Interview – Lamb Of God
on January 14th, 2012Lamb Of God are about to unleash their latest offering in the form of ‘Resolution‘ via Roadrunner Records next Friday January 20th. They’ll also be touring our shores in February / March on Soundwave Festival while also playing headline shows in Brisbane and Canberra. Late last year, Deborah Konopnicki caught up with bass player John Campbell to chat about the upcoming release and their return to Australia. See below to take a read. You can order a copy of the album online now [Here] with free postage.
Hey John! Are you going today?
I’m great thanks! Yourself?
Not too bad. What are you guys up to at the moment? It’s still a little while until the album is released so are you just taking it easy before everything gets hectic?
Well, we’re doing a bunch of interviews! But yeah, we’re generally just taking it easy. We’ve been busting our arses all year long and we’re finally done. We’re kind of in this limbo between being done and the record coming out. It’s a nice easy lifestyle but it’s about to kick into gear for 2 years! We’re just enjoying as much down-time as possible before it’s 2013 all of a sudden. I think that anxious might be too negative of a word because we’ve worked really hard on this record, but we’re anxious for it to get out… and anxious for it to get out on the actual release date and not leak! I feel that this is our best record to date – although I’m sure that you’ve interviewed a few bands that have said that about their new records. I’m really excited for this record to come out! I can’t wait to get feedback and see if people like it. It’s a completely ass-whopping record.
I’d totally agree with that call. Thanks to the guys at Roadrunner I was hooked up with a stream of the album, and was totally blown away from the opening second. It feels like a punch in the face!
Well I’m glad to hear that! To be honest I’ve done a few interviews over the past few weeks but today is when we’re started getting feedback and it’s nice that you guys have had an opportunity for you to hear the record.
I can only imagine the anticipation amongst the band at the moment then. On a personally note, how are you feeling about the record? What does this collection of songs mean to you?
It’s amazing.. I’m really excited about this record coming out and to start getting some feedback from this fan base that this band has created. It’ll be great to hear what they think about our newest recording. I think that this record is amazing and I think that it’s going to go over really well but you never know.
Was there a specific reason that there was such a long wait in-between the completion of the record and the release date in late January?
Yes. What exactly that really is? I don’t know! I think that it’s just a matter of time. In our business you strategize. You have to have releases come out the right time and you have to have timing. Timing is everything, it gives us a chance to gear up. There’s probably a lot of reasons to it that I don’t even know. It’s just timing I think really. We had to finish the record and fix it in parts and let it get mastered and artwork and such. It’s really just a matter of time.
Touching on the artwork for a second, it’s so simple yet it gives off this feeling of utter hopelessness for whoever the poor soul is that’s stuck in such a bleak situation. Was that what you were aiming for?
The way that the record art came together, we used the same guy that we’ve used since the “Burn The Priest” record. He’s a guy called Ken Adams who is an amazing artist. He and Mark – who is our main lyric writer – sat down and talked about the lyrics and themes on the record and that was the artistic interpretation that Ken came up with that we all absolutely loved. It’s pretty defining with the title “Resolution”. You’ve got this burning hulk of metal in the middle of a baron wasteland.
Have you had a chance to debut any of the new tracks yet or are you keeping this one under wraps till it’s show-time?
We played one show in 2011, and that was in Canada. We did not play any new music then and we have not played any shows since the record has been done. We have one show booked in Richmond, Virginia which is where we’re from on January 22nd which will be two days before the record comes out locally so I guess that we’re going to play some new songs then. We haven’t really spoken about it yet but that’s really going to be the first time that we put these new songs to the test live. Hopefully it comes out well because I’m sure that there will be plenty of cell-phone cameras out; streaming directly to YouTube!
Do you have a favorite track from the record at the moment?
There are some tracks that I like a little better than others but I love all of the tracks. Really, it comes down to the moments on the record for me. The track “Ghost Walking” which starts with the acoustic guitar, when the band kicks in after the acoustic guitar intro; to me that is awesome. It’s super heavy. It’s probably my favorite moment on the record. That’s probably at the top of my list for the songs that I want to include live but we haven’t had a chance to sit down and discuss exactly how it’s going to play out.
A few Lamb Of God members have said in interviews recently that there was a desire to go back to an earlier sound and that’s something that you immediately pick up on when listening to the record for the first time. What lead to that decision?
When “Sacrament” came out a few years ago there were some production bells and whistles on there that made it sound less raw and our reaction was more to that; that we wanted to sound more raw and more like a band just kicking ass. We came to this new record and it was a flavor that we were definitely more into. As far as harkening back to our older material, we are definitely very conscious of doing new stuff and not just repeating ourselves but there is still a Lamb Of God brand that I think we naturally fall into as opposed to needing to co-ordinate efforts to make ourselves sound a certain way. We put these songs together and they come out how they come out.
“Wrath” was a very successful album for you guys that seemed to blow a lot of fans away. Randy came out recently and said that he wanted to write a record that would top that album. Do you think that you’ve done that?
Absolutely. 1000% I feel like we’ve done that. Somehow in my opinion we’ve managed to top ourselves with every record. We’ve continued to grow and continued to be a better band. For someone who has been in this band for 15-16 years now, to be able to do that and still be excited about what we’re doing is amazing. If it wasn’t going like that then I not too sure that we’d still be a band. We weren’t out for success – that was kind of incidental – we just are who we are. We’re not 20-year-old kids who are just feeling out what’s going on; we’re confident in who we are and what we do. I think that our music and our records reflect that growth over the years.
Well that success that you mentioned is typified in the form for “Wrath” reaching the second spot on the Billboard charts, which for a heavy band is a pretty amazing thing to happen. Do you expect for the same sort of recognition with “Resolution”?
Well, to answer that question I first have to put a disclaimer in there that it doesn’t really matter. Our job is not to sell records, it’s to make records. We were beat out by Taylor Swift I think… we’re going up against the Taylor Swift’s of the industry! It’s pretty ridiculous to even think that we should chart in the top ten. It would be nice to hit number 1 though. I think that Pantera and Slipknot might be the only two heavy bands to do that. It’s not a very common thing for a heavy metal band to pull off a number one spot on the Billboard Charts, but if we were able to do that then it would be huge. Honestly though, it doesn’t really matter. It doesn’t change anything. I can’t just call up the bank and be like “So, I’m just not going to pay my mortgage this month because we’re number 1!”. It doesn’t really have that much of an effect outside the fact that we can say, “Yeah, we’re some bad motherfuckers! We just got to number 1! What are you going to do about it?!” The sad truth to it is that we’ll probably chart high but as the weeks wear on we will rapidly fall down that chart, because that’s not really the band that we are.
Aussie Lamb Of God fans are pretty damn lucky – we get a brand new album and a tour at the same time in the form for the 2012 Soundwave Festival. How are you looking forward to coming back and being apart of Soundwave?
I cannot wait! Australia is absolutely one of our favorite countries to tour in. Actually, outside of our own it is our absolutely favorite country to tour in! To go down there and do something like Soundwave where we will have these huge crowds – these huge Aussie crowds who are probably half drunk and very rowdy – it’s a pleasure. When we play a live show, that’s how we want to do it. To be able to get down to Australia, which is quite literally on the other side of the world for us, and to be able to play it for very appreciative fans is an amazing thing. We are very much looking forward to getting back down to Australia and playing Soundwave. I’m imagining that it’s going to be a working vacation of sorts. I’ve seen some of the bands on the line-up and some of the bands are friends of ours and I think that there’s going to be a lot of drunken non-sence going on.
Are there plans to come back and play a national headlining tour in support of “Resolution” or is that just a little bit to far down the track at the moment?
Well, to be honest I have no idea! I know that we’re playing Soundwave but I have no idea when our slot is. None of that really matters though. I’m just going to show up and play the crap out of some Lamb Of God songs. Whether we play at 2pm or 10pm it really doesn’t matter. We’re going to have a chance to play our songs and specifically our new songs to some great crowds.
It was just over a year or so ago that you were last here playing with Metallica to rave reviews all over the country. How were those shows for you guys?
That was actually some of the best touring that I’ve ever done in my life. We were playing in sold out arenas and we would stay in the cities for a week at a time which generally never happens. We’ll be in a city for a day or so and then we’re gone. So to be able to spend a week in Sydney, a week in Melbourne, a week in Adelaide, a week in Perth and not forgetting old Brisvegas! It was amazing. I don’t know if we’re going to be able to pull that off again but I would absolutely love to do that. We were down there with Metallica and we had a day off so I rented a motorcycle and went around, it was great. I’d love to be able to spend some more time in Australia.
Just finally today, what are you hoping that people are going to be able to take away from “Resolution”?
Well initially I hope that people hear it and are struck by it. We’re recording artists and we’re expressing ourselves and putting it out there for a reaction. I hope that initially people are drawn to it and I hope that it’s a record that helps to define the genre. I might be getting a head of myself but I’m hoping that this is a record that people look back on years later and go “Wow… that record was a really import record to me and to the genre”. It would be nice if this record would stand out.
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LAMB OF GOD – Resolution
Instores Friday 20th January via Roadrunner Records.
Available in Standard and Limited Editions.
Order your copy online now [Here] with free postage.
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Catch Lamb Of God playing Soundwave Festival nationally
FEBRUARY
25th – RNA Showgrounds, Brisbane [AA] SOLD OUT
26th – Showgrounds, Sydney [AA] SOLD OUT
MARCH
2nd – Showgrounds, Melbourne [AA] SOLD OUT
3rd – Bonython Park, Adelaide [AA]
5th – Claremont Showgrounds, Perth [AA]
—> Full details at www.soundwavefestival.com
and headline Sidewaves
With Guests IN FLAMES and THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER
FEBRUARY
28th – Eaton Hill Hotel, Brisbane [Lic/AA]
MARCH
1st – UC Refectory, Canberra [Lic/AA]
—> Tickets on sale now.
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