'Resolute' American metal

Lamb of God is the face of American metal, or if it isn’t, then it should be. No other big-label metal band is currently as artistically vibrant, and none has released an album as excellent as the band’s seventh offering, “Resolution.”

The album is bookended by two doom metal tracks, “Straight for the Sun” and “King Me,” accompanied by a sharp inhale and exhale and resulting in a sense of coming full circle.

There are still plenty of groove and thrash metal tracks along the way, enhanced by Chris Adler’s complex drum fills and Randy Blythe’s venom-spitting vocals, which have never been better.

Tracks such as “Ghost Walking,” “Desolation” and “Invictus” are pure Lamb of God tunes, but the album’s highlight is “The Number Six,” which slowly builds from minimalist guitar work and hushed vocals to a beautifully violent crescendo.

There is no better band than Lamb of God to represent the American metal scene at this time and place. It is a high calling, but with “Resolution,” Lamb of God seems to have accepted the challenge.