Lamb of God's new anthem "Memento Mori" — the dynamic opening track off their forthcoming self-titled album — rings with striking relevance today as the world struggles to respond to the spread of the coronavirus. The timely song was written, of course, long before COVID-19 even entered the public consciousness and was even pegged as the LP's second single before the current crisis ensued.
"There is a vast amount of indisputably real and depressingly negative occurrences happening across the globe," Blythe explained of the song. "Currently, at the forefront of everyone's mind is the global COVID-19 pandemic. This is a very real concern, and proper precautions need to be taken by EVERYONE in order to protect those most at risk — the elderly, infirm and immunocompromised. It is indeed a scary time, but in this hyper-connected age with its 24/7 never-ending news cycle of atrocity, outrage and lurid click-bait headlines (not to mention ill-informed lunatics running amok and spreading misinformation and panic on social media), it is all too easy to lose sight of the fact that life is still carrying on, and good things do in fact still happen.
"Months before the COVID-19 outbreak occurred, I wrote 'Memento Mori' as a reminder to myself to not be consumed by the omnipresent electronic harbingers of doom that surround us — cellphones, computers and television screens. While these devices can be useful tools, and it is important to stay informed, it is equally important to remain engaged with the real, physical world we live in, not just digitally filtered representations of reality." Read the full lyrics below.
By the darkest river, beneath the leafless trees