Jay Kirby takes a look back at As The Palaces Burn's on it's 20th anniversary.
As The Palaces Burn sits in a precarious position in Lamb of God’s discography: as the release directly before their breakout LP Ashes of the Wake, one might assume it would get lost in the shuffle. In contrast, many hail this album as one of their finest, no doubt spurred on by guitarist Mark Morton’s comments that "[the album] sounds desperate, urgent [and] like it’s going to fall apart." The truth, as if so often the case, lies somewhere between these extremes of indifference and reverence— Lamb of God’s second album is a worthwhile part of their discography but does not define it as later works would.
"While his performance here may not be his most polished or purposeful, the raw humanity present serves to elevate the material nonetheless."
Ruin’s opening riff takes no prisoners with its chugging guitars and ripping tempo, and Randy Blythe’s following scream serves as a final warning to the listener: this is a brutal listen, containing 40-minutes of pulverising action and not a moment of respite. The vocals are so punishing and harsh as to make even the most diehard metalhead question their preferences, with Morton confirming that "he’s pissed off." Blythe has been consistently excellent across the group’s entire history— no mean feat for a vocal styling often assumed to be unhealthy— and while his performance here may not be his most polished or purposeful, the raw humanity present serves to elevate the material nonetheless.
This brutishness pervades every corner of the LP— something fans of the band wouldn’t replace for the world— but not every aspect of the listen necessarily benefits from it. The guitar work, for example, would be more than sufficient for most styles, but it comes up short compared to the laser precision found on almost any album after this point. The bass and drums, in contrast, are so buried in the sound palate as to be difficult to evaluate: Adler’s relentless pick-attack dominates the vast majority of the album’s low end, creating a general muddiness that undermines Campbell’s (presumably) admirable rhythm parts. Devin Townsend’s production may be popular with the more hardcore side of Lamb of God’s fanbase, but others may find themselves wishing for something more refined when even Morton’s solos can get lost in their lower-pitched moments. While it should be noted that the mix here is leagues improved from the mess that was New American Gospel, it still drags down the LP into a rather homogenised experience.
"The lyrical content is likewise rather stagnant across the album, with themes of self-destruction and numerous references to the band’s Virginian heritage laced throughout."
Lamb of God’s songwriting does little to assuage these criticisms either. While the stereotype that ‘all metal songs sound the same’ is largely unfounded, this album does fall prey to rather same-y riffs and progressions. Other records, even excellent ones like the aforementioned Ashes of the Wake, can be subject to similar criticisms at times, but this album is particularly guilty. Tracks like Purified, Boot Scraper, or Blood Junkie could easily be mistaken for one another as Phrygian-style guitar work and false-chord screams persist between them. The lyrical content is likewise rather stagnant across the album, with themes of self-destruction and numerous references to the band’s Virginian heritage laced throughout. Blythe’s proclamations are suitably dark and oppressive, such as the haunting closing line "smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered," or the effective, albeit slightly amateurish, simplicity of 11th Hour’s "spin the bottle, kiss only the bottle." However, one might infer that the group, young and inexperienced as they were at the time, were simply unprepared to branch out (musically or thematically) on this one, and later works tackle similar issues in a much more mature and thorough manner.
As The Palaces Burn is much-befitting of its artwork: attention-worthy and bold, but also confused and unrefined. While 11th Hour’s downright demonic riffs and Vigil’s echoing acoustic intro and sinfully wicked breakdown are highlights, the LP as a whole is somewhat overshadowed by its contemporaries, in which the band managed to channel their brutality and ferociousness into something more crafted and creative. The greatest strength of the album, however, is that it does act as a masterful blueprint for what was to come from the group, and the record’s place in Lamb of God’s discography is still warranted because of it, even 20 years on.
Jay Kirby
Edited by Roxann Yus
Cover image courtesy of As The Palaces Burn's album cover via Facebook. In-article image courtesy of Lamb of God via Facebook.
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