See Lamb of God Face Monsters in Gripping Video for New Anthem "Memento Mori" | Revolver

See Lamb of God Face Monsters in Gripping Video for New Anthem "Memento Mori"

Randy Blythe: "If all you pay attention to is catastrophe, then soon you will begin to see monsters everywhere you look"

Lamb of God have long planned to release the new song "Memento Mori" as the second single off their highly anticipated new self-titled album. What they didn't know was just how relevant it would be when they finally dropped it. The epic opening cut on the LP — which is due May 8th via Epic Records — it rings with eerie significance today as the world reels in the midst of the coronavirus crisis.

"Memento Mori" arrives accompanied by a striking music video based on a narrative treatment written by LOG vocalist Randy Blythe. Visually and lyrically, both the clip and the song aim to offer a message of hope that's very relevant in these panicked times. Watch and listen above.

"There is a vast amount of indisputably real and depressingly negative occurrences happening across the globe," Blythe explained. "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. I wrote the narrative music video treatment a few months ago to illustrate how warped and myopic our mental states can become when we fail to remain engaged with that reality — if all you pay attention to is catastrophe, then soon you will begin to see monsters everywhere you look. The actual monsters we used in the video are Sinisteria, a local Richmond, Virginia, haunted house/dark performance troupe I met on the street at our annual Krampus Nacht parade. Richmond has a strong tradition of loud music and weird costumed monsters working hand in hand to make salient points (we are the birthplace of GWAR, after all), and I couldn't be more pleased with the results. Music has always been there for me, raising my spirits during hard times, and it is my hope that this song's positive message will do the same for fans of our music right now and beyond. The release date for the tune was set a good while ago, but the timing seems eerily prescient to me now. So enjoy the song and video, and then remember to step away from the screens for a bit — real life is waiting for you. We only get one shot, so don't waste this day. Everyone be well, keep a cool head, take care of yourselves, and take care of EACH OTHER."

As for the instrumentation of the new song, guitarist Mark Morton commented: "I had been sitting with the music for the intro and the post chorus for quite a while. I was trying to develop those two parts as separate songs altogether and was a little bit stumped, particularly with the intro piece. Me, Willie and Josh Wilbur (producer) were doing demos in the studio and the idea came up to try to mash those parts into the same tune and everything just took off. It was one of those times where once I knew what we were trying to do, the riffs just kind of fell out of me like they were writing themselves. It's always a crazy feeling when that happens. Vocally, Randy heard the intro and said he instantly got a throwback Sisters of Mercy type vibe from it and he took off from there."

Lamb of God is available for pre-order now. See the cover art and track listing, as well as the band's upcoming live dates, below. LOG recently had to cancel their European tour with Kreator due to coronavirus restrictions, but they're still scheduled to hit the road in North America with Megadeth, Trivium and In Flames in both the summer and fall.

lamb of god new album cover art

Lamb of God and Megadeth North American tour dates:
Summer 2020:

6/12 – Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
6/13 – Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion
6/14 – Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater
6/16 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
6/17 – Wantagh, NY @ Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
6/18 – Camden, NJ @ BB&T Pavilion
6/20 – Holmdel, MA @ PNC Bank Arts Center
6/21 – Boston, MA @ Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion
6/23 – Syracuse, NY @ St. Joseph's Heath Amphitheater at Lakeview
6/24 – Providence, RI @ Bold Point Lake Amphitheater
6/28 – Burgettstown, PA @ S&T Bank Music Park*
6/29 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
7/1 – Detroit, NI @ DTE Energy Music Theater
7/2 – Mount Pleasant, MI @ Soaring Eagle Casino Amphitheatre
7/3 – Indianapolis, IN @ Ruoff Music Center
7/5 – Atlanta, GA @ Ameris Music Center
7/7 – Cincinnati, OH @ PNC Pavilion
7/8 – Cleveland, OH @Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica
7/10 – Chicago, IL @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – Chicago, IL
7/11 – Sgt. Louis, MO @ Chicago, IL @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – St. Louis, MO*
7/12 – Nashville, TN @ Nashville Municipal Auditorium
7/14 – Rogers, AR @ Walmart AMP*
7/16 – Austin, TX @ Germania Insurance Amphitheater
7/17 – Houston, TX @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
7/18 – Irving, TX @The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory+
7/20 – Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheater
7/21- Phoenix, AZ @ Isleta Amphitheater
7/23 – Irvine, CA @ FivePoint Amphitheatre
7/25 – Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheatre
7/26 – Portland, OR @ Moda Center
7/29 – Salt Lake City, UT @ USANA Amphitheatre
7/30 – Pocatello, ID @ Portneuf Health Trust Amphitheatre
8/1 – Concord, CA @ Concord Pavilion
 
Fall 2020:
10/2 - West Palm Beach, CA @ iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
10/6 – Birmingham, AL @ Oak Mountain Amphitheatre
10/7 – New Orleans, LA @ UNO Lakefront Arena
10/9 - Corpus Christi, TX @ American Bank Center Arena
10/11 – El Paso, TX @ Don Haskins Center
10/14 – Springfield, MO @ JOH Arena
10/16 – Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center
10/21 – Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center
10/23 – Huntington, WV @ Mountain Heath Arena
10/24 – Bethlehem, PA @ The Wind Creek Event Center
10/27 – Quebec City, QC @ Centre Videotron
10/28 – Laval, QC @ Place Bell
10/30 – St, Paul, MN @ Armory
10/3 – Green Bay, WI @ Resch Center*
11/2 – Omaha, NE @ Baxter Arena
11/3 – Sioux Falls, SD @ Denny Sanford PREMIER Center
11/5 – Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
11/7 - Las Vegas, NV @ Mandalay Bay Events Center
11/10 – Spokane, WA @ Spokane Arena
11/11 – Nampa, ID @ Ford Idaho Center Arena
11/13 – Reno, NV @ Reno Events Center