Lamb Of God has been doing the press rounds as they ride the high of their latest release, Into Oblivion, released less than two weeks ago, with Randy Blythe seemingly taking every opportunity possible to discuss the current political landscape, what people must do in response to it, and how more artists must have more courage to speak about politics and have to "grow a spine."
When chatting to Consequence for their YouTube channel, Blythe was asked by Heavy Consequence's Spencer Kaufman what motivated Blythe to put out his recent essay on Substack. The Lamb Of God frontman responded (as transcribed by Metal Injection): "You know, read the essay. That explains everything. I think people are just beaten down now, a lot of people feel as if their voice doesn't matter, and their vote doesn't matter, and they're becoming ground down by the daily insanity that is life here now. I mean, everything is constantly exploding, it seems like not just here in America but everywhere," he acknowledged.
He continued on to say, "and if people want things to get better, they have to remain engaged. Tweeting, and having this online outrage and stuff is not enough. You have to become politically engaged. Sometimes you have to protest, sometimes you have to go to the ballot box.
"And the selection of candidates presented from both parties is less than ideal to put it mildly, so I think people have to start reading up on issues, they have to start reading on candidates, they have to start looking at candidates and asking where is their money coming from," Blythe elaborates further. "Ever since Citizens United and the where basically corporations are given personhood legally as far as donating to political campaigns, our electoral process has just been corrupted."
"We need candidates who are not beholden to corporations and special interest groups. It's time for people to start looking deeply at their local politicians, at their Congress people, to become engaged, to act like they give a fuck, rather than just sitting here and hand-wringing silently or in some weird social media echo chamber."
Randy Blythe has been notably outspoken about his unwillingness to not keep politics out of music, the rise in fascism, and how the 1% are not our friends, and Kaufman asked if Blythe had any idea as to why other artists maybe aren't as willing to put themselves out there as he is.
"I think it's this court of public opinion – which is false," when it comes to to promoting educational and political discussions, "Social media is not social. In the beginning, it used to be a place where people exchanged ideas, like the internet, things have changed rapidly. So, within these online echo chambers, if you say anything, I'm sure there will be comments about this somewhere, people are pretty vociferous online. 'Oh, well, you're a Nazi,' or 'Oh, you're a libtard' – they're comfortable name-calling and all this stuff. In the real world, for the most part, that doesn't happen and I think that with online culture – which has led to many problems – I think particularly with young people, there's this sense of judgment of, 'If I say something, I'm going to be judged.' I think it's amplified now because everybody has a voice. I didn't start going to punk rock shows when I was younger because I gave a fuck what other people thought.
Blythe pushes the conversation further, saying "I'm not Taylor Swift… I'm not a mass entertainer. I don't care about appeasing the algorithm, or streaming numbers, or any of that bullshit. I come from the underground music scene, that's just the way it is, the world I come from has always come from a political background. I think there's this false feeling of disaster will unfold if you lose your opinion, you're going to lose this or that. Get over it. Grow a spine."
The new Lamb Of God record, Into Oblivion, has quite a few tracks that may be applicable to the current administration and the rising tension amongst citizens, but all Blythe confirms is that they may be. See for yourself and check out the new record here.
Lamb Of God are currently on tour in support of their new release alongside Kublai Khan TX, Fit For An Autopsy, and Sanguisugabogg. Check out the dates below and find tickets here.
March 24 – Minneapolis, MN @ Armory
March 25 – Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
March 27 – Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
March 28 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union Event Center
March 30 – Portland, OR @ Theater of the Clouds
March 31 – Seattle, WA @ WAMU Theater
April 1 – Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum
April 3 – San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic
April 4 – Inglewood, CA @ YouTube Theater
April 5 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial Theatre
April 7 – Albuquerque, NM @ Revel Entertainment Center
April 10 – Austin, TX @ Moody Amphitheater
April 11 – Irving, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
April 12 – Houston, TX @ 713 Music Hall
April 14 – Nashville, TN @ War Memorial Auditorium
April 15 – Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre
April 16 – Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater
April 18 – Reading, PA @ Santander Arena
April 19 – Virginia Beach, VA @ The Dome
April 21 – Buffalo, NY @ Buffalo RiverWorks
April 23 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount
April 25 – Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
April 26 – Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway
