Randy Blythe on the New Lamb of God Album: “This Whole Record Is Political”

One dude who would never argue that politics have no place in metal: Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe. When Lamb of God were first ascending to their current position as one of extreme music’s foremost acts, he routinely wore an anti-George W. Bush shirt (2003’s As the Palaces Burn was released less than a week after Bush’s infamous “Mission Accomplished” stunt). Since then, Blythe has supported transgender metal vocalist Danica Roem and her historic election victory, spoken about the need for reform of U.S. gun control laws, environmentalism, and the treatment of Native Americans, led a counter-protest against the notoriously bigoted Westboro Baptist Church, and slammed Trump for his “highly sociopathic behavior.” (I’m sure he’s done a few hundred other things, too… those are just off the top of my head.)

Now, in a new interview with Kerrang!, Blythe says, unequivocally, that the band’s forthcoming self-titled album is political. In fact, he actually uses the phrase “This whole record is political.”

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, though, Blythe doesn’t come down firmly on the side of liberalism. After calling the first single from Lamb of God, “Checkmate,” “the most on the nose politically” of all the material on the album, he takes issues with both parties:

“There’s not a single song [on the album] about an individual. When we had [George W. Bush] during the ‘Ashes of the Wake’ era, he was a whole lot easier to write specifics about because we had the war in Iraq, the mythical weapons of mass destruction, but right now, the political world everywhere looks like Peewee Herman’s playhouse.”

Blythe continues:

“They are two sides of the same coin. Civility and discourse is at an all time low, and that’s because people view political parties now not for their policies, but they support these different parties like sports teams. The lyrics reflect that. The system is a fucking fraud.”

These echo sentiments Blythe expressed in 2017, when he said that LoG “have fans who are Trump supporters and we have fans that despise Trump.”

Which is fair enough… except Donald Trump inarguably represents the greatest threat to American democracy in the history of the country. “The system is a fucking fraud” is not that far off from Trump’s oft-repeated vow, during the 2016 election to “Drain the swamp.” Remember, a lot of Trump supporters like him precisely because they believe he operates outside the system.

So while I don’t necessarily disagree with Blythe’s assertion, I don’t know if that’s the message I’d wanna put out into the world right now.

That’s just my two cents, though. Feel free to call me an idiot in the comments. As though you ever don’t feel free to call me an idiot in the comments.

Lamb of God’s Lamb of God comes out May 8 on Epic Records. You can pre-order the album here.

Lamb of God will embark upon a tour of Europe with Kreator and Power Trip starting in March. They’ll also be appearing at the Welcome to Rockville festival in Daytona, FL on May 9. Then, they’ll spend their summer AND fall co-headlining a massive tour with Megadeth. Trivium and In Flames will provide support. All of the band’s upcoming dates are below. MetalSucks is running a special pre-sale for the MegaLoG tour this Thursday starting at 10am local time! Check this page for the pre-sale code!!!

w/ Kreator and Power Trip

3/27 – Stockholm, SE @ Fryshuset Arenan [tickets]
3/28 – Copenhagen, DK @ Forum Black Box [tickets]
3/30 – Oulu, FI @ Club Teatria [tickets]
3/31 – Helsinki, FI @ Ice Hall Black Box [tickets]
4/2 – Kraków, PO @ Tauron Arena [tickets]
4/3 – Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle [tickets]
4/4 – Oberhausen, DE @ Turbinenhalle [tickets]
4/5 – Wiesbaden, DE @ Kulturzentrum Schlachthof [tickets]
4/7 – Zurich, CH @ Samsung Hall [tickets]
4/8 – Munich, DE @ Zenith [tickets]
4/9 – Ludwigsburg, DE @ MHP Arena [tickets]
4/11 – Hamburg, DE @ Sporthalle [tickets]
4/14 – Barcelona, ES @ Razzmatazz [tickets]
4/15 – Madrid, ES @ Sala Riviera [tickets]
4/17 – Paris, FR @ L’Olympia Bruno Coquatrix [tickets]
4/18 – Saarbrücken, DE @ Saarlandhalle [tickets]
4/19 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique [tickets]
4/21 – Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy Bristol [tickets]
4/22 – Manchester, UK @ Manchester Academy [tickets]
4/23 – Glasgow, UK @ O2 Academy Glasgow [tickets]
4/24 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy Birmingham [tickets]
4/25 – London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton [tickets]

5/9 – Daytona Beach, FL @ Welcome to Rockville [tickets]

w/ Megadeth, Trivium, and In Flames

6/12 – Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
6/13 – Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion
6/14 – Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater
6/16 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
6/17 – Wantagh, NY @ Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
6/18 – Camden, NJ @ BB&T Pavilion
6/20 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
6/21 – Boston, MA @ Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion
6/23 – Syracuse, NY @ St. Joseph’s Heath Amphitheater at Lakeview
6/24 – Providence, RI @ Bold Point Lake Amphitheater
6/28 – Burgettstown, PA @ S&T Bank Music Park
6/29 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
7/1 – Detroit, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theater
7/2 – Mount Pleasant, MI @ Soaring Eagle Casino Amphitheatre
7/3 – Indianapolis, IN @ Ruoff Music Center
7/5 – Atlanta, GA @ Ameris Music Center
7/7 – Cincinnati, OH @ PNC Pavilion
7/8 – Cleveland, OH @Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica
7/10 – Chicago, IL @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – Chicago, IL
7/11 – St. Louis, MO @ Chicago, IL @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – St. Louis, MO
7/12 – Nashville, TN @ Nashville Municipal Auditorium
7/14 – Rogers, AR @ Walmart AMP
7/16 – Austin, TX @ Germania Insurance Amphitheater
7/17 – Houston, TX @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
7/18 – Irving, TX @The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory+
7/20 – Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheater
7/21- Phoenix, AZ @ Isleta Amphitheater
7/23 – Irvine, CA @ FivePoint Amphitheatre
7/25 – Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheatre
7/26 – Portland, OR @ Moda Center
7/29 – Salt Lake City, UT @ USANA Amphitheatre
7/30 – Pocatello, ID @ Portneuf Health Trust Amphitheatre
8/1 – Concord, CA @ Concord Pavilion

10/2 – West Palm Beach, FL @ iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
10/6 – Birmingham, AL @ Oak Mountain Amphitheatre
10/7 – New Orleans, LA @ UNO Lakefront Arena
10/9 – Corpus Christi, TX @ American Bank Center Arena
10/11 – El Paso, TX @ Don Haskins Center
10/14 – Springfield, MO @ JOH Arena
10/16 – Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center
10/21 – Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center
10/23 – Huntington, WV @ Mountain Heath Arena
10/24 – Bethlehem, PA @ The Wind Creek Event Center
10/27 – Quebec City, QC @ Centre Videotron
10/28 – Laval, QC @ Place Bell
10/30 – St, Paul, MN @ Armory
10/3 – Green Bay, WI @ Resch Center
11/2 – Omaha, NE @ Baxter Arena
11/3 – Sioux Falls, SD @ Denny Sanford PREMIER Center
11/5 – Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
11/7 – Las Vegas, NV @ Mandalay Bay Events Center
11/10 – Spokane, WA @ Spokane Arena
11/11 – Nampa, ID @ Ford Idaho Center Arena
11/13 – Reno, NV @ Reno Events Center