On this, Lamb Of Gods follow up to 2004s acclaimed "Ashes Of The Wake" the band have taken the elements that made that album so successful (epic riffing, powerful vocals, pounding drums) and added to them.

Opening with "Walk With Me In Hell" the band display all of their strengths, inventive riffing, some great driving double bass drum work, some atmospheric keyboard in the intro and a paint stripping vocal from Randy Blythe. "Again We Rise" builds on this with a faster overall tempo and some effective massed vocals in the chorus.

The biggest departure here is next, and its also the best track on this album by some margin, "Redneck" comes over all over all Pantera/C.O.C on us and positively grooves along on a slightly less full on riff and some fantastic off kilter drumming by Chris Adler, this is almost matched by "Blacken The Cursed Sun" with its atmospheric building intro that gives way to a mid-tempo groove that again allows the music to breathe a bit and the melodies in the bridge and chorus to come through a little more.

In the main though Lamb Of God stay firmly in mid-tempo crunch mode though which in istelf is no bad thing and is one of the things that have brought them the fans that enjoyed "Ashes Of The Wake" so much (myself included) and there is nearly enough variety on offer to make the album very enjoyable as a whole.

My main criticism is that one or two of the tracks could almost be interchangeable and it may have made a more balanced listen to cull a track or two from the eleven here, however what Lamb Of God have proved is that "Ashes Of The Wake" was no fluke (not suprising really as that album was the bands third and had built on solid showings from the bands first two cds) and hints at a promising future also.

Let us know your views on 'Of Violence & Vengeance'

Track List

Walk With Me In Hell
Again We Rise
Redneck
Pathetic
Foot To The Throat
Descending
Blacken The Cursed Sun
Forgotten (Lost Angels)
Requiem
More Time To Kill
Beating On Death's Door

Line Up

Randy Blythe - vocals
Mark Morton - guitar
Will Adler - guitar
John Campbell - bass
Chris Adler - drums