With the new Lamb of God album Omens having come out last week, we thought it was about time to rank all the Lamb of God albums from worst to best. Well before the release of their latest studio record, Lamb of God have proven themselves to be a remarkable force of metal. For nearly three decades, the band have pushed their craft, unleashing sonic aggression and elevating the genre to new heights.
Lamb of God get accredited as one of the bands to kick off the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, and for very good reason – for their blend of groove, thrash, hardcore, and other heavy genres has gone on to influence a tremendous plethora of acts.
From New American Gospel to Omens, we went over each of the band’s releases and ranked each Lamb of God album worst to best. Which Lamb of God album do you think we have ranked as number one?
9. New American Gospel
The debut studio Lamb of God album, New American Gospel is a hard-hitting work of aggressive and gritty sounding metal. While it lacks stylistic variety – compared to what the band would go on to do with future releases – New American Gospel does not hold back when it comes to ferocity. It is without a doubt a record that makes a statement, that being to keep an eye on this band.
8. Lamb of God
It goes without saying that the self-titled Lamb of God album of 2020 is absolutely a banger… however, similar in a way to New American Gospel, it is also quite a straight forward work. If one is looking for some aggressive tunes to headbang and mosh to, then this record is perfect. That said, there are other Lamb of God albums that fully highlight the band’s greater artistry (technical prowess, creative songwriting, etc.).
7. Wrath
An utterly crushing work of groove metal, Wrath is by far one of band’s tightest records when it comes to rip-roaring tracks. Though a tad straight forward at times as well, Wrath is a Lamb of God album that displays more of the band’s fluid approach to songwriting, with the members playing around with more variations in mood, tempo, and style.
6. As the Palaces Burn
As the follow-up Lamb of God album to that of 2000’s New American Gospel, As the Palaces Burn was a tremendous leap forward in terms of the band’s artistic quality. Given that New American Gospel made it clear that Lamb of God is a heavy as fuck band, As the Palaces Burn displays a metal act who know how to craft riveting songs that take audiences on a journey.
5. Ashes of the Wake
The third Lamb of God album Ashes of the Wake is probably one of the most fan beloved among the band’s work. Through and through, Ashes of the Wake demonstrates a band who know how to craft pulse-pounding and thrilling groove metal; this is a record that goes right for your eardrums and gets the blood flowing.
4. Omens
At the time of this writing, Omens is the latest Lamb of God album (having come out October 7th, 2022). Without a doubt, Omens is an exhilarating and fucking wild ride of metal ferocity (with touches of punk and hardcore thrown into the mix). As compared to 2020’s Lamb of God self-titled album, Omens features more variety to the band’s creative palette, providing fans and listeners a strong sense of what the band is capable of.
3. VII: Sturm und Drang
From here on forward, we start to venture into Lamb of God albums that display more of a “daring” element to the band – efforts that not only show the band flexing their creative muscles and experimenting some more, but still embracing their core sound. VII: Sturm und Drang is one of those records that really stands out among the Lamb of God discography, for it keeps to the band’s powerful sense of groove metal, while also introducing new forms of atmosphere that are new for the band. Tracks like “Overlord” and “Torches” are great examples of this.
2. Sacrament
Having released in 2006, Sacrament is the Lamb of God album that would foreshadow the band’s greater range in artistic expression. Prior to Sacrament‘s release, there was never a question whether or not the band could deliver on hard-hitting metal; however, one could argue that, prior to this release, there was not a ton of variety to the band’s music (in terms of pacing and atmosphere).
With the release of Sacrament, not only did we get more Lamb of God music that continues to throttle eardrums, but we also were treated to a greater sense of atmosphere, mood, tempo variation, and stylistic flair. While other records that came out earlier in the band’s career have had a powerful impact on their growth – namely As the Palaces Burn and Ashes of the Wake – Sacrament is the first release that really shows off what Lamb of God are capable in creating.
Although, there is one Lamb of God album we see as a little more stronger than this one…
1. Resolution
Resolution marks a very intense point in Lamb of God’s career, for it would be the record that the band released prior to Lamb of God singer Randy Blythe being sent off to prison. In the time after Randy was found innocent and was able to reunite with the band, there have been three new Lamb of God albums… and yet, we feel that Resolution has, by and large, been the most unique and captivating record of the band’s discography.
You can go into any Lamb of God album – from New American Gospel to Omens – and you sure as shit are going to get an aggressive and kick ass metal experience. Hands down. But among the band’s discography, there are those albums that display a greater range and presentation of creativity (and those releases stand out much more compared to other Lamb of God albums). So besides that of Sacrament, Resolution is easily the Lamb of God album to feature such great compositional variety.
There is so much more on display when it comes to stylistic flair, so much more when it comes to intriguing songwriting, more atmosphere, and a plethora of tonal shifts that keep the band’s adrenaline consistently captivating. Future Lamb of God albums (those after Resolution) have touched upon much of the sonic diversity that appears throughout this record, but few have come close to presenting that same depth of technical and stylistic range.
Do you agree with our Lamb of God album ranking? What do you think is the best Lamb of God album?