After a great set at Soundwave Festival on the weekend, Lamb Of God returned to the smaller venues for a couple of headlining sideshows starting with Tuesday night in Melbourne.
Opening up were the supergroup that is Killer Be Killed featuring members from Dillinger Escape Plan, Mastodon and Max Cavalera himself from Soulfly. The band ripped through tracks from their debut album and it also marked their first shows ever outside the festival shows.
Sharing the vocals on stage, Troy Sanders, Greg Puciato and Max Cavalera each have distinctly different voices and each complimented each other really well. Greg started the show crowd surfing while the rest of the band kicked off the set, blasting through songs that while still new, every fan knew the lyrics. The energy was killer as the show went on and it really showed that the band really shined live since the songs sounded even better in a live setting. Tracks like “Curb Crusher” and Set Fire To Your Flag” have the hooks that get the crowd involved, Max especially on the ball riling the crowd up at every chance. The tall presence of Troy Sanders on bass also a highlight to watch as he headbanged hjs way through the set. It was a killer set that really kicked off the night on a great atmosphere.
Randy Blythe and co hit the stage half hour later with Chris Adler opening with a quick drum solo before ripping straight into “Desolation”. Even at Soundwave the band were sounding on fire and tonights show at the more intimate but packed out 170 Russell venue the band sounded even tighter than ever. Who knows why they are but the performance was nothing short of brilliant as they belted out the classic Lamb Of God brutality. Guitarist Willie Adler looking slimmer than ever seemed to be in a great mood as he riffed out and guitar dueled with Mark Morton who stood on the opposite side of the stage.
They are essentially becoming the modern day Jeff Hanneman/Kerry King twin guitar attack as they pummelled the audience from both sides of the stage. As the show came to a close with the now standard set closer “Black Label”, one has to wonder if there is any metal band right now that is even on par with Lamb Of God who just seem to get better and better every time they come to Australia. Do yourself a favor and see them at their next shows while they are at the top of their game.
