FEAR, EMPTINESS, DECIBEL: LAMB OF GOD “HIT THE WALL”

Before there were blogs there were these things called magazines, and the only metal magazine we still get excited about reading every month is Decibel. Here’s managing editor Andrew Bonazelli…

Will this generation have its own Big 4? In the way that most of us grew up understanding that term, eh, doubt it. Metal at large — much less thrash — is probably too willfully hybridized now for a wolfpack of similar-minded, crazy-popular, dominant bands to emerge. That said, 10 years from now, will The Kids Today have three or four universally-agreed-upon bands that defined their youth? Sure. It’ll just be called Generation Pornogrind or the TechDeath Twelve.

I’m surely not alone in thinking Lamb of God were gonna be part of a Big… Something a few years ago — along with Shadows Fall, Mastodon and anyone else who miraculously (it seemed miracle-esque back then) got onto a major. They still could be. As grizzled as these dudes are, they maintain a young audience while slightly tweaking their sound each album. (See: Amon Amarth.) They’re talented, they rip, they seem humble and driven. Good shit.

No matter what the future holds, LOG are huge today, and now they’re the hugest band in the Decibel Flexi Series. This month’s exclusive submission is “Hit the Wall,” which was created for last year’s Iron Man 2 video game, although only parts of the track (sans vocals) appeared. (We can assure you that blasting this jam on repeat for two hours beats the shit out of sitting through the actual movie.) Anyway, we’ve got the full version with Randy’s unmistakable vocals, which has never been available until now.

Sony has made the track available digitally, but this month’s flexi is the only physical format the song will appear on.

A super-limited number of issues containing the flexi are now available here. Bonus: most realistic cover blood ever. In retrospect, I should’ve pushed for chunks of brain in the beard.

-AB

You can buy the April 2011 issue of Decibel here, or get a full subscription to ensure you never miss one of these awesome flexi discs!