Lamb of God are Blowing Up the Charts Around the World

While I wasn’t 100% won over by Lamb of God’s new album VII: Sturm und Drang, a point I tried to make repeatedly in my review is that they’re a band that deserves respect for their staying power and continued dedication to metal. No matter what you think of Randy Blythe’s clean vocals, this is a band that’s been making uncompromisingly vicious music for ages now.

Well, the first-week chart positions for VII have come in from around the world, and, well, look at them:

Canada: #1
Australia: #2
USA: #3
UK: #7
Germany: #12
Japan: #13
Netherlands: #13
Finland: #3
New Zealand: #11
Sweden: #19
Belgium: #23
Ireland: #25

Christ on a unicycle! #1 in Canada, #2 in Australia, #3 in the US? This is a band that sounds like getting the shit kicked out of you by the Devil, fronted by a guy screaming his fucking lungs out, and they’re topping the charts!

Obviously, the music industry has changed, this doesn’t take into account ____, blah blah blah. But look, no matter how famous they are within the scene, Lamb of God are an underground band in the larger scheme of things. The fact that their many years of hard-touring and ass-kicking has resulted in top-ten chart positions around the world is a testament to their persistence and talent.

Growing up in the era of Britney Spears and Tower Records, I never could have imagined a time when a band like this would be #3 on the US charts. That’s fucking mind-blowing.

Cheers to you, Lamb of God. You’re taking over the world in the name of metal. We couldn’t ask for anything more.