LAMB OF GOD Rules Out Retirement: 'This Band Never Has To Break Up'

LAMB OF GOD vocalist Randy Blythe and guitarist Mark Morton recently sat down with Revolver magazine to address the fans' burning questions — about everything from sobriety and long-term band goals to side projects, death metal and BLACK SABBATH.

Asked about the possibility of LAMB OF GOD retiring at some point in the next five, ten or twenty years, Randy said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): " Well, I'll never retire. I personally will never retire. I will write. I hope to make music and shoot photographs until they chuck me in the grave.

"LAMB OF GOD is my job," he explained. "It is my job, and it is a huge part of my life, but it is not my sole identity. It's just not. A much broader aspect of my identity is being an artist. It is how I interface with the world. It is how I try and make sense of my own life. So in some way or the other, I will be creating art until I die, 'cause that's the only way I can function as a human being.

"We're gonna be around for another five years — for sure we're gonna be playing shows," Blythe added. "In 10 years, I'll be 65. That's an interesting question. However, Mark and I were discussing this in the interview the other day. I don't think we're ever gonna break up. I don't think we're ever gonna break up. I am fine with dying as a member of the band, because the band — once again, I'm not in any hurry to do it — but like all of us can be 95 years old and still in LAMB OF GOD. Because for us, LAMB OF GOD is not just the music that we make. We've been together for 30 years in this relationship. It's something outside of just the music for us. It's its own thing. It's a relationship. And so I hope that relationship continues until we all either develop dementia and wander the earth bearded and insane, or we pass away peacefully in our sleep or whatever."

Added Mark: "There have been times along the way where I thought, 'Well, I think I'd like to be done with this whole project, winding down, when I'm, like, 50 or 55.' Well, I'm 53 now, and I'm not done. I do like the notion of slowing down the touring a bit, frankly. We've just been touring a long time, and I've got children, I've got young children, and I'm getting older. And it's hard to be away… When you're away for two months at a time, it takes its toll. And the way the industry is, you kind of have to do it at those lengths of time because things are so expensive. But I will say this: as I get older, I would like to tour in shorter lengths of time. And I've done the time. I feel like I can reward myself with shorter tours now that I'm in middle age. But I don't put a goalpost on, like, 'I gotta be out when I'm 60.'

"Randy and I talk about very often — we never have to break up," Morton continued. "This band never has to break up. We just can decide what we wanna do and how often we wanna do it, because we really, really like being around each other. We really like each other, and we laugh so much — more now than ever. That's just the thing. There were times when we used to be very combative, and amongst the fanbase that's pretty widely known. It was part of the deal — we were drunk and fighting and yelling and it was funny. But as older gentlemen, I'm glad we don't live that way anymore. Now we just laugh a lot, and it's great fun to be around these guys. And I love making music, and I still think we're making good, good music. So I don't see any reason to stop. We just might take longer breaks."

Back in 2022, Blythe, who had admitted to fantasizing about retiring from the band in the past, spoke about his post-LAMB OF GOD future in an interview with Metal Hammer magazine. He said: "I haven't seen that exit ramp yet. That's very specific to LAMB OF GOD too — not to music in general, as I plan on making music for as long as I possibly can. But nobody needs to see 70-year-old Randy Blythe up onstage jumping around and yelling 'this is a motherfucking invitation."

The now-55-year-old Richmond, Virginia-based musician continued: "I'm such a physical performer; that's what it is for me. Total physical immersion in our music. I don't know how long I'll be able to do that. I know for a fact that, unless something horrible happens, if we make it to 2025, that'll be 30 years of the band. I gotta make it to 30 years, and I think my body can take that."

Blythe, who published his first book, "Dark Days: A Memoir", in 2015, previously discussed his retirement from LAMB OF GOD during a 2016 appearance on "The MetalSucks Podcast". At the time he said: "I think I'm a better writer than I am a musician. And I'm not gonna be in LAMB OF GOD when I'm 70 years old. But hopefully I'll still be writing books."

He continued: "I will bet you every penny in my bank account that you will not see a 60-year-old Randy hopping around, screaming 'walk me in hell.' Fuck that. That's not gonna happen… It's not gonna happen. God, that would be atrocious. No one needs to witness that.

"Can you imagine me at 60? I'm skinny enough as it is. By then I'll have a little gut. I'll look like a toothpick that swallowed a bowling ball, probably bald… My throat will probably fall out if I do that by then."

In 2015, Blythe told Revolver magazine that he didn't think it was possible for him and his LAMB OF GOD bandmates to play extreme music into their 60s.

"I'm not going to be doing this when I'm fucking 60 — no fucking way," he said. "We're not THE [ROLLING] STONES."

He added: "I'm always going to be doing music, but not something quite so aggressive, I'm sure.

"I don't think LAMB OF GOD ever has to break up," he clarified. "I think we can, like, gracefully move out to pasture."

LAMB OF GOD's latest album, "Into Oblivion", came out on March 13 via Epic in the U.S. and Century Media in Europe.

Produced and mixed by longtime studio collaborator Josh Wilbur, "Into Oblivion" was recorded across multiple locations tied closely to the band's identity. Drums were tracked in Richmond, Virginia, with guitars and bass recorded at Morton's home studio. Blythe recorded his vocals at the legendary Total Access studio in Redondo Beach, California, the birthplace of seminal punk records by BLACK FLAG, HÜSKER DÜ and DESCENDENTS.

Photo credit: Travis Shinn