Lamb of God’s first new album in nearly five years will have to wait a little while longer than planned. The veteran metallers were set to unveil their new self-titled LP on May 8th, but have pushed the release to June 19th due to coronavirus pandemic.
The forthcoming effort is one of the most anticipated metal albums of the year, and has already been preceded by the singles “Checkmate” and “Memento Mori”. Lamb of God will unleash another new track, “New Colossal Hate”, on Thursday, April 23rd.
In a statement, Lamb of God explained the decision as follows:
“Regrettably, we have to announce that the release date for our upcoming self-titled album is being moved five weeks, to June 19th. We’re in extraordinary times due to the current global reality and the delay of shipments of all-but essential goods needed in the fight against COVID-19. After talks with our labels, there is no other option than to delay the release so that fans who pre-ordered the album can receive the record they paid for.
We appreciate your patience during these times – a global pandemic is not something people in the music industry usually take into account when scheduling album releases, but as you know, this thing has affected everyone across the board, and we are no exception.
We will, however, be releasing a new song, “New Colossal Hate”, this Thursday, April 23rd and plan to release a 4th song from the album before the full album is released in June.
Thank you for your understanding.
Wash your damn hands, let us know what you think of the new tunes, and see you on the road sometime!”
We sat down with singer Randy Blythe just prior to the pandemic for a video interview (watch above), and he talked about the political nature of the album’s lyrics.
“The best punk rock and hardcore and metal … has always come out of tumultuous times,” he told us. “Right now seems to be an extremely tumultuous time … and it’s not just Trump, it’s not just America — [world leaders in] many different countries are advocating some pretty abhorrent ideals and backwards ideology.”
Lamb of God’s upcoming self-titled album is available for pre-order here. The band is slated to co-headline a massive North American tour with Megadeth in the summer and fall. Thus far, no announcement has been made regarding the status of the tour, which is set to kick off on June 12th. Tickets are available here.