personal responsibility quickly changed. "Mark and I write most of the lyrics together, and at the start of this album we agreed that we wanted to concentrate on internal instead of external politics," he explains. "But as we got into it, considering the condition of the world today, we felt obligated as responsible artists to give accurate social commentary, and that meant writing a few indictments against the powers that be."
Mixing a call to arms with a sneering disdain balances Ashes of the Wake. "In the end, I think the album is stronger because we show the relation between internal and external politics instead of just focusing on one or the other," Blythe says. "These songs are a reality check for everyone because they rail against a wrong-headed government and against the apathetic people that ignore the government and allow it to exist."
After Ashes of the Wake, they had been praised as one of the leaders of the new American metal movement, and while they were flattered to be considered part of something so influential, this time they wanted to stand alone. "I believe it's important for us to create a legacy for this band, and I don't want that legacy to be in association with anyone else," Adler says. "In our minds, we're a cut above and we feel like we put out a whole lot more."
Towards the end of 2005, the band stopped all touring and came home to Richmond, VA, to begin writing the next chapter. An intense 8 month writing process followed. "We pretty much killed ourselves working on it five to six days a week for six to eight hours a day," says drummer Chris Adler. "It was important to push ourselves into uncomfortable territory as players. A lot of times one of us would say, 'I'm not sure if I can play that.' The typical response was, 'Well, you've got a year to figure it out.' We pushed ourselves to step it up and threw out a lot of decent material because we were insisting on only the best." One reason Lamb of God pushed so hard is because they wanted to create something that couldn't be classified, categorized or marginalized.
August 22, 2006 brought Sacrament, a stunning example of how diverse, articulate and pummeling metal can be. It's a record that emphasizes just how far the band members have come as players, writers and people and stands as a true testament of triumph over adversity. With Sacrament, Lamb of God has stoked the flames by stripping the flesh to the bone and examining the carnage. The songs are bleak and dark, yet key ingredients of a ride that's as breathless, exhilarating and terrifying as an overdose.
Guitarist and co-lyricist Mark Morton notes the band chose the name Sacrament based on a specific lyrical reference as well as a more general symbolic perspective. "We like it because it employs the idea of the traditional religious Sacrament, which is something you do as ritual to get to a different level of your faith," he says. "Also, I thought it was symbolic in terms of us putting out another record and getting to the next stage of our musical development." "This is definitely a personal record and it's the darkest thing we've ever done," adds Blythe. "It stems from a lot of depression and a fucked up worldview. In the last couple years I've been going through a lot of weird, bad shit."
The biggest difference between Sacrament and Ashes of the Wake is the lyrical content. In the past, Lamb of God has lyrically been motivated by the hypocrisy, greed and turmoil of politics and politicians. This time the band turned within to reveal an even greater source of despair and frustration.
Songs like 'Pathetic' and 'Descending' for instance are about the whirlpool of addiction and alcoholism, 'Walk With Me In Hell' addresses the destruction of codependency and 'Blacken the Cursed Sun' confronts suicidal depression.
"The lyrics were so intense for me, when I was recording, it was like breathing pain instead of breathing air," Blythe says. "So, when it was done, I couldn't listen to the record for another two months. It just took so much out of me to get all this stuff out, I didn't want to touch it right away."
In addition to being relatively heavy, Sacrament is a sincere expression of the turmoil that has tumbled through the last few years of the band's existence. In an era of stagnant, contrived metal, Lamb of God is a harrowing rush of honesty, a declaration that no matter what anyone else is playing, Lamb of God will always follow their own hearts.
"This band was started because no one out there was making the music that we wanted to hear," singer Randy Blythe says. "So, we decided to make that music, and from that point it has just been a continuation of that philosophy. We had never changed anything we do to appeal to anyone, appease anyone or seek any sort of approval from anyone other than ourselves."
In 2009, Lamb of God released their sixth studio album 'Wrath' which debuted at No. 2 on the billboard top 200. The track 'Set to Fail' also received a Grammy nomination amongst other Metal heavyweights such as Megadeth, Slayer, Judas Priest, and Ministry. They spent the remainder of 2009 touring in support of the new album and expect to continue touring through most of 2010.
In an interview with Spin Magazine, Chris Adler stated that the band currently has plans to begin work on their seventh album (title unknown) at the start of 2011. The album has been stated to be released either the end of 2011 or the beginning of 2012 and the band will not be doing any public performances until 2012 according to Morton's personal Twitter account.
On June 28, 2012, Randy Blythe was arrested in Czech Republic for alleged manslaughter. He was released on August 3 on a $400,000 bail until the criminal proceedings are finished.
Despite statements from band members that Lamb of God planned to enter the studio in 2014 to begin recording their eighth studio album, hoping to complete it by the end of the same year, Chris Adler said in an interview with The Virginian-Pilot that besides the large amount legal fees the band encountered from Randy Blythe's trial, the band's inactivity during the trial had eventually depleted the band's funds and thus were unable to fulfill those plans.
On January 26, 2014, Randy Blythe posted a picture and a statement on his Instagram saying he would be taking a long break from Lamb of God. The band, after the then-current album cycle would be on hiatus, except for some summer festival appearances. By September, however, Blythe revealed that he was planning to release a new Lamb of God record, which uses lyrics he had written while he was incarcerated along with his book, Dark Days: A Memoir in early 2015.
The band began teasing a new album, with the placeholder title Lamb of God VII via Instagram and Twitter in late April 2015. A website, lambofgodvii.com, initially comprising an empty black screen, went online in early May. The "VII" (the roman numeral for the number seven) refers to the album being the band's seventh, and does not take into account the first of their albums, released with a slightly different line-up as Burn the Priest. On May 15, 2015, it was announced that the title of the new album VII: Sturm und Drang, and would be released in July via Epic and Nuclear Blast Entertainment. The first song, "Still Echoes" was made available for streaming on LambofGodVII.com, and available for digital download on May 18. In June of the same year, the band released a video for the song "512".
On November 14, 2016, Lamb of God released a new EP titled "The Duke", which featured two new songs from the VII: Sturm und Drang recordings and three live tracks. The title track is dedicated to a fan and friend of vocalist Randy Blythe, Wayne Ford, who died after a 5-year battle with leukaemia. In addition to the new release, several members of the band auctioned off their instruments, signed CDs, lyric books and gold records to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
On April 4, 2017, Blythe said it was time for the band to "really go on hiatus" after their summer North American tour; this was in reference to the first hiatus being on the back of his release from prison and acquittal. On August 10, guitarist Mark Morton confirmed that the band would be going on hiatus but stated that they would still be making music but did not hint at whether this was either for an upcoming release or indeed for Lamb of God at all.
On January 22, 2018, Lamb of God was announced as one of the bands supporting the Slayer Farewell Tour.
On March 22, 2018, Lamb of God announced that on May 18, 2018, they would release a cover album, Legion: XX under their original name Burn the Priest. It is the band's first album as Burn the Priest since their 1999 album.
On October 23, 2018, Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler was interviewed on the 486th Metal Injection Livecast and in the interview with Metal Injection he revealed that the band is aiming for a December 2019 release date for Lamb of God's tenth studio album. He also revealed in the interview that he had a conversation with fellow heavy metal drummer Lars Ulrich of the band Metallica about what it is like to work with ex-Metallica guitarist and current Megadeth lead vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine prior to working with him on Megadeth's 15th album, Dystopia, which was released in 2016.
In June 2019, on the topic of Chris Adler returning to the band on a touring basis, Randy Blythe stated during an interview with WSOU that he had no comment and that "it's hard to see what's going to happen with Chris Adler."On July 19, 2019, the band released a statement informing that they had indeed parted ways with Chris Adler, with Winds of Plague and former Prong drummer Art Cruz being named the new drummer of Lamb of God. They additionally stated that they had begun pre-production on their forthcoming 10th album.On October 23, 2019, Chris Adler released his own statement about his departure from Lamb of God revealing that he "did not make the decision to leave my life’s work" and he "is unwilling to paint by numbers".
On February 5, 2020, the band released "Checkmate" as the debut single from their self-titled album, Lamb of God, which marks the first song to feature new drummer Art Cruz. The album was initially planned to be released on May 8, but was postponed to June 19, 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Lamb of God will spend most of 2021 touring in support of the album, including a co-headlining US tour with Megadeth, and a European trek with Kreator and Power Trip.
In a September 2020 interview with Australia's Subculture Entertainment, Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton was asked how he was spending his coronavirus downtime. He responded, "Writing and recording and creating new music is my favorite part out of all the things we get to do. There's a lot of elements, a lot of components about being in a band like Lamb of God. Performing and touring is one of them. Writing and recording is another one of them. The writing and recording part is far and away my favorite part of what we get to do. And so I have been doing some writing. I've been writing some stuff for Lamb of God, some stuff for other people, some stuff for my own solo project, so there's a lot of new music jumping out of me right now."
On February 4, 2021, the band released a song called "Ghost Shaped People" off the upcoming deluxe version of their 2020 self-titled album. The reissue of the album is set for release on March 26, 2021.
The roots of Lamb of God were planted in the year 1990, when Mark Morton, Chris Adler and John Campbell were friends at Virginia Commonwealth University. The trio began playing at Adler's house in Richmond weathering chilly conditions. "There was no heat in the house," recalls Campbell. "We would hang around the kerosene heaters, get really drunk and write metal songs. Fumes and Black Label beer were definitely what fueled our early days."
After graduation, Morton moved to Chicago to pursue a master's degree, but the band continued. A new guitarist, Abe Spear, replaced Morton as the band retired its instrumental sound and added Randy Blythe on vocals.
The quartet, known then as Burn the Priest, became a fixture in the tightly-knit Richmond music scene. To compete with the high-level of musicianship displayed by their contemporaries, the band adopted a rigid practice schedule. "To this day, we practice five days a week out of necessity," says Campbell. "The bands in Richmond can flat outplay you and if you don't practice, they will blow you off the stage. Bands like Breadwinner and Sliang Laos - two local math-metal bands - could play insanely complicated music note perfect. They inspired us to raise the bar musically and taught us the work ethic we needed to be a success."
The band was playing around Virginia when Mark Morton moved back from Chicago and re-joined the group. Soon after, Burn the Priest released a self-titled full length album on Legion Records. Abe left soon after, which opened a spot for guitarist, and brother to Chris - Willie Adler.
A year after the second Adler joined, in 2000, Burn the Priest changed its name to Lamb of God, and signed a record deal with Prosthetic Records. The band's independent-debut, New American Gospel, was released in the year 2000. "This album was all about creating a rhythmic and pummeling musical landscape with riff after riff," explains Morton. Drummer Adler notes: ''This is a classic record. We had all the elements come together to make one of the heaviest, yet contagious records of our career. It was difficult to contain us - we didn't even understand at the time what we had created."
Two years of extensive touring to support the album raised Lamb of God's profile before the band released the critically acclaimed, As The Palaces Burn (2003). ATPB won record of the year honors in such notable magazines as Revolver and Metal Hammer while garnering mainstream press in Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly.
The band hit the road again and began headlining tours across the globe. In the fall of 2003 Lamb of God was a co-headliner on the first ever MTV's Headbanger's Ball Tour which elevated Lamb of God beyond the underground. The band then released Terror and Hubris, a DVD, featuring early live performances, videos for "Ruin" and "Black Label" and behind-the-scenes footage highlighting the work ethic, humility and sense of humor of one of the most respected and influential bands around today. The DVD proved to be a commercial success as it entered the Billboard Music DVD Charts at #32.
Gradually, Lamb of God's persistence paid off. Their 2003 disc, As The Palaces Burn earned them a new level of respect and admiration, but it was 2004's virulent major label debut (Epic Records) Ashes of the Wake that turned the band into true contenders for the metal throne. By mid 2006, the record had sold over 275,000 copies. Revolver magazine voted it the album of the year, a Guitar World readers poll deemed it best metal album and awarded the band "most valuable players," "best shredders" and "best riffs." The video for "Now You've Got Something to Die For" earned "best video" from both Headbanger's Ball and Revolver. And a DVD chronicling the tour and life on the road with the band, Killadelphia, has gone gold. Lamb of God supported Ashes with more relentless touring, now playing mostly arenas and festivals, starting with a headlining run on Second Stage at Ozzfest 2004, and ending by headlining the North American Sounds of The Underground Festival in 2005.
The political angst that fueled the lyrics on As The Palaces Burn continues unabated on Ashes of the Wake. However, Blythe admits that his plans to write songs about personal responsibility quickly changed. "Mark and I write most of the lyrics together, and at the start of this album we agreed that we wanted to concentrate on internal instead of external politics," he explains. "But as we got into it, considering the condition of the world today, we felt obligated as responsible artists to give accurate social commentary, and that meant writing a few indictments against the powers that be."
Mixing a call to arms with a sneering disdain balances Ashes of the Wake. "In the end, I think the album is stronger because we show the relation between internal and external politics instead of just focusing on one or the other," Blythe says. "These songs are a reality check for everyone because they rail against a wrong-headed government and against the apathetic people that ignore the government and allow it to exist."
After Ashes of the Wake, they had been praised as one of the leaders of the new American metal movement, and while they were flattered to be considered part of something so influential, this time they wanted to stand alone. "I believe it's important for us to create a legacy for this band, and I don't want that legacy to be in association with anyone else," Adler says. "In our minds, we're a cut above and we feel like we put out a whole lot more."
Towards the end of 2005, the band stopped all touring and came home to Richmond, VA, to begin writing the next chapter. An intense 8 month writing process followed. "We pretty much killed ourselves working on it five to six days a week for six to eight hours a day," says drummer Chris Adler. "It was important to push ourselves into uncomfortable territory as players. A lot of times one of us would say, 'I'm not sure if I can play that.' The typical response was, 'Well, you've got a year to figure it out.' We pushed ourselves to step it up and threw out a lot of decent material because we were insisting on only the best." One reason Lamb of God pushed so hard is because they wanted to create something that couldn't be classified, categorized or marginalized.
August 22, 2006 brought Sacrament, a stunning example of how diverse, articulate and pummeling metal can be. It's a record that emphasizes just how far the band members have come as players, writers and people and stands as a true testament of triumph over adversity. With Sacrament, Lamb of God has stoked the flames by stripping the flesh to the bone and examining the carnage. The songs are bleak and dark, yet key ingredients of a ride that's as breathless, exhilarating and terrifying as an overdose.
Guitarist and co-lyricist Mark Morton notes the band chose the name Sacrament based on a specific lyrical reference as well as a more general symbolic perspective. "We like it because it employs the idea of the traditional religious Sacrament, which is something you do as ritual to get to a different level of your faith," he says. "Also, I thought it was symbolic in terms of us putting out another record and getting to the next stage of our musical development." "This is definitely a personal record and it's the darkest thing we've ever done," adds Blythe. "It stems from a lot of depression and a fucked up worldview. In the last couple years I've been going through a lot of weird, bad shit."
The biggest difference between Sacrament and Ashes of the Wake is the lyrical content. In the past, Lamb of God has lyrically been motivated by the hypocrisy, greed and turmoil of politics and politicians. This time the band turned within to reveal an even greater source of despair and frustration.
Songs like 'Pathetic' and 'Descending' for instance are about the whirlpool of addiction and alcoholism, 'Walk With Me In Hell' addresses the destruction of codependency and 'Blacken the Cursed Sun' confronts suicidal depression.
"The lyrics were so intense for me, when I was recording, it was like breathing pain instead of breathing air," Blythe says. "So, when it was done, I couldn't listen to the record for another two months. It just took so much out of me to get all this stuff out, I didn't want to touch it right away."
In addition to being relatively heavy, Sacrament is a sincere expression of the turmoil that has tumbled through the last few years of the band's existence. In an era of stagnant, contrived metal, Lamb of God is a harrowing rush of honesty, a declaration that no matter what anyone else is playing, Lamb of God will always follow their own hearts.
"This band was started because no one out there was making the music that we wanted to hear," singer Randy Blythe says. "So, we decided to make that music, and from that point it has just been a continuation of that philosophy. We had never changed anything we do to appeal to anyone, appease anyone or seek any sort of approval from anyone other than ourselves."
In 2009, Lamb of God released their sixth studio album 'Wrath' which debuted at No. 2 on the billboard top 200. The track 'Set to Fail' also received a Grammy nomination amongst other Metal heavyweights such as Megadeth, Slayer, Judas Priest, and Ministry. They spent the remainder of 2009 touring in support of the new album and expect to continue touring through most of 2010.
In an interview with Spin Magazine, Chris Adler stated that the band currently has plans to begin work on their seventh album (title unknown) at the start of 2011. The album has been stated to be released either the end of 2011 or the beginning of 2012 and the band will not be doing any public performances until 2012 according to Morton's personal Twitter account.
On June 28, 2012, Randy Blythe was arrested in Czech Republic for alleged manslaughter. He was released on August 3 on a $400,000 bail until the criminal proceedings are finished.
Despite statements from band members that Lamb of God planned to enter the studio in 2014 to begin recording their eighth studio album, hoping to complete it by the end of the same year, Chris Adler said in an interview with The Virginian-Pilot that besides the large amount legal fees the band encountered from Randy Blythe's trial, the band's inactivity during the trial had eventually depleted the band's funds and thus were unable to fulfill those plans.
On January 26, 2014, Randy Blythe posted a picture and a statement on his Instagram saying he would be taking a long break from Lamb of God. The band, after the then-current album cycle would be on hiatus, except for some summer festival appearances. By September, however, Blythe revealed that he was planning to release a new Lamb of God record, which uses lyrics he had written while he was incarcerated along with his book, Dark Days: A Memoir in early 2015.
The band began teasing a new album, with the placeholder title Lamb of God VII via Instagram and Twitter in late April 2015. A website, lambofgodvii.com, initially comprising an empty black screen, went online in early May. The "VII" (the roman numeral for the number seven) refers to the album being the band's seventh, and does not take into account the first of their albums, released with a slightly different line-up as Burn the Priest. On May 15, 2015, it was announced that the title of the new album VII: Sturm und Drang, and would be released in July via Epic and Nuclear Blast Entertainment. The first song, "Still Echoes" was made available for streaming on LambofGodVII.com, and available for digital download on May 18. In June of the same year, the band released a video for the song "512".
On November 14, 2016, Lamb of God released a new EP titled "The Duke", which featured two new songs from the VII: Sturm und Drang recordings and three live tracks. The title track is dedicated to a fan and friend of vocalist Randy Blythe, Wayne Ford, who died after a 5-year battle with leukaemia. In addition to the new release, several members of the band auctioned off their instruments, signed CDs, lyric books and gold records to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
On April 4, 2017, Blythe said it was time for the band to "really go on hiatus" after their summer North American tour; this was in reference to the first hiatus being on the back of his release from prison and acquittal. On August 10, guitarist Mark Morton confirmed that the band would be going on hiatus but stated that they would still be making music but did not hint at whether this was either for an upcoming release or indeed for Lamb of God at all.
On January 22, 2018, Lamb of God was announced as one of the bands supporting the Slayer Farewell Tour.
On March 22, 2018, Lamb of God announced that on May 18, 2018, they would release a cover album, Legion: XX under their original name Burn the Priest. It is the band's first album as Burn the Priest since their 1999 album.
On October 23, 2018, Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler was interviewed on the 486th Metal Injection Livecast and in the interview with Metal Injection he revealed that the band is aiming for a December 2019 release date for Lamb of God's tenth studio album. He also revealed in the interview that he had a conversation with fellow heavy metal drummer Lars Ulrich of the band Metallica about what it is like to work with ex-Metallica guitarist and current Megadeth lead vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine prior to working with him on Megadeth's 15th album, Dystopia, which was released in 2016.
In June 2019, on the topic of Chris Adler returning to the band on a touring basis, Randy Blythe stated during an interview with WSOU that he had no comment and that "it's hard to see what's going to happen with Chris Adler."On July 19, 2019, the band released a statement informing that they had indeed parted ways with Chris Adler, with Winds of Plague and former Prong drummer Art Cruz being named the new drummer of Lamb of God. They additionally stated that they had begun pre-production on their forthcoming 10th album.On October 23, 2019, Chris Adler released his own statement about his departure from Lamb of God revealing that he "did not make the decision to leave my life’s work" and he "is unwilling to paint by numbers".
On February 5, 2020, the band released "Checkmate" as the debut single from their self-titled album, Lamb of God, which marks the first song to feature new drummer Art Cruz. The album was initially planned to be released on May 8, but was postponed to June 19, 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Lamb of God will spend most of 2021 touring in support of the album, including a co-headlining US tour with Megadeth, and a European trek with Kreator and Power Trip.
In a September 2020 interview with Australia's Subculture Entertainment, Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton was asked how he was spending his coronavirus downtime. He responded, "Writing and recording and creating new music is my favorite part out of all the things we get to do. There's a lot of elements, a lot of components about being in a band like Lamb of God. Performing and touring is one of them. Writing and recording is another one of them. The writing and recording part is far and away my favorite part of what we get to do. And so I have been doing some writing. I've been writing some stuff for Lamb of God, some stuff for other people, some stuff for my own solo project, so there's a lot of new music jumping out of me right now."
On February 4, 2021, the band released a song called "Ghost Shaped People" off the upcoming deluxe version of their 2020 self-titled album. The reissue of the album is set for release on March 26, 2021.
Terminally Unique
Lamb of God Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There's nothing new under the gun
Cognitive dissonance
Wallow in sardonic fear while your will breaks like glass
Throw on the blinders, ignore the signs
Sink ever deeper, swallow the lie.
How far did you think that you could run?
You crossed the last meridian
As life passes you by
Outside the fishbowl looking in
Clarity to bear witness
Oblivious and obstinate
And you're a fucking mess
Seal all the exits, tie your own hands
Burn all the bridges, head in the sand.
How far did you think that you could run?
You crossed the last meridian
And it's all coming down now
As the clock ticks on
[Repeat: x3]
Your life is passing by
[Repeat: x3]
Awaken
Singing the same tired old song
Predictable and somnambulant
Suffering from terminal uniqueness
When will you awaken?
Awaken (awaken)
How far did you think that you could run?
You crossed the last meridian
And it's all, it's all coming down now
As the clock ticks on
[Repeat: x3]
Your life is passing by
Cognitive dissonance
Wallow in sardonic fear while your will breaks like glass
Throw on the blinders, ignore the signs
Sink ever deeper, swallow the lie.
How far did you think that you could run?
You crossed the last meridian
Outside the fishbowl looking in
Clarity to bear witness
Oblivious and obstinate
And you're a fucking mess
Seal all the exits, tie your own hands
Burn all the bridges, head in the sand.
How far did you think that you could run?
You crossed the last meridian
And it's all coming down now
As the clock ticks on
[Repeat: x3]
Your life is passing by
[Repeat: x3]
Awaken
Singing the same tired old song
Predictable and somnambulant
Suffering from terminal uniqueness
When will you awaken?
Awaken (awaken)
How far did you think that you could run?
You crossed the last meridian
And it's all, it's all coming down now
As the clock ticks on
[Repeat: x3]
Your life is passing by
In "Terminally Unique," Lamb of God calls out societal conformity and the destructive behavior that can come with it. The lyrics suggest that people knowingly ignore the warning signs and continue down a path towards self-destruction, even though they know the consequences. The first two lines, "There's nothing new under the gun/Cognitive dissonance," refer to the fact that despite being aware of the problems they face, they continue to act in the same way. The line "Wallow in sardonic fear while your will breaks like glass" suggests that people are too afraid to change and therefore will break under the pressure of their own self-imposed limitations.
The lyrics then speak directly to the listener, asking them how far they thought they could run and how long they thought they could ignore the truth. The line "Outside the fishbowl looking in" indicates that the singer has stepped outside of their own perspective and can now see the bigger picture. However, the subject of the song remains "Oblivious and obstinate." The final lines, "Singing the same tired old song/Predictable and somnambulant/Suffering from terminal uniqueness" refer to the unoriginality of the listener's behavior and their lack of self-awareness. The song's closing refrain, "When will you awaken?" suggests that there is still a chance to change and to live life without being terminally unique.
Line by Line Meaning
There's nothing new under the gun
There's no new problems to deal with, everything has been experienced before
Cognitive dissonance
Holding two or more contradictory beliefs or values
Wallow in sardonic fear while your will breaks like glass
Being paralyzed by fear and losing your sense of agency and control
Throw on the blinders, ignore the signs
Choosing to be ignorant and avoid warning signs
Sink ever deeper, swallow the lie
Going deeper into deception and accepting falsehood as truth
How far did you think that you could run?
How long did you think you could avoid problems?
You crossed the last meridian
You've gone too far and there's no turning back
As life passes you by
As time moves on and you're not making progress or changes
Outside the fishbowl looking in
Seeing things from an outsider's perspective
Clarity to bear witness
Seeing things clearly and objectively
Oblivious and obstinate
Unaware and unwilling to change
And you're a fucking mess
You're in a state of disorder and chaos
Seal all the exits, tie your own hands
Trapping yourself and limiting your own choices and actions
Burn all the bridges, head in the sand
Cutting off all ties and ignoring problems
Awaken
Realize the truth and take action
Singing the same tired old song
Repeating the same mistakes and not growing or changing
Predictable and somnambulant
Being predictable and sleepwalking through life
Suffering from terminal uniqueness
Believing that your problems are unique and unable to be solved
When will you awaken?
Why haven't you realized the truth and taken action yet?
And it's all, it's all coming down now
Everything is falling apart
Your life is passing by
Time is moving on and you're not making progress or changes
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: CHRIS ADLER, DAVID RANDALL BLYTHE, JOHN CAMPBELL, MARK MORTON, WILL ADLER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Draven Prather
This song has helped me get through and over alcohol and drug addictions in the past. Lamb of god is my all time favorite but also bands like korn, mushroomhead, slipknot, and pantera have also helped me through some dark times as well. 2 years ago i was homeless strung out on meth and xanex, now im a welder with a gorgeous woman by my side with a stepson that im taking care of like hes my own child. Been at the same job for a year in a half. Thanks to bands like this. Not to sound preachy but thanks to God as well.
Jordan Mearns
Awesome story dude, hope you're still doing well for yourself. Music can help us all through the darkest of times.
Leeroy Jenkins
Nioooce. 👊🏻
McFLUFFY 0
You're stepsons lucky, you got a good taste in music 😂
Filip HTMN
Draven Prather your done great man, i usually dont anser to comments, but no ones anser to you...so i am from greece and i am 20 right now, ive done cocaine, mdma and a lot of alcohol i messed up everything, i was so fucking athletic with gymnastics brazilian jj and boxing after i cut the shit off i start working like a motherfucker and earn some money to get in a college and now i still boxing, working and study psychology...I know how those fucking shit works, they never get out of your head, i’m happy to see people like you, going on with their lives and get stronger for them and their family...keep going and feel proud about your self, that keeps us alive since today and forever lamb of god!!
Nick Tholen
As someone that has dealt with alcoholism at an early age, when Randy breaks for a second into his own voice at 3:38, singing "its all coming down now," almost desperately; it's so strong. You think of the destruction you cause to yourself and others while drinking. Its just a small, powerful piece of minutia that makes this song so special. 11th hour is almost as good, but probably more cynical. This one is more self-reflective.
shady.gh0st
I downloaded the full album and noticed that but this is my 6th listen in these 3 days and I just had a thought, like you. That desperate moment is enough to make a grown man cry..
Robert Lewis
@FuckYouAllToPieces yessir. Shrooms is my dig wid some dank on deck bra! Heel yee man! I can sense negativity a mile away. I love to work, do your job, then earn that broosky homie! Your AWSOME my brotha. Thanks dude.
Devour
I love how his voice cracks sometimes, really down to earth band
JustPolar
This song really shows how Randy can sing melodies while screaming.