Interview with Randy Blythe of Lamb of God
By Marc Halverson
CRAVE: How is the current tour going so far?
R.B.: Everyone on the tour is getting along real well. It is a really diverse bill. Things are working really well.
CRAVE: What do you think of a band like Throwdown?
R.B.: They are good friends of ours. I listen to a lot of hardcore.
CRAVE: Are you familiar with Scars of Tomorrow?
R.B.: I think I met them.
CRAVE: They are a great up and coming hardcore band from Orange County who are huge fans of Lamb of God. They said they played craps with you.
R.B.: Right on. I remember that when we were on tour back east.
CRAVE: Where are your favorite cities to play besides your hometown Virginia?
R.B.: Philadelphia. It is crazy. It is awesome. Anywhere in New Jersey. Anywhere in the dark city. All of that area; the kids are berserkers back there.
CRAVE: I recall God forbid saying that the crowds on the east coast are much more intense and crazy compared to the west coast, do you agree with that?
R.B.: It is. It is way more brutal back there. It is a real mellow out here.
CRAVE: I wonder why???
CRAVE: How would you describe the writing process and how your music has progressed from your previous material to your latest release, “Ashes of the Wake”, while still keeping your thrash, metal roots?
R.B.: It is become more and more technical; especially the guitar work and the drumming. It has gotten better because the more you play the better you get. Hopefully, you get better or you should just stop. But, it has been cool. You can definitely see it is the same band but it is progression. Finally, I have learned to enunciate my words instead of just growling.
CRAVE: How do you maintain not losing your voice while screaming night in and night out while on tour? I remember watching Phil Anselmo from Pantera when I was younger and I could not believe how he managed to scream like that without losing his voice.
R.B.: It is just like any muscle. The more you work it the stronger it gets. I have only had problems with my throat on Ozzfest; going from extreme heat to air condition. It messes your throat up. Other than that, I do not really have any problems.
CRAVE: There are so many hardcore and metal-core bands right now. How do you (Lamb of God) distinguish yourself from the rest of the bands?
R.B.: It is kind of interesting. There is a big boom of metal-core right now. It is hard to explain. We are a little more vicious than most of the bands. Especially live, we’re pretty brutal. We are a little bit older. Since we are older, our influences are a little more directly available to the listener. I love guys like Unearth and Shadows Fall. But, they are younger. It is different. Our influences you can see more of the 80’s thrashing. Shadows Fall and Unearth have a lot of Iron Maiden in them as well.
CRAVE: What would you say about old-school bands like Pantera and Biohazard.
R.B.: They both kick ass. Evan Seinfeld has a hot wife! Pantera, what can you say. It is f***in’ Pantera. It’s like brutal.
CRAVE: Do you think Pantera will reunite down the road?
R.B.: I think it will happen. There have been rumors flying around about Ozzfest next summer. I hung out with Phil a lot this summer and I never asked him but I wanted to. I think they have all said in the press even though they slam each other. They have never said they won’t do it again.
CRAVE: How was Ozzfest this last summer?
R.B.: It was brutal. It was awesome. It was really long. It is like 2 ½ months of parking lots and really excessive amounts of alcohol.
CRAVE: What’s wrong with that?
R.B.: Well, after getting wasted while in the sun all day. I do not know how the kids do it at Ozzfest. They get there like at 7 am and are in the sun all day and getting pulled out of the crowd because of heat exhaustion. They are f***ing nuts! Ozzfest was really incredible. You are playing some shows and you look out and see like 10,000 people and you are like, f***!
CRAVE: What would you do if you were not playing music?
R.B.: I like writing and reading a lot. I like fishing. I would probably be at the beach chillin’ or on a boat fishing and reading books and writing. That is what I would be doing or working at a restaurant.
CRAVE: Did you grow up in Virginia?
R.B.: Virginia and North Carolina.
CRAVE: Based on your lyrics and articles I have read on Lamb of God, you are very political. So, did you go out and vote?
R.B.: Of course. All of us did. We did absentee ballots before we left. They would not let us do it when we got back so we went down city hall the day before we left for tour and did it.
CRAVE: Who are the bands to look out for at the end of ’04 and ’05 who are not big yet?
R.B.: Byzantine, they are on Prosthetic our old label. A life once lost, they just signed to Ferret. Himsa, they are from Seattle and they are leaving tomorrow for Headbangers Ball Tour. That will be really cool. There’s a s*** ton of them.
CRAVE: Good luck tonight and thanks for taking the time to speak with me.
R.B.: No problem. Take care.
