Lamb Of God
As The Palaces Burn

The second album of the Americans Lamb of God is fundamentally different from the first. Instead of viscous and raw music, we are immediately hit by a squall of dense, powerful, dirty and unpolished sound, which is ready to take you, excuse me, by the balls and not let go until the very end. The guys started playing metalcore, but with a very strong admixture of groove and a slight touch of thrash. In fact, the music has become more straightforward, but at the same time much better than its predecessor, everything is very tough, all the anger and aggression is collected in a fist and pours out on you throughout the album. The rhythm section is impeccable, drummer Chris Adler is not for nothing one of the best in his field, the bass is very tight and works great in conjunction with the drums. The guitarists give out wonderful, powerful riffs, rarely diluting the matter with solos. Randy Blythe's vocals are also good, they suit the music very well. If we go through the songs, I would call the first 4 the best - the opening "Ruin" (for which a good video was shot) sets the tone for the entire album perfectly, being a powerful, pumping action movie. Next comes the fast title track with a good solo passage. "Purified" simply amazes with its, probably, most powerful rhythm section on the album, as well as good theme changes. The latter can also be attributed to "11th Hour", but the musicians have a more serious approach to it, the riffs are somehow more soul-grabbing, they even shot an anti-war video. The other songs are also good, but they don't grab you as much, although I would also highlight the gloomy "In Defense of Our Good Name", when listening to which for some reason I constantly imagine how the musicians roll out a huge cannon, from which they are going to shoot "in defense of their good name", as well as the final "Vigil", which is distinguished by some calmness in contrast to the entire album, but still then turns into a massacre. An excellent album of the hope of modern metal (it is not for nothing that they are the flagship of the so-called New Wave of American Heavy Metal). The guys chose the right path, which they are still following.