“We didn’t write a concept record. We didn’t write a prison record. We just made a heavy metal record. That’s what we do.”
“We didn’t write a concept record. We didn’t write a prison record. We just made a heavy metal record. That’s what we do.”
This article was featured in RVAMag #23: Winter 2015. You can read all of issue #23 here or pick it up at local shops around RVA right now.
It would be only natural to assume a heavy metal band would write a prison record after their frontman was imprisoned for over a month and then put on trial, but as D. Randall Blythe states so clearly, that is far from the case on Lamb Of God’s seventh album, out this past July. VII: Sturm und Drang is a noteworthy record in Lamb Of God’s deep and celebrated catalogue for a number of reasons, but Blythe’s highly publicized manslaughter case and his imprisonment in a Czech jail for over a month in 2012 is just not one of them. That’s not to say the whole ordeal didn’t have an impact on the album at all. In fact, Blythe himself admits to the actual influence of the experience on the record very freely.
“There are two songs on the record that I wrote while I was still locked up in prison, but that’s it. Those are the only two that deal with that specific matter. I didn’t write a prison record because I’m not some gangster rapper. Thematically, the album is much more about how humans react in stressful situations and behave in extreme situations.”
In this sense, Blythe created a much more personal record that anybody could relate to and draw inspiration from, even if the majority of his fans have never even been to the Czech Republic–let alone put on trial there. It was hardly a conscious decision on the singer’s part, as he very blatantly did “not want to make a concept record.” Instead, Blythe found a common theme in the lyrics he was creating for what would become the band’s seventh album, and with that discovery, he was able to expand upon the ideas and make the record more about self-imposed mental imprisonment rather than the physical imprisonment he’d dealt with himself. While wrapping his head around the record’s theme, Blythe sought out a phrase to simply state what the songs were about; it was this search that lead the band to their latest record’s title.
“We were trying to find an English word that encapsulated this idea and we just couldn’t. It doesn’t exist. But Germans are great at cramming complex concepts into single words like zeitgeist and schadenfreude. My guitar player speaks German and his mother is from Germany so I thought the Germans might have something. He came back to me with ‘Sturm und Drang’ and asked me if I was familiar with it.” The term was coined to describe an 18th century period in German literature and music. “Being a former VCU English student, I read that period in literature class, so it just instantly fit.”
So if it’s not a prison record, what makes VII: Sturm und Drang a notable record in Lamb Of God’s catalogue? For starters, it features the first song in Lamb Of God’s history to ever have “clean” vocals as opposed to the guttural screaming Blythe has become known for. The six-minute “Overlord” comes just after the halfway point of the album, and for those not expecting to hear Blythe’s actual singing voice, it can be a pleasant surprise as you make your way through the brooding sonic identity of the record.
“There was no thought process behind it – it was purely physical. [Guitarist] Willie [Adler] was demoing stuff and sent it to me while I was down at the beach. I’m cruising in my truck and a version of the song ‘Overlord’ came on without vocals. I just automatically started humming along and singing nonsense words just to figure out a melody. It happened entirely organically, and I thought, ‘Whoa, I could sing to this.’ It was a surprise to me–not that I could sing, I’ve always known I could sing, but I was surprised that they had finally written a song that would lend itself to clean vocals. We were never adamant about ‘no clean vocals’ or anything. We’ve just always played what we wanted to play, and this time it happened to be a fairly simple blues riff in the beginning. I just didn’t want to scream over that.”
It’d be easy to think a frontman known for his decades of heavy vocals would be hesitant to finally sing clean on a song, but Blythe quickly shut down that idea, stating that there was “no [hesitation] at all; not even a little bit.” This admission was hardly born out of arrogance; instead, it came from a place of deep artistry that really does sum up the reasons so many fans identify so strongly with Lamb Of God.
“I do exactly what I want as an artist, and so does the rest of the band. I don’t think about how it’s going to be received and worry about this or that or the other. That would be false. I think our fans respect us because we do what we want. When you start worrying about what other people are going to think far in advance, before you even do anything, then you’re pandering to your audience, and that’s never good. I think our fans respect us for doing just what we want to do, and I think that’s why we’ve had the success we’ve had.”
In addition to the first clean vocals in the band’s history, Lamb Of God’s seventh record also features two songs with guest singers on them, making it a record that plays out much differently than the past albums the band has put out. On the fourth track, “Embers,” Lamb Of God plays behind the vocals of Deftones’ member Chino Moreno, while Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan closes out the record on the tenth and final track “Torches.”
“Greg was suggested by our producer. He’s a mutual friend and I was very excited to get him, but it wasn’t my idea. The vocals from Chino, they had sent me a rough demo of this song that had this beautiful, spacious, epic ending. And unlike ‘Overlord’ where I sang clean, I didn’t know what I was going to do here. All I could hear was Chino’s voice, and I couldn’t figure it out for myself. I just kept thinking this would be really good for Chino. One day, I came into our practice space [during] the pre-production process, and somebody suggested getting Chino to sing on this track. They were mind readers, because all I could think about was how perfect it would be with Chino. We reached out from there, and he came in and just killed it. Same with Greg. I really loved it. Those are my two favorite songs on the record, because I get to sit back and listen to someone else besides myself for a change.”
Josh Wilbur returned as producer for the third straight time, a decision that Blythe admits was so easy the band barely even talked about it. “I really don’t even remember there being a discussion about who was going to produce the record,” the singer recalled. “It was just always going to be Josh, I guess.” That subconscious decision paid off, as Wilbur pushed the band to really write as a group again instead of separately on their own, as they had done in years past thanks to easy-to-use technological advancements.
“Josh really encouraged Willie and Mark [Morton] to write together instead of demoing so much at home individually,” Blythe said. He admitted that the last few records from the band had quickly become more collections of “Mark and Willie songs” than a cohesive Lamb Of God record. This time though, the two primary songwriters wrote collaboratively in the practice space–“like a real band, before the internet took over the world,” Blythe laughed. The end result was a much more organic record for the band, something Blythe found refreshing after all these years.
It’s weird to hear Blythe talk about the creation of the album in this regard, rather than his past experiences fueling an inner desire for vindication, but he bluntly stated once again that his experiences had very little conscious impact on the record itself. “I think a lot of people are looking for the effect it had on the way we recorded or wrote the record, due to the legal situation I had,” Blythe mused. “But there was none. We’ve been doing this 21 years. It wasn’t an aspect that touched on the recording at all. It didn’t bring us tighter as a group, and there was absolutely no big Hollywood ‘Aha!’ moment.”
On top of Blythe’s instance that the band not make a prison record, what also helped keep his experiences from dominating Lamb Of God’s new material was his recent memoir recounting the whole ordeal, entitled Dark Days. “I was found not guilty in March of 2013, and we continued to tour through January of 2014. I then spent the next eight or nine months writing the book.” The five hundred page book, released within two weeks of VII: Sturm Und Drang, is a very open and honest documentation of what Blythe went through–even if Blythe admits some shortcomings.
“I handled the whole experience the best I could, you know? I didn’t do everything perfectly, but I didn’t lose my head, because panicking is never a good idea in any situation. When was the last time someone gave you some advice in a bad situation and it was to panic? It doesn’t do any good. I just tried my best to keep a level head and a positive mental attitude in that situation. Some days I did just that, and other days weren’t as good.”
Having this memoir come out roughly the same time as the band’s new album definitely adds to the misconceptions about the album’s theme, but Blythe was quick to point out that the record and book were not being worked on concurrently. “The day I finished the book and turned in the manuscript, I came right back and started working on the record. It was just one thing at a time.” Still, Blythe admits that reading the book does provide some clarity to the concept and emotion of the record, though it’s not a two way street.
“There are some insights to various things on the record found within the book, but not necessarily things that deal with prison. They deal more with me and my thought processes. I would definitely recommend reading the book before listening to the album. Doing it the other way – I don’t think it works quite the same. The book would certainly give you a deeper understanding of the record, though.”
With his memoir completed and released, it’s abundantly clear that Blythe wants to move beyond his turbulent past. Due to the close release of the memoir and new record, though, it’s virtually inescapable at the moment. Luckily for Blythe and the rest of Lamb Of God, they’ve put out a record so solid and bold that it’s difficult for Blythe’s incarceration to dominate conversations about the album. Between the clean vocals, guest singers, and newly invigorated songwriting, it’s a record that offers a plethora of lenses through which to observe the band. Altogether, they’ve put Lamb Of God in a new light that shows the Richmond natives still have plenty more to offer the music world, even after 21 years.dfdar
Lamb Of God will begin 2016 with with a full US tour, featuring support from Anthrax, Deafheaven, and Power Trip. Catch them on January 22 at the Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk. For details, visit their website.
