Review: Lamb Of God – O2 Academy Birmingham
It was a night of blockbusting metal at a sold out Academy Birmingham featuring Lamb of God, writes Andy Shaw.
First up were Municipal Waste, a crossover thrash band from Richmond, Virginia, who were back in the UK after supporting Anthrax last September.
They are a no nonsense band and hit the stage with a bang with Demoralizer and they were off.
The academy crowd loved it and they ploughed through Mind Eraser, The Thrashin' of the Christ and Poison the Preacher.
Front man Tony Foresta asked the crowd “Remember us? Did you all have a nice Christmas?”
Next up was Poison the Preacher, followed by Grave Dive and then You're Cut Off.
The twin guitars of Ryan Waste and Nick "Nikropolis" Poulos were on absolute top form.
The crowd loved it and totally went for it.
The set ended with High Speed Steel, Wave of Death and the brilliant Born to Party.
It was a great start to the evening.
German thrash legends Kreator then played a set spanning their near 40-year career.
Starting with a new song Hate Über Alles, Hail to the Hordes, Awakening of the Gods, Flag of Hate, Enemy of God and Phobia all followed, showing a band totally at the height of their powers.
Sami Yli-Sirniö – lead guitar and Frédéric Leclercq – bass – constantly running around, swapped places on stage and the perfect foil for Mille Petrozza's vocals.
The intensity of the set was building and lots of a crowd surfing ensued. Satan Is Real was a highlight of the set before Hordes of Chaos and 666 World Divided.
They went right back to their 1986 debut album Endless Pain with Flag Of Hate before ending the set with Violent Revolution and Pleasure to Kill.
It was a brilliant set and the crowd were warmed up and ready for the main event.
Lamb of God are one of the best live metal bands in the world, whether in an arena or a smaller venue like the Academy.
They started with Memento Mori with the prowling Randy Blythe a striking front man both in looks – with his waist length dreadlocks and his stunning vocals.
The academy was almost ready to explode and the heat generated by the audience was incredible.
Next were classic tracks – Ruin and Walk With Me in Hell – part way through they stopped because of someone, obviously struggling in the audience, who was removed.
Blythe said: “We are here to look after one another”.
Once they were safe they resumed Walk With Me in Hell before a couple of newer tracks – Resurrection Man and Ditch.
John Campbell – bass, Mark Morton – lead guitar and Phil Demmel – rhythm guitar stayed in place blasting the songs out while Blythe continued to prowl and jump around the stage.
The set ended with a mix of old classics and new songs.
They were in absolute blistering form and the crowd swayed and jumped, with many stripped to the waste because of the searing heat in the venue.
They left the stage and the crowd bayed for more.
The band dutifully returned with an utterly blistering encore starting with Vigil then Laid To Rest by which time, if the roof could come off the academy, it would have done. Finishing with Redneck, this was a truly awesome performance and a band that should be on your bucket list of bands to see.
