Lamb of God Ready Deluxe Retrospetive Releases

Originally published in Guitar World, August 2010

Lamb of God serve up a lustworthy set of seven new retrospective packages.

Lamb of God completists have a tough decision to make. In honor of their 15th anniversary, Virginia’s finest groove-thrashers have released seven versions of their greatest-hits and rarities package, Hourglass, and there’s something for everyone, from the casual fan to the serious collector.

“We didn’t want to just dump everything on CDs and say, ‘Here’s your greatest hits,’” says guitarist Mark Morton.

The most popular package, The 3-CD Anthology, features 44 tracks, including 18 demos and rarities. “There are a couple songs that only ever came out on seven-inch vinyl back when we were called Burn the Priest,” Morton says. “And there are demos that were recorded for us by a buddy who had a little recording studio next to our rehearsal space.”

The most comprehensive version, The Super Deluxe Set ($999), comes with one of Morton’s signature Jackson Dominion D2 guitars ($500 individually). The scaled-down version of Morton’s Dominion plays much like the high-end model. “It has the construction, feel and sound of the original, but it’s missing some of the frills,” Morton says.

The Super Deluxe Set also comes with everything from the other six Hourglass packages, including The 3-CD Anthology; The Vinyl Box Set, featuring Lamb of God’s entire studio album catalog on 180-gram vinyl; The USB Box Set, which contains the band’s studio catalog on six USB sticks inside a decorative cigarette box case; a 144-page book of band artwork by K3n Adams; a four-foot-by-six-foot Pure American Metal flag; and a signed photo in a personalized Lamb of God Coffin Case.

Reflecting on the 15 years that has passed since the band formed, Morton says, “It’s really exciting that, after so long, we still feel like we’re at the peak of our career. It’s cool not to be going down the hill yet.”