Even though the year is young, and expecting many album releases, thrash metalers Lamb of God may have released the best metal album of 2012. Their newest (as well as seventh) release “Resolution,” has a lot of pressure being put on it, many wondering if they could top their past hits, “Redneck,” “Laid to Rest” & “Walk With Me In Hell.” With this challenge facing them, they beat it! This album hammers your brain in whatever direction vocalist Randall Blythe or guitarist Mark Morton want it to go. It lies somewhere between a progressive metal masterpiece (because of the increased amount of melody and symphonic orchestration) and a phenomenal thrash metal album.

The instrumentation on the album is wonderful as usual, showing the skill of guitarists William Adler & Mark Morton, as is usual with Lamb of God. The main difference is that the instruments sludgeiness gets used a lot more, but at the same time it is full of beautiful melodic sections.

The intro track to the album, “Straight To The Sun” is a great example of the increased amount of sludgeiness. It borderlines a doom metal piece, slow moving and dark, before entering into the earth shattering “Desolation.”

The track “Insurrection” was one of the many surprises on the album. It contains sung vocals, something virtually unknown in Lamb of God’s music. Randall Blythe’s singing voice adds to the dark and melancholy mood of the song. Making sound as macabre as a funeral service. The guitar solo located in the center of the piece, is an exemplary example of the guitar skill shown on the album, full of tremolized shredding.

The piece that probably surprised me the most on the album was the beautiful ending track “King Me.” It starts of with an symphony playing over a quiet guitar riff, and Blythe speaking about the worlds end, in an eerie low voice. The song then turns into a metal/symphony swell, with both the violin and guitar playing at equal volume. After this happening twice, the song breaks into your usual Lamb of God piece, and then by the end of the song is back to the spoken words.

The album was all-in-all very enjoyable. I am a recent fan of the band, but this album surpassed my expectations, I didn’t think it could have topped 2009’s “Wrath.”

Rating: 8.2/10