During a recent appearance on the “Dabghanistan” podcast, LAMB OF GOD guitarist Mark Morton, talked about the departure with drummer Chris Adler and band’s new self-titled album.
Mark said: “We’ve been through a lot of challenges and a lot of ups and downs and a lot of difficult experiences over the last 10 years particularly, as individuals, as a band, as an organization, all that stuff. So losing Chris as a bandmember was not nonchalant, it wasn’t ‘matter of fact,’ it wasn’t easy for anybody involved.
“It wasn’t a frivolous decision on anybody’s part, the way it all played out,” he continued. “So it was real heavy — it was a heavy thing. That’s Willie‘s [Adler, guitar] blood brother, and we were all a family — and we still are, as far as I’m concerned.
“I’ve been friends with Chris since I was 17; we used to smoke weed in his room and listen to DANZIG and play guitar… That wasn’t an easy situation.
“So to find ourselves now having spent a year and a half on the road, largely with SLAYER, and fine-tuning with Art and getting him worked in and kind of getting in a groove as band and then being able to take that groove and put it in the studio and write these really special songs together, it was kind of a monumental moment for us. It felt like we could breathe again after all that stuff, and it was fun, and we were happy.
“At the end of the day, there is a human component to these records, and so the vibe translates, and it wasn’t an anxious vibe, it wasn’t a vibe of in-fighting, it wasn’t a vibe of egos or people fighting for some kind of position or fighting to get their song on the album or whatever — it was none of that stuff. It was a real collaborative team effort, and I think that vibe is part of what the energy is that people are reacting to.”
LAMB OF GOD released their new album self-titled album on June 19 via Nuclear Blast. You can get the album here.
Lamb of God is produced by longtime collaborator Josh Wilbur (GOJIRA, KORN, MEGADETH, TRIVIUM). This is the band’s first record with Art Cruz, who sat behind the kit with LAMB OF GOD in 2018 and became an official member the following year. The new album also features guest appearances from Jamey Jasta (HATEBREED) and Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT).
