Lamb of God bring metal, and mettle, to Paradise

MUSIC REVIEW

January 27, 2012|By Scott McLennan

Randy Blythe (pictured here in 2009) and his band Lamb of God rocked the Paradise… (Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images/file 2009)

Over the next two years, Lamb of God will be touring around the world in support of its new album, “Resolution.’’ Now in the uppermost echelon of metal bands, Lamb of God will undoubtedly be playing in arenas and at festivals moving forward. But Thursday, the band packed itself into the Paradise and reveled in that kinetic energy that metal bands and their fans generate when nobody else is really paying attention.

Singer Randy Blythe used the occasion to celebrate the region’s long support for his band, recounting the Virginia troupe’s maiden trip to the New England Metalfest in Worcester a decade ago. It was clear back then that Lamb of God was reshaping metal with a collision of lacerating punk rock and explosive musical dynamics.

Lamb of God has gotten even better. The band opened with two new songs - “Desolation’’ and “Ghost Walking’’ - that were as captivating as beloved back-catalog cuts. “Walk With Me in Hell,’’ “Ruin,’’ and “Hourglass’’ were among the older songs that have jelled into a canon of modern metal essentials.

Blythe, sporting dreadlocks, stalked the stage in a coiled menace. Drummer Chris Adler shook the room. Guitarists Willie Adler and Mark Morton and bassist John Campbell hammered out thick, murky grooves and spiraling riffs that overstuffed the air with very loud sound.

The crowd responded as one throbbing mosh pit, with only the balcony and outer perimeter of the floor crowd safe from flailing arms and legs.

Through 90 minutes, the band found many ways to vent. The slash-and-burn turns of “Contractor’’ echoed the legacy of Boston hardcore, with Blythe citing the influence of Sam Black Church, Gang Green, and others. “The Number Six’’ unspooled as a chant-along anthem. And the faithful fans turned into a choir during the encore reading of “In Your Words.’’

Brutality and bonding never seemed so compatible.

The Acacia Strain and Too Late the Hero opened the show. The Acacia Strain’s dark, dirgy set was as much cathartic bloodletting as it was musical performance. Too Late the Hero put a fresh spin on metal-core dynamics.