Lamb Of God, Brand Of Sacrifice @ Northcote Theatre, Melbourne 20/3/2024
The feedback hums, the cheers deafening, the high fives shared all round as Lamb Of God complete Redneck and draw the last exhausted breath out of a Northcote crowd after an evening of fury, rage and fist pumping grooves.
Over here for the impending Knotfest, Lamb Of God shake off any lingering jet lag with a headline set in the lovely Northcote Theatre with fellow Knotfest alumni Brand Of Sacrifice.
It’s the Canadians who are up first and what a delectable brutal assault they are. By the end of second track Demon King, a furious circle pit had ensued that doesn’t stop for the entirety of the bands set.
Drummer Chason Westmoreland is like an octopus, seemingly growing more limbs with each passing insane performance. Exodus and Purge are deathcore perfect, with Kyle Anderson commanding performance, dressed as he’s going to war, demonic and yet soulful.
The intro is Memento Mori backing track , the anticipation palpable, literally zero space to scratch your nose on the floor when the silhouetted form of Randy Blythe appears screaming ‘wake up’ and a turbo engined Lamb Of God fire up.
Moving straight into Walk With Me In Hell, the band sound powerful and that solo from Mark Morton, well that boy has the devil in his fingers.
Is there a more powerful opening three song salvo from a band than tonight when Hourglass drops? Doubtful. Everyone to a person is fist pumping and chanting as Blythe prowls the stage possessed and in command on his army.
Resurrection Man is up next and that slow groove, almost blues from the soul, has the place moving like a boat in the ocean.
The whole set list screams ‘fuck yeah’. Bodies pile out the pit exhausted yet seemingly replaced by an endless supply of more, surfers bobbing up in spots of arms and legs.
Bassist John Campbell, almost matches Blythe’s step count, smiling and nodding at fans, hair blowing in the wind like an 80’s rock video despite the brutal sounds of Blacken The Cursed Sun and 11th Hour as his soundtrack.
The crowd for their part roar every word, and by the time we are all invited to ‘one big birthday party, Melbourne’, no space is safe for an all consuming pit that befalls Redneck.
Lamb Of God laid waste to Northcote Theatre tonight. If this is the warm up, only God know what awaits Knotfest.
Live Review By Iain McCallum