I've been listening to the new Lamb of God album Wrath in my car quite a bit over the last few weeks. It kicked my butt from the get-go, and it hasn't let up. In fact, I would be willing to consider it my new favorite Lamb of God album (which previously was Ashes of the Wake).
I don't really care for the opening instrumental track, so I usually skip right over it. However, the next 3 tracks are my favorites on the album, with the fourth track, "Contractor", being my favorite. The fast tempo makes the machine-gun drums and riffing guitars sound awesome, and I can't help but crank it up and headbang while I'm driving. It's also got an interesting section near the end because the lyrics (starting with "Lay the hammer hammer down...") are sung once at 1:55, then repeated at 2:56. However, the second time through those lyrics, they're started a half line early, which makes the beat sound different in comparison to the vocals. It's a great effect that is pulled off.
The rest of the album is solid, and I don't feel compelled to skip over any of the songs. The last track, "Reclamation", has a minute long opening along with a minute of nothing at the end, but has a great middle section. Most of the song is in 6/8 time, which seems rare for a metal song, but it totally works. Near the 3:30 mark it switches to more of a 4/4 time with a half-time drum beat (which makes it 2/2?), which you can't help but do a slow headbang to.
All in all, I give the album a 10/10. I think it's my new favorite album for having cranked while I have my windows down (which was Evergreen Terrace's Wolfbiker for a while before this).
