LAMB OF GOD Guitarist Talks GRAMMYS, Touring And Upcoming Album

Simon Milburn of The Metal Forge recently conducted an interview with LAMB OF GOD guitarist Mark Morton. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

On how the last few months have been for the band since the release of "Sacrament":

"It's really been amazing. The album's been so well received, which really feels good. We felt great about the album to begin with in terms of what we wanted to do with it musically and sonically, and once we were finished, for the five of us, we knew it was a success. But for that to resonate throughout our fans and the critical acclaim and have it be such a success internationally, it's really been a pleasure to watch it go, and we're really enjoying it."

On being nominated for a Grammy for Best Metal Performance alongside SLAYER, MINISTRY, MASTODON and STONE SOUR:

"I was pretty excited about it. It's neat for them to even consider us. It's definitely a whole other world from what it is that we normally do and the things we pay attention to, so in the big picture of the band, our goals and our agenda, it really doesn't mean that much. But that's not to say that we weren't flattered and weren't grateful for the nomination."

On the importance of taking a break between touring sessions:

"Absolutely and not even just particularly that season. I mean, we're just trying as hard as we can to make sure that we have enough time off the road where we keep ourselves sane and grounded. Lately, we haven't been very successful at that, as we were talking about earlier, 'Sacrament' is such a phenomenon that we've had so much work to do around it, that our time to ourselves and our personal lives have suffered quite a bit. But, not much longer and we're definitely gonna take some time off."

On the recent tour with GOJIRA, MACHINE HEAD and TRIVIUM:

"Like most tours, we kind of put together a long list of bands that we would consider working with. It had been a while since we did a headlining tour of the States, so it was our first chance in quite a while to put together a bill that we were in control of. That part was fun! Y'know, everyone has their agendas — the booking agents have certain bands that they think are gonna sell more tickets, the label has bands that they're suggesting, management have bands that they're suggesting, the bands have bands that are their favourites that they wanna bring along – and you factor in all those opinions, but at the end of the day, it was really down to the five of us to decide who we wanted to take out, and that's what we put together. It worked out great! An overwhelming majority of the shows were sold out and the crowds loved it. It worked out good!"

On LAMB OF GOD's future plans:

"I think after we finish this touring cycle, I think it's gonna be a little while before you see another LAMB OF GOD record because they've just been back to back to back to back and I think it's gonna be a little longer this time."

Read the entire interview at www.themetalforge.com.