Lately, there’s been a bit of discourse around Lamb Of God, and all of it has been incredibly stupid. Let’s not dignify the backlash to their logo change, other than to acknowledge how metal fans love nothing more than complaining about literally anything. More relevant is Randy Blythe’s outspoken negativity on the current state of the world, bringing out the ‘keep politics out of music’ crowd and their takes that never change or evolve with new information. We’re really in 2026 here and people wilfully choose to think that music shouldn’t be ‘political’, despite an extensive history of recorded works saying otherwise. But even then, why expect Lamb Of God to abide by that? The DC hardcore kid that idolised Bad Brains doesn’t vibe with Trump or current-stage capitalism—can you ever believe it, dear reader?! (Side note: those same people who’ll bring up Blythe “killing someone” to discredit his views would likely take no issue with the current Gestapo in the US doing exactly that if you so much as look at them funny.)
In any case, Into Oblivion isn’t shy about what side of the fence it’s on. At least, not for a turn-of-the-millennium metal band, an archetype that tends to get truly cutting only on occasion. You can still point to a bit of that here, too. In isolation, the opening title track can read as a rather self-explanatory metal song, all destruction and retribution kept at arm’s length. It’s expected; you don’t get twelve albums into a metal career like this one without a degree of playing to the cheap seats.
But even if Into Oblivion’s context is doing some heavy lifting—especially in a new age of American imperialism that lets Blunt Force Blues earn its ire—Lamb Of God know what they’re doing. They’ve never been short on brawn, but the notable determination to fight through the noise and bullshit shows it off well here. Parasocial Christ seeks to maul a culture of predatory, exploitative brainrot; The Killing Floor and Bully tighten that circle, in no uncertain terms with the former’s assertion of “Bow down to the butcher / Slaughtering your future”.
Nothing here is revolutionary, but you also get the impression that Lamb Of God know that. Into Oblivion is, in essence, what you’d get from a beatdown hardcore crew moonlighting as a metal band. Fists fly and targets get hit, and as long as there’s a fair few dents to account for, job’s a good ‘un. Plus, Lamb Of God have thankfully not withered and atrophied in the way of some of their contemporaries (*cough* Killswitch Engage *cough*). This is that robust, heavy breed of metal production that lets groove on St. Catherine’s Wheel or Blunt Force Blues come as naturally as a clean jugular-rip on Parasocial Christ. To go along with that, Blythe still has one of the most recognisable and formidable voices in modern metal. At 55 years old, he still sounds like he could make the jump to black-metal with nary a concession made.
The true MVP of Into Oblivion, though, is John Campbell. Rare is it that Lamb Of God’s bassist gets to go as hard as this, but it’s joyous to hear play out. Perhaps that’s why Sepsis was the lead single, unconventional as it is. That opening bassline is appropriately doused in poison, dipping a toe into sludge-metal that, as A Thousand Years asserts later on, is no one-off. As for El Vacío, that’s got the feel of late-period Parkway Drive in its dour, ponderous melodics. Of the newfound pivots, it’s the least of a full-blown killer, but it’s nice to see Lamb Of God not shuttering themselves, all the same. Blythe has said the band “try to do something different every time without reinventing the wheel,” and Into Oblivion is the clearest that’s felt in a long time.
What’s more, it’s nice to have that present while still acknowledging that this isn’t a new all-timer for Lamb Of God. At this point for them, it’d take something pretty damn special to get there, and try as it might, Into Oblivion isn’t quite shorn of some same-old, same-old. But we’re also talking about one of the tentpoles of modern metal here, who are nowhere close to losing their luster. If anything, being this fired up at a career point where complacency is absolutely the done thing only makes them look better. Ignore the discourse for the sake of your own sanity; Lamb Of God have still got it.
For fans of: Gojira, Machine Head, Trivium
‘Into Oblivion’ by Lamb Of God is out now on Epic Records.
Words by Luke Nuttall
