Earlier this year, Richmond groove metal legends Lamb Of God announced their first signature coffee blend, named ‘Memento Mori.’ The coffee was a collaboration with Nightflyer Roastworks, spearheaded by guitarist and self-proclaimed coffee nerd Willie Adler. But now, frontman Randy Blythe has gotten in on the game, having worked on a second Nightflyer/Lamb Of God coffee roast.
The new collaboration is called ‘Overlord,’ and unlike ‘Memento Mori’ it’s a dark roast, meaning more flavor if a little less caffeine. According to the press release, “This roast blends beans from Brazil, El Salvador and Guatemala to create a robust coffee with very rich, dark chocolatey notes that’s a little smoky. It’s a “diner dark,” an elevated take on the diner coffee Lamb Of God has come to enjoy over the years on the road.”
“I loved what Willie came up with for Memento Mori but I have been lobbying him to make a dark roast ever since,” says Blythe. “I like my coffee strong, dark and BLACK like my soul. Overlord checks those boxes!”
You can buy Lamb Of God’s ‘Overlord’ coffee in 12 oz bags at the band’s coffee webstore.
While Willie Adler is a diehard coffee connoisseur, his taste has matured over time so that he’s no longer just looking for powerful dark roasts. Speaking to The Pit about his java obsession, Adler revealed he’d become enamored of medium roasts over time.
“I’m real big on espresso,” explained Willie. “When this idea was brought up, it was a no brainer to fuckin’ partner with Paul and Nightflyer just cause of the relationship we had. But when we talked, I said, ‘I don’t want to just cater to myself, obviously. I want to design a coffee that’s kind of versatile and will behave well as espresso, as drip, as pour-over — however you decide to make it. So we decided on a medium roast, which is my mind is probably the most versatile, and works well for me. Before I was deep on the coffee tip, I was all about dark roast, because I thought, ‘That’s got the most flavor, it tastes like coffee.’ But then the more I learned about coffee, the more I was able to manipulate beans, and the more I roasted myself, I gravitated more towards a medium roast.”
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Words by Chris Krovatin
