Lamb of God topped a head-crushing bill of As I Lay Dying, Municipal Waste, and God Forbid. Finland's Children of Bodom dropped off the tour just before the Boston date because singer-guitarist Alexi Laiho had to tend to a busted shoulder.
Keeping its surroundings uncluttered, Lamb of God stormed the stage with "In Your Words" and "Set to Fail," proving the mettle, so to speak, of its new material. Throughout, guitarists Mark Morton and Will Adler crafted towering arrangements of shred and groove, giving singer Randy Blythe a sturdy platform for his own unhinged performance.
The singer miraculously controlled his raspy wordplay about societal gloom as he stomped about. Lamb of God's overarching darkness lifted between songs when Blythe addressed his metal masses, praising fans for their support of not just his band but an entire scene of underground music that survives regardless of commercial trends.
Metal is, however, somewhat of a hot commodity right now, and Blythe snapped at the video game "Guitar Hero" for using his band's "Laid to Rest." The version delivered by the real deal melted all those YouTube wannabe guitar gods.
Lamb of God played much of "Wrath" in its 80-minute set, with the thrash ferocity of "Contractor" and more nuanced "Broken Hands" and "Dead Seeds" nicely covering the scope of the record.
The back catalog yielded dynamic versions of "Walk With Me in Hell," "Redneck," and "Hourglass." The show ended with Lamb of God going back to "Black Label" - track one from album one - suggesting the group's bearings have been straight all along.
As I Lay Dying proved itself among the better architects of the metal-core style, bridging its melodic and thrash aspects with a graceful ease.
