Well well well, last week I dedicated my blog to moaning about the lack of Soundgarden live dates since their reformation, and behold, a few days later they announce that they are playing Download! I’ll have to have a good think what to moan about next! Just the 5 months to wait now *twiddles thumbs.

Lamb of God are back with album number seven. The new album, entitled Resolution is out on the 23^rd January and in typical Lamb of God tradition it KICKS ASS! The Virginians are yet to deliver a sub-par album to us yet, so what did we expect?

The band have been riding high for a while now and have seen a steady but constant rise to the top of the metal game. The top is certainly where they are right now and undoubtedly where they deserve to be. They have not compromised their sound, heaviness or song writing to get there; they’ve just simply remained true to what Lamb of God is all about.

In a very similar way to which Pantera dominated the early 90’s with their unique and uncompromising sound; Lamb of God have ignored any whiff of a trend or movement and just been the band they wanted to be. Lamb of God are one of those rare metal bands that nobody (OK except for those pesky internet trolls) is afraid to admit to liking. However people like their metal served, there’s always room for some Lamb of God in the average metal fan’s appetite. Most exciting of all though is that these men are about to release their best album to date!

Lamb of God have a very distinctive sound which has not altered throughout their career by any large degree. On Resolution however, things do get the odd shake-up, and the album as a whole is all the better for it.

First track Straight for the Sun is the first curveball. The opening spot on an album is usually saved for the fast and ‘in your face’ number, however the opener here is a slow Doom track. This leads into the more familiar territory of Desolation and then follows the preview track released before Christmas, the awesome Ghost Walking.

The album gets even stronger into the second half. Invictus is a speedy track that sees Lamb of God at their most punkie to date. The surprises keep on coming too. Vocalist Randy Blythe swaps his usual snarl for clean vocals on Insurrection with great results and the album closer features orchestral strings, something that will no doubt ruffle a few feathers.

The album features everything you want from this band and it’s delivered on top form too. All the risky new bits sit perfectly with the classic Lamb of God sound and as a result this is their best album yet! Not bad for album number 7.

10/10