Ashes of the Wake

Ashes Of The Wake
Studio album by Lamb of God
Released	August 31, 2004
Recorded	2003-2004
Genre	Groove metal
Length	52:20
Label	Epic
Producer	Machine Lamb of God
Lamb of God chronology
As the Palaces Burn (2003) Ashes of the Wake (2004) Killadelphia (2005)
Singles from Ashes of the Wake
"Laid to Rest" Released: 2004 "Now You've Got Something to Die For" Released: 2005

Ashes of the Wake is the fourth studio album by American groove metal band Lamb Of God, released in 2004. The album debuted at number 27 on the Billboard 200, selling 35,000 copies in its first-week and was rated by Guitar World as the 49th greatest Guitar Album of all Time. The album is more political than their previous work, aimed at the war in Iraq, with songs such as "Ashes of the Wake" (which includes snippets of former staff sergeant and former Marine Jimmy Massey in an interview after his return from the Iraq War), "Now You've Got Something to Die For", "One Gun" and "The Faded Line". As of August 2010, Ashes of the Wake has sold 398,000 copies in the United States, making it Lamb of God's best-selling album.^[1]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Blythe, Morton, Adler, Campbell, Adler. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Laid to Rest"	3:50
2.	"Hourglass"	4:00
3.	"Now You've Got Something to Die For"	3:39
4.	"The Faded Line"	4:37
5.	"Omerta"	4:45
6.	"Blood of the Scribe"	4:23
7.	"One Gun"	3:59
8.	"Break You"	3:35
9.	"What I've Become"	3:28
10.	"Ashes of the Wake"	5:45
11.	"Remorse Is for the Dead"	5:41
12.	"Another Nail for Your Coffin" (Japanese bonus track)	4:37

The first pressing of the album came with a bonus disc entitled Pure American Metal with the following songs:

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Bloodletting" (from Burn the Priest)	1:58
2.	"The Subtle Arts of Murder and Persuasion" (from New American Gospel)	4:10
3.	"11th Hour" (from As the Palaces Burn)	4:43
4.	"Black Label (Live)" (from Terror and Hubris)	4:37
5.	"Laid to Rest (Demo)"	3:47

DualDisc

A DualDisc version was released in the U.S. The DVD side contained the album in LPCM 2.0, and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, as well as various video clips, including the promo videos for "Now You've Got Something To Die For" (intended to promote the Killadelphia release) and "Laid to Rest", a short on the New England Metalfest, a "Meet the Band" and a clip from the Terror and Hubris DVD. A production error in the 5.1 mix of "One Gun" causes the vocals to pitch shift high and low throughout the song.

Reception

The album was generally well received, with users giving it a score of 8.4 on Blabbermouth.net, while the site officially gave it a 7.0 rating.^[2] Johnny Loftus of AllMusic.com gave it a 4/5 star review.^[3] He praised Blythe's vocals, saying they became, "Lamb of God's threshold of pain conduit."

Personnel

Lamb of God

• Randy Blythe – vocals
• Mark Morton – lead and rhythm guitar
• Willie Adler – lead and rhythm guitar
• John Campbell – bass
• Chris Adler – drums

Additional musicians

• Alex Skolnick (of Testament) – second guitar solo on "Ashes of the Wake"
• Chris Poland (formerly of Megadeth) – third guitar solo on "Ashes of the Wake"

Production

• Produced by Machine and Lamb of God
• Recorded and mixed by Machine
• Engineered by John Agnello and Machine
• Pro Tools by Tony Schloff, Todd Parker, and Dan Korneff; assisted by Ted Young, Al Weatherhead, Casey Martin, Jeremy Miller, and Cam DiNunzio
• 5.1 surround sound mixed by Thom Cadley and mastered by Mark Wilder

References

1. ^ "Week Ending Aug. 1, 2010: The Downloading Of Eminem - Chart Watch". New.music.yahoo.com. August 4th, 2010. http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/59953/week-ending-aug-1-2010-the-downloading-of-eminem/. Retrieved October 10th, 2011. 
2. ^ "Blabbermouth.Net". Roadrunnerrecords.com. December 1st, 2007. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/userratings.aspx?reviewID=200. Retrieved October 10th, 2011. 
3. ^ Loftus, Johnny (August 31st, 2004). "Ashes of the Wake - Lamb of God". AllMusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/ashes-of-the-wake-r706422/review. Retrieved October 10th, 2011.