15-02-2010Live reviews - Lamb Of God
12-02-10 - With Support from Job For A Cowboy, August Burns Red and Between the Buried and Me
Tonight is by all accounts one that has been run down to in many diaries as the first major live metal event in 2010. With Lamb Of God in town Manchester's Oxford road and the areas outside the Academy are a hive of activity from six PM onwards. One thing strikes me as I look back on the event in retrospect, Lamb Of God could be the new Slayer for the passion they receive from their many legions of fans.
It's up to Between The Buried & Me to start the night and with 20 minutes allotted that leaves just enough time for one song by their usual proggy standards. They manage to squeeze in three of the more direct tunes promoting the new 'The Great Misdirect' album but coming from a big fan tonight's show just doesn't do the band any justice. The sound is unpredictable and many of their intricacies are lost to a muddy PA still stirring into life. The mid-song riffery does bring the band back to attention but their gone just as quickly.
August Burns Red are a vision of energy from the outset as they begin their brand of beatdown driven metal which appears to be working over well with the crowd. It's mid-set that ABR ignite the first fires of the night, repeated cries for a circle pit from vocalist Jake Luhrst are duly obliged and the floor opens up into a respectable frenzy. The band play what would be typically called metalcore with its use of the beatdown over a riff and the obligatory two steps but the band understand the genre and so manipulate all its favourite nuances for maximum effect.
By now the beers are taking hold of many and as August Burns Red depart the chants of Lamb Of God begin to grow, the crowd are already starting to bay, those in the crush of the pit starting to foam in a mix of exhaustion and anticipation. Job For A Cowboy as main support have a hard task in taking the minds of those watching off the Redneck metal icons for the next forty five minutes. As such their well performed death metal takes a number of songs before it really starts to get a decent reception. Dark riffs and beastly solo's send shudders of intensity through with vocalist Jonny Davy sounding most effective in his guttural bellows. 'Constitutional Masturbation' is destructive from its first note. Early demo song 'Knee Deep' provides a good indication of just how far this band have progressed as its littered beatdowns and formulaic approach are used more sparsely on last two albums 'Genesis' and 'Ruination.'
Next to be introduced is 'To Detonate and Exterminate' and just like the Ronseal advert of old it does exactly what it says on the tin. As the song closes the crowd are getting impatient and as the Lamb of God chants grow in stature it pits an uneasy standoff for a brief second between band and audience. Thing is the people are lapping up Job For A Cowboys death metal, their just getting a bit eager is all. The band take it in their stride and share a joke and tell us to put up with two more, with 'Entombment of a Machine' closing a well played set of grind and growl.
And so it is, as the house lights fade into dusk Randy Blythe and co take their positions with the acoustics of 'The Passing' being looped through they momentarily join in the slow build up before catapulting a wave of ferocity into 'In Your Words.' It's brutal and demonic yet greatly uplifting and it explodes the room into mass action. Ironically Randy announces the next tune out to be 'Set To Fail' and its exactly how I feel about trying to save my pint from ending up covering those around me. The shout out to Manchester United shows the band have a good taste in teams but being the city we live in it is met with equal amounts of disdain.
'Walk With Me In Hell,' 'Now You've Got Something To Die For' and 'Ruin' are pounded out in quick succession and as they return to in between song banter you get a feeling with this band it's a question of Randy asking the fans to jump and they don't have to ask how high, just taking aim straight for the ceiling instead. The band depart quickly before coming back to the epic guitar work for 'Omerta' and then back into full force with the residual classic 'Grace.' During 'Laid To Rest' you hear the sonic booms of the club's bass rig going off like landmines under a running track before the punk rock drive of 'Contractor' punishes every sinew. Penultimate track and fan favourite 'Redneck' doesn't lose its mammoth intensity regardless of times you have the pleasure of witnessing it and it wouldn't be a Lamb Of God show without the wall of death to accompany the accustomed set ender of 'Black Label.' The fans know what to do and right about this point three quarters of the people are getting thoroughly roughhoused but all in the friendly, loving metal way. The band come with much hype but they live up to and surpass all levels of expectations, matching an understanding of the underground with a high level of professionalism has set this band apart from almost all others, ask anyone in attendance this evening I'm sure they'd agree.
