LAMB OF GOD's JOHN CAMPBELL Reflects On Seeing SLAYER Perform At Germany's ROCK IM PARK Festival

In a new interview with Rolling Stone Australia, LAMB OF GOD bassist John Campbell was asked to name "a core festival memory that instantly springs to mind". He said: "One that instantly springs to mind is when we were in Germany at Rock Im Park, and I was side [of] stage watching SLAYER play to the German crowd. I'm still tight with all the crew guys, they're good friends of mine. Suddenly some dude got up on stage and the SLAYER crew guys are not the dudes to fuck around with. They just basically yoked the guy up. They didn't beat him up, but one guy had him in an arm bar and was leading him off stage. Another guy just had the other arm locked up while a third guy was running behind him, kicking him in the ass as they escorted him off the back of the stage. And what happened from there? I have no idea."

Last month, Campbell told the "RRBG" podcast about LAMB OF GOD's plans for the follow-up to 2022's "Omens" album: "We're gonna put out some records on the same rough schedule that we always do. We put out a record, tour the shit out of it, take a little time back, start working on another one, record it, tour the shit out of it. So, yeah, there's definitely — we are still alive and kicking, and there will be more records. In the next five years, there will definitely be a new LAMB OF GOD record. I don't think I'm giving away any secrets with that."

Referencing the fact that "Omens" was tracked with longtime collaborator Josh Wilbur (KORN, MEGADETH) live in the room together at Henson Recording Studios (formerly A&M Studios) in Los Angeles, California, a location that birthed classics from THE DOORS, PINK FLOYD, RAMONES and SOUNDGARDEN, among others, John said: "I would love to [do it the same way again]. I'd love to go back to Henson Studios and do it too, 'cause that place was badass. But we'll see."

On the topic of sharing a room with the rest of his band during the recording process, John said: "Well, we do that in the writing and the pre-production already. And then we would go to the studio and go to our own corners and create. We'd take the demos, the tracks that we had recorded and then we would just make them right and make them perfect. But this time, instead of doing it that way, we went in to get — it's mostly the drum tracks that are live, to get the vibe of the drummer playing with us rather than him sitting there… Onstage, we don't use clicks. We did years ago, but there's no… 'Cause the music can breathe without clicks. You can feel the moment, and you're connected. And it's about that connection on stage, and then bringing that out, and emoting that direction and then getting it back. I thought it was a really good move, and I hope we do more stuff like that. But who's to say?"

"Omens" was the follow-up to LAMB OF GOD's self-titled album, which arrived in June 2020. That effort marked LAMB OF GOD's first recordings with drummer Art Cruz, who joined the band in July 2019 as the replacement for the group's founding drummer, Chris Adler.

LAMB OF GOD and MASTODON will embark on the co-headlining "Ashes Of Leviathan" tour this summer. The trek will find the two bands join forces to celebrate the 20th anniversary of two seminal releases: LAMB OF GOD's biggest-selling album "Ashes Of The Wake" and MASTODON's acclaimed sophomore album "Leviathan", which were both released on August 31, 2004. Both bands will perform their respective albums in full. Special guests KERRY KING and MALEVOLENCE will support throughout the tour, with UNEARTH on select dates. Kicking off on July 19 in Grand Prairie, Texas at the Texas Trust CU Theatre, the North American arena and amphitheater run will take them through the U.S. and Canada, culminating on the exact 20th anniversary of each album on August 31 in Omaha, Nebraska at the Astro Amphitheater. The tour will notably make stops at iconic venues such as Denver, Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Los Angeles, California's Kia Forum. In addition, both bands will be supporting a charity of their choice throughout the tour, and fans will have the opportunity to opt-in to donate at check out when buying their tickets.