LAMB OF GOD Guitarist: New Album Is 'A Bit More Raw, A Little More Aggressive And Organic'

Dallas VonKillbot of Synthesis recently conducted an interview with guitarist Mark Morton of Richmond, Virginia metallers LAMB OF GOD. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Synthesis: What kind of changes are we going to [see on the new album, "Wrath"] as opposed to the last record, "Sacrament"?

Mark: There are definitely some changes; fairly significant ones, I would say. Overall, I would characterize this record as a bit more raw, a little more aggressive and organic. To me, this record is more like a band in front of you playing it, whereas on "Sacrament" there was more studio polish going on. It's not to knock it, but it's just a different approach to making a record. We were really trying to achieve a certain level of perfection when it came to "Sacrament", which largely we did, but with "Wrath" we were trying to go for more of a character, you know? There was a lot of stuff on there that weren't perfect takes, but we left it because they sounded cool and had their own identity.

Synthesis: Do you have any worries trying to live up to the last CD's accomplishments?

Mark: No, I don't think so. Those are things that are out of our control. We just made the record that we wanted to make. That's what we've done this time, and that's all we've ever done. How many units we sell or whether or not it goes up for a Grammy again or whatever, I don't have anything to do with that. I'm certainly pleased that those things happened and appreciate the honors, but at the end of the day it really has very little to do with me, I just make the music.

Synthesis: We all know right now that the music industry is suffering, especially putting things out on a major label. You guys released the Deluxe Producer's Edition of "Sacrament" with the instrument tracks available for the fans to remix. How are bands supposed to make money now in a dying industry?

Mark: You're correct that it's a very different day and age for the music industry, and it has been for a while. From my perspective, and I've been in the game a little while now, it was never about record sales. I mean it's great selling records; we've sold a bunch of them and I'm glad we have, but in terms of how we make a living, it's about hitting the road and playing shows. It's about tickets and t-shirts and putting on a show, and from the first time we got paid $100 at a bar until now where we're all making a full time living out of it, that's what it's been all about. I think it's the record companies that are really taking a hit and are scurrying to stop the bleeding and to try to figure out how to salvage that whole industry. For us, we hope to sell a lot of records, and it certainly does us well when we do, but ultimately it's about touring and putting on a show and playing this music live. Putting records out for us is just us kind of spitting out our new material and giving people something to listen to in between shows.

Read the entire interview from Synthesis.

LAMB OF GOD performing the new song "Dead Seeds" - December 2008 (while supporting METALLICA):