Lamb Of God
Royal Arena, Copenhagen - 2018
Text: Tobias Nilsson Photo: Lunah Lauridsen
(photos were not allowed this evening, so we've put together a collection of archive photos to go with the review)
As the only band not out of the ‘Eighties, Lamb Of God could easily be defined as the young-guns of the Slayer farewell tour they were supporting, even with their own many years on the playing field.
How would this stand for the fans of the main act, break or fall?
“How the fuck are you feeling, Copenhagen? Holy shit, it’s good to be back in Scandinavia!”
- Randy Blythe (vocals)
To be honest, I had some trepidation about seeing Lamb Of God on the billing. No, they’ve never really been my cup of tea, but musical taste aside, Lamb Of God has such a strong following of their own, I was afraid their presence might outshine the other bands, Slayer included. It has been seen in the past, that adding a famous support act, has left the hall deserted for the main act. I’m not saying Anthrax and Obituary aren’t popular, they’re both well-established names in their own right, but they both fall in much closer in style and fanbase with Slayer, whereas I feared Lamb Of God would be more of a stand-alone act of the evening.
To cut a long story short, my fears came to shame, as it turned out that even though Lamb Of God enjoyed a packed Royal Arena for their gig, so did Slayer afterwards.
But what about Lamb Of God and their gig then?
Well, they had brought a nice-looking stage production with them, and especially Blythe was glad to utilize both the box put in place for him, and the drum podium, for executing high jumps throughout the show - he is nothing if not lively, you’ve got to give him that.
The lively label was one that could also be added to bassist John Campbell, who moved about, headbanged, and in general was always up to something throughout.
Mark Morton and Willie Adler were a bit calmer in their performance, letting their guitarwork do most of the talking, and I’m sad to say that Chris Adler made no real impact on me at all, performanceways.
The band a s a whole did certainly make an impact on the audience however. Loud shouts greeted them as they came on, and it didn’t take long for the band to transform this to real, sweaty action. The crowd jumped, moshed, and circle-pit’ed their way through the set, just as the music and band demanded. In response, Blythe appreciated where he was, and sent a special greeting to Christiania and its denizens in the form of the song Now You’ve Got Something To Die For.
With all their success, I still must confess that this was the weakest point of the evening for my part. They do their job well, no doubt about it, but I have still no strong feelings one way or the other about their music. It just feels dull, I’m sad to say, and I find Blythe’s vocals lacking in variation.
Setlist:
Omerta
Ruin
Walk With Me In Hell
Now You’ve Got Something To Die For
512
Engage the Fear Machine
Blacken The Cursed Sun
Laid To Rest
Redneck
As the only band not out of the ‘Eighties, Lamb Of God could easily be defined as the young-guns of the Slayer farewell tour they were supporting, even with their own many years on the playing field.
How would this stand for the fans of the main act, break or fall?
“How the fuck are you feeling, Copenhagen? Holy shit, it’s good to be back in Scandinavia!”
- Randy Blythe (vocals)
To be honest, I had some trepidation about seeing Lamb Of God on the billing. No, they’ve never really been my cup of tea, but musical taste aside, Lamb Of God has such a strong following of their own, I was afraid their presence might outshine the other bands, Slayer included. It has been seen in the past, that adding a famous support act, has left the hall deserted for the main act. I’m not saying Anthrax and Obituary aren’t popular, they’re both well-established names in their own right, but they both fall in much closer in style and fanbase with Slayer, whereas I feared Lamb Of God would be more of a stand-alone act of the evening.
To cut a long story short, my fears came to shame, as it turned out that even though Lamb Of God enjoyed a packed Royal Arena for their gig, so did Slayer afterwards.
But what about Lamb Of God and their gig then?
Well, they had brought a nice-looking stage production with them, and especially Blythe was glad to utilize both the box put in place for him, and the drum podium, for executing high jumps throughout the show - he is nothing if not lively, you’ve got to give him that.
The lively label was one that could also be added to bassist John Campbell, who moved about, headbanged, and in general was always up to something throughout.
Mark Morton and Willie Adler were a bit calmer in their performance, letting their guitarwork do most of the talking, and I’m sad to say that Chris Adler made no real impact on me at all, performanceways.
The band a s a whole did certainly make an impact on the audience however. Loud shouts greeted them as they came on, and it didn’t take long for the band to transform this to real, sweaty action. The crowd jumped, moshed, and circle-pit’ed their way through the set, just as the music and band demanded. In response, Blythe appreciated where he was, and sent a special greeting to Christiania and its denizens in the form of the song Now You’ve Got Something To Die For.
With all their success, I still must confess that this was the weakest point of the evening for my part. They do their job well, no doubt about it, but I have still no strong feelings one way or the other about their music. It just feels dull, I’m sad to say, and I find Blythe’s vocals lacking in variation.
Setlist:
Omerta
Ruin
Walk With Me In Hell
Now You’ve Got Something To Die For
512
Engage the Fear Machine
Blacken The Cursed Sun
Laid To Rest
Redneck
Lamb Of God
