11 Great Things In Metal This Week (20th Nov)
1. Lamb Of God - The Duke EP
One of the biggest highlights of this week has doubtlessly been the new Lamb of God EP, The Duke. Dedicated to the groove metal titans' fallen fan-turned-friend in Wayne Ford, the new release (which dropped less than a year after Lamb of God's newest full-length, VII: Sturm und Drang) is a heartfelt love letter that both harkens back to the band's mid-2000s output and moves forward with experiments in new styles.
The Duke is a release of two halves. The first contains two new songs, that being the title track and "Culling", while the latter is comprised of three live tracks: "512", "Engage the Fear Machine" and "Still Echoes", all of which are taken directly from the Sturm und Drang album.
And while the first two tracks are doubtlessly must-listens (the first being a sombre yet hard-hitting entry and the second trailing back to Lamb of God's mid-2000s heyday), the live tracks feel, well... pointless. Taken from the band's shows at Rock am Ring 2015 and Bonnaroo 2016, all three are already available on YouTube with full visual accompaniment.
While the second half may be a sizeable blemish, there's no denying that the original material on The Duke makes the EP a cherry on top of this week in metal.