The whole compliation starts out pretty strong, outdoing Sacrament‘s slow open with an entire cocktease of an intro track, The Passing–the perfect lead into the much anticipated onslaught that is the rest of Wrath. It builds up to and belongs with the next song In Your Words in a very Foreplay/Long Time kind of way that I’m convinced would be the perfect way to open any live show. The build-up effect reminded me of giddily sitting through Ecstacy of Gold in the dark, wondering if I’m about to get pounded by Battery or Master of Puppets.

In Your Words definitely sets out to make a first impression, and the message is clear: hang on to something. Your ears aren’t tricking you — Blythe’s vocals start to resemble actual singing. Singing? Don’t worry…it doesn’t really take anything away from the music, and you realize you’re witnessing something truly new here.

Next up are Set to Fail and Contractor, two badass singles that do a pretty fucking good job of summing up what this album has to offer. Now, there’s absolutely nothing I love more in my metal than a heaping helping of blues, and you can really hear the murder train a comin’ from the ballsy riffs in Set to Fail. The guitar solo follows suit perfectly, and is so sweet you’ll undoubtedly wish it was longer.

Contractor, Contractor, Contractor. If every song sounded exactly like this one, I’d never listen to another CD. This song has cojones in large supply, and I practically climaxed right along with it. The lyrics are great, to boot.

Though Wrath is not as intriguing to me as Sacrament was, it’s probably as good for different reasons, and it has a pretty straight-fucking-forward appeal. Doesn’t touch Ashes, though (can anything?). There are three bonus tracks. If you can get your hands on them, they’re nothing particularly special but worth a listen. My favorite tracks on Wrath overall were Choke Sermon and Contractor with an honorable mention for certain chunks of …well…every other song.

I have few criticisms, so here we go:
One of the things I love about Ashes of the Wake is that it’s 100% listenable; there’s not a single moment I feel the urge to skip through. Wrath doesn’t quite have this going for it. In fact, many of the tracks almost formulaicly build up to these very different-sounding climaxical moments that overshadow the rest of the song, and I often find myself fast forwarding to them so I can really turn up the volume. I don’t want a chunk of the song to be really badass, I want the WHOLE song to be completely badass! Also, there is something to be said for the art of knowing when to end a song, and a few tracks could have used a little more love in this department. After about 85% of a track would play, I would catch myself saying aloud, “OKAY, I GET IT,” reaching hastily for the skip button. I don’t care for the intro to Grace at all — nor anything that sounds remotely like that. <skip>

Last, but not least — this album is a tad less heavy and a pinch more catchy than I was hoping for. It probably has to do with how simple and straightforward it is…I like my shit quirky and complicated and tuned way the fuck down, and these are simply not what this album has going for it. It’s a blunt instrument with wider appeal, but it certainly gets the job done.

Snag it, put it in your car for a week, learn it enough to sing along a couple times, and you’ll be glad you did.

My rating for Wrath: “Pretty badass”

Tour Dates:
Apr 2 2009 8:00P Dodge Theater Phoenix, Arizona
Apr 3 2009 8:00P Palladium Los Angeles, California
Apr 4 2009 8:00P Events Center San Jose, California
Apr 5 2009 8:00P Crest Theater Fresno, California
Apr 7 2009 8:00P Paramount Seattle, Washington
Apr 8 2009 8:00P UBC Thunderbird Arena Vancouver, British Columbia
Apr 10 2009 8:00P Shaw Conference Center Edmonton, Alberta
Apr 11 2009 8:00P The Coral Calgary, Alberta
Apr 12 2009 8:00P Praireeland Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Apr 13 2009 8:00P Convention Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba
Apr 14 2009 8:00P City Auditorium Thiunder Bay, Ontario
Apr 16 2009 8:00P Ricoh Coliseum Toronto, Ontario
Apr 17 2009 8:00P Cepsum Montreal, Quebec
Apr 18 2009 8:00P Palladium Worcester, Massachusetts
Apr 19 2009 8:00P Electric Factory Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Apr 21 2009 8:00P LC Pavillion Columbus, Ohio
Apr 22 2009 8:00P Tabernacle Atlanta, Georgia
Apr 23 2009 8:00P Blackham Coliseum Lafayette, Louisiana
Apr 24 2009 8:00P Verizon Theatre Houston, Texas
Apr 25 2009 8:00P Concrete St. Ampitheatre Corpus Christi, Texas
Apr 26 2009 8:00P Palladium Ballroom Dallas, Texas
Apr 28 2009 8:00P Fillmore Denver, Colorado
Apr 29 2009 8:00P Uptown Theater Kansas City, Kansas
Apr 30 2009 8:00P Myth St. Paul, Minnesota
May 1 2009 8:00P Congress Theatre Chicago, Illinois
May 2 2009 8:00P The Pageant St. Louis, Missouri
May 3 2009 8:00P Egyptian Indianapolis, Indiana
May 5 2009 8:00P Expo Five Louisville, Kentucky
May 6 2009 8:00P Fillmore Theater Detroit, Michigan
May 8 2009 8:00P Roseland Ballroom New York, New York
May 9 2009 8:00P Convention Center Asbury Park, New Jersey
May 11 2009 8:00P Rams Head live Baltimore, Maryland
May 12 2009 8:00P House of Blues Boston, Massachusetts
May 13 2009 8:00P Washington St. Armory Albany, New York
May 15 2009 8:00P House of Blues Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Lamb of God: Website , Myspace , Ticketmaster