Three years after its last album, Virginian groove metal group Lamb of God has returned with confidence. "Resolution" is a far cry from the raw, trailblazing sound of its earlier albums. Lead singer Randy Blythe's impressive growl has clearly taken a toll on his vocal cords. Blythe's diminished vocal technique is not the only major difference on the album; "Resolution" sees the band experimenting with female vocals and innovative guitar riffs. While many fans are divided about these stylistic choices, they make "Resolution" a markedly different release from one of metal's most highly regarded groups.
Each Lamb of God album has seen a progression, or to some fans a regression, from their first album "Burn the Priest" (1999). The biggest difference can be heard when comparing "Wrath" (2009) and "Resolution." "Wrath" was not well received by hardcore fans but nevertheless displayed an acute sensitivity for each band member's limits. The band used the same producer, Josh Wilbur, for both albums. Everyone involved seems to have learned from past mistakes made and have formed a more cohesive sound on "Resolution."
Album opener "Straight for the Sun" starts with a sharp intake of breath from Blythe before abruptly lunging into a rough guitar riff that sets the pace for a solid track. "Straight for the Sun" effortlessly melds into the next song, "Desolation," with a quick and raw drum solo from Chris Adler. "Ghost Walking" starts with a guitar twanging away in a manner reminiscent of "Vigil," one of the most unique tracks off "As the Palaces Burn" (2003). The song continues the heavy, mind-barraging sound until it hits the ending, at which point the band concludes with a screaming guitar solo and the line "Desolation never looked so divine."
The repetitive guitar and Blythe's snarling vocals never break between "Guilty" and "The Undertow"; it isn't until the short but sweet "Barbarosa" that there is any noteworthy change. This interlude is an interestingly spacey exploration of absolutely random sounds. It seems as if guitarists Mark Morton and Willie Adler had just been playing around and decided to include their jam on the album. The arbitrary, haphazard style of this track does little to help the flow of the album, leading one to question why it was included on the album in the first place.
"Insurrection" is one of the few tracks on the album that truly stands out, with its slightly more mellow sound and Blythe's attempt at conventional singing. The track achieves a more sludge metal vibe. The chorus, however, soars into addictive guitar riffs and Blythe's abrupt shift into his trademark raw scream. "Terminally Unique" has a bold title to live up to, but Lamb of God is one of the foremost groove metal bands in the world and has mastered the melding of relentless abrasiveness with manageably catchy guitar riffs and solos.
On "Visitation," the penultimate track on the album, there is a definite feeling of repetition. The song offers little beyond the truly excellent solo skills of Morton and Adler. Aside from the few more experimental songs, "Resolution" is too cohesively glued together. Each track melds too smoothly and indistinguishably into its neighbor, depriving the album of any complexity or succinct character.
The final track is one of the album's most experimental songs. "King Me" is haunting, long and ambitious. Blythe speaks quietly over the opening, while female operatic vocals are superimposed over his voice and a seductively slow riff repeats in the background. The song falls into a gothic instrumental that sounds like something Lacuna Coil would do, then switches to Blythe's coarsest vocals before sandwiching them all together into an epic ending to an otherwise mediocre album. The song tails off rather suddenly, leaving twenty seconds of breaths degenerating into a harsh sigh.
That's a somewhat apt finale for an album that leaves you feeling as if you've been aurally assaulted in the same way Lamb of God has been doing for the past thirteen years.
