It has come to my attention that the band Lamb of God is a one-of-a-kind metal phenomenon that I cannot seem to compare to anything else. Whether it is Randy Blythe's unique style of guttural growling or Chris Adler's insanely complex drumming style, I just can't find anything quite like it. Lamb of God just seems to be one of those bands that is reinventing the whole "New Wave of American Metal" genre by leaps and bounds.However, recently I found a not-so-new but not-so-old metal band that is comparative to Lamb of God's style, yet can stand on its own without being ridiculed with being a cheap knock off of another band (like the endless debate over Trivium's latest album, The Crusade being an exact copy of Metallica's most famous album, Master of Puppets, which I still can't take sides with either argument, but that's another story). Byzantine is this semi-new band that I'm attempting to introduce.
At first glance, I highly doubt anyone would see any sort of similarity between the two bands apart from the small fact that they originated very close to one another (Lamb of God being from Virginia and Byzantine being from West Virginia). However, if you take a deeper look at the two bands it is apparent that they are very much alike. The drumming in Lamb of God has always stood out to me among all of the metal bands I cherish because Chris Adler doesn't just provide a beat to go along with the rest of the musicians, instead it's almost as if he's doing a drum solo throughout the entire song. It's tough to describe, I guess another way to put it would be that Chris Adler's drumming doesn't turn into a blur after a few songs, every song has a new and fresh feel to it because he changes the rhythms, beats, and tempos throughout every song. The drumming can be pummeling as well as somewhat groove-oriented is what I'm really trying to get at. The structure of the beats and drum fills are so complex it has really opened my eyes to more than just some dude who can move his feet really fast. After listening to Byzantine's latest effort, Oblivion Beckons I feel like Chris Adler has some serious competition. Drummer Matt Wolfe, like Chris Adler, isn't your average drum pounder who plays loudly in the background with no one taking any notice of his existence in the band. Wolfe's drumming ranges from the delightfully heavy double-bass sequences that every metal band should have to the complex drum fills that Chris Alder is so notorious for.
Like Lamb of God, Byzantine's Matt Wolfe probably uses a pretty hefty drum kit containing multiple cymbals and percussion that can be heavily used for a more interesting variety of drum fills and rhythm sections.While I could probably go on for hours about how incredible the drumming force is between these two bands, I think it would be wise to move on to the other aspects of Lamb of God and Byzantine. While the drummers may share the same sort of style the vocalists are probably the main difference that separates both bands. The only similarity I can see would probably be the lyrical comparisons. Both bands typically write about political stuff having to do with the American society being so completely ass backwards that everyone is getting fucked over. Randy Blythe of Lamb of God has his signature demonic sounding guttural growl that can scare even the most hardcore metal fan shitless with one of his barks. He must gargle sand paper after brushing his teeth with razor wire or something in order to get that kind of hateful demonic sound to come out of his mouth. Byzantine's Chris Ojeda mixes guttural growls, hollering, and clean singing all together to create a much broader array of vocals. The amazing thing about Ojeda is that his vocals do not change between songs but rather throughout each song. In the song "Centurion" off of Oblivion Beckons he switches from a Scar Symmetry-esque death growl, to a Randy Blythe style guttural growl, to a regular clean singing voice. Ojeda's vocal range really adds to the complexity of the rest of the album because whether people like to believe it or not, front men are one the main driving forces to making a band stand out among the rest. During a live show they're usually the conductor of madness during the metal extravaganza. And I mean, look at Judas Priest, Rob Halford's vocal style is what makes them stand out. Don't get me wrong, the dueling guitarists K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton are pretty rad, but hearing those high pitched screams coming from Halford's throat pretty much seals the deal that you're probably listening to Priest.
Lastly, I'd like to look at the guitar work for both bands seeing as this is the last instrument I have yet to obsess about. I mean I could talk about the bassists but to be completely honest I don't have anything really amazing to say about either bassist. Of course, it's also important to realize that all of Byzantine's members have their fair share of guitar input on Oblivion Reckons seeing as they all have some background knowledge on guitar. They're definitely an important part of the band and I think the bassists give the music a certain level of layering and density, but that's about all I have to say about them. I think it's clear that whichever instrument I'm talking about for each band that the specific musician is probably going to deserve a medal for being complex without being senselessly loud and obnoxious. Lamb of God's Mark Morton and Willie Adler both create an atmosphere of precision as well heaviness that makes any listener want to hear more. Recently I think they've been incorporating more solos into their songs, like the one in "Walk with Me in Hell" or "Requiem" (my personal favorite) off of Sacrament, but apart from the soloing I think that their use of complex riffage and song structure really allow me to appreciate the hard work that goes into making an album rather than something to just thrash around wildly to in my state of excitement and metal bliss. And let me just say that Mark Morton and Willie Adler may use more pinch harmonics on Ashes of the Wake than I've ever heard Zakk Wylde use...which is fucking awesome. As for Tony Rohrbough and Chris Odeja of Byzantine, their flawless harmonizing in the song "Nadir" off of Oblivion Beckons sends chills up my spine in the best way possible. Their efforts create a sort of thrashy yet melodic sound that just creates such a perfect mesh of ferocity and precision that goes along with the blistering drum fills and complex song structure. "Receiving End of Murder" is probably one of their strongest songs on the Oblivion Beckons because it mixes complex riffs with some pretty cool shredding solos without being too much to deal with. The song isn't crammed with so much that it's impossible to comprehend, but rather has the perfect balance of thrash, melody, soloing, and brutality to make it a dignified metal anthem of the future.I think that while Lamb of God may be more widely known than Byzantine, I definitely think that the latter will be joining the ranks of "Most influential bands of the New Wave of American Metal." However, I just found out upon writing this that Byzantine broke up like 4 days after Oblivion Beckons came out for reason unknown to me. That really sucks, but I still think their music should boost the New Wave of American Metal to new heights. If you are to take anything away from this rant/ramble/whatever you want to call it I'd say to check out both of these bands if you haven't already. Byzantine's Oblivion Reckons is more than worth the money and has been blasting through my headphones this whole time. I STRONGLY suggest picking this album up if you like Lamb of God or agree with anything that I've said above.
Suggested tracks off of Ashes of the Wake*:
- Hourglass
- The Faded Line
- Blood of the Scribe
- Now You've Got Something to Die For
- One Gun
Suggested tracks off of Oblivion Beckons:
- Absolute Horizon
- Nadir
- Receiving End of Murder
- Catalyst
- A Residual Haunting
*These are tracks I thought had awesomely complex drumming
