Lamb of God (album)
Lamb of God is the self-titled eighth studio album (tenth if including the albums released as Burn the Priest) by American heavy metal band Lamb of God. The album was initially set for release on May 8, 2020 through Epic and Nuclear Blast, but was later pushed back to June 19 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "Lamb of God" marks the first studio album of all-new material by the band since 2015's "", making it the longest gap between their albums, and the first to feature Art Cruz as the replacement for original drummer  Chris Adler, who left the band in July 2019. "Lamb of God" was once again produced by longtime collaborator Josh Wilbur, who has worked with the band since 2006's "Sacrament". A three-disc deluxe edition with two bonus tracks, along with an additional CD and DVD featuring the band's live stream event from September 18, 2020, in which the band performed "Lamb of God" in its entirety plus four encore tracks, was released on March 26, 2021 through Nuclear Blast. Critical reception. "Lamb of God" received critical acclaim from music critics upon its release. At review aggregate Metacritic , the album has an average score of 81 out of 100 based on eight reviews, indicating "universal acclaim reviews". At AnyDecentMusic?, the album has an average score of 7.5 out of 10 based on six reviews. James Christopher Monger from AllMusic awarded the album four out of five stars, describing the album "a tense, yet confident album for taut and uncomfortable times." Manus Hopkins from "Exclaim!" scored the album 7 out of 10, and said that while nothing in "Lamb of God" feels "groundbreaking" or "cutting-edge" like the band's previous albums, the album is still "essentially what fans  should expect from the band at this point." James McMahon from "NME" also gave the album four out of five stars, calling the album "a record that's the most authentic version of the band Lamb of God want to be." He particularly singled out the song "Memento Mori", which "driven by Mark Morton's unforgiving guitar, flirts with the ethereal goth of the Sisters of Mercy." Kory Grow from "Rolling Stone" gave the album three out of five stars, stating that the album contains "the sort of piledriving guitar riffs and Olympic-medal-worthy drumming the band has perfected  over the last 20 years" which making it easy for the band's "less political fans" to "get in on the fun." He also praised Blythe's "open-minded" and "inclusive" lyrics that make listeners to "strain your ears to make sense of his screeds." Commercial performance. "Lamb of God" debuted at No. 15 on the "Billboard" 200, selling 30,000 album-equivalent units in its first week of release, of which 27,000 were pure album sales. The album also debuted at No. 2 on both the Current Album Sales and Top Rock Albums charts, and No. 1 on the Hard  Rock Albums charts. Personnel. Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.