LAMB OF GOD's RANDY BLYTHE Doesn't Have A 'Burning Desire' To Keep Screaming

In a brand new interview with VH1.com, LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe was asked if he still feels a need to sing aggressively. He responded: “No. Not at all… At one point, yes, [I felt that way] but I’m 44 years old. I’ve been doing this band for 21 years. Now on the new [LAMB OF GOD] record [‘VII: Sturm Und Drang’], there’s some different stuff on there. There’s a song with clean singing. There’s a song with Chino [Moreno, DEFTONES] and a song with Greg Puciato [THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN]. There’s one song where it’s almost clean vocals and it’s me doing it. That’s the most fun I’ve had in the studio in a long time. Because, dude, sitting there screaming for 4-6 hours a day, that shit hurts your head.”

He continued: “You know, I know people say this, but I think this is one of our best records in a long time because Willie [Adler, guitar] and Mark [Morton, guitar] really co-wrote it. Our producer, Josh [Wilbur], really encouraged them to sit down and write together. It’s a return to the old way of doing things for us, because for a while Mark would write his songs at home and demo them on the computer, and Willie would do the same, and they would come in and teach each other songs. On this album, it was like old days like when we were first a band and they wrote the songs together in the practice space. Like an actual band, ya know… I think it shows on the album, and it’s the best album we’ve done in a long, long time. But to bring that around to the original question, no, it’s not something I feel this need to do.”

Asked if being in LAMB OF GOD ever feels like a job, Blythe said: “Absolutely. Absolutely, dude. Especially since we haven’t had enough time off, and we need to make some money. [Laughs] So it is work, you know. It’s not that I don’t enjoy my job, but it’s my job. I don’t have a plan…well, I do have a plan B; that’s being executed right now: I wrote a book, I did a photography exhibit, all that stuff. But there’s no retirement plan in this busines. So it’s time to make a record, it’s time to go on tour, it’s time to do what we do in order to make a living and feed our families. And some people don’t like that, when you say it like that, and this is before their romantic idea of what being in a band is, but romance doesn’t pay your mortgage. [Laughs] No, it doesn’t pay the bills.”

He added: “So no, screaming and stuff is not something I feel the need to do anymore. There’s not a burning desire inside.”

“VII: Sturm Und Drang” will be released on July 24 via Epic in the U.S. and Nuclear Blast Entertainment in all territories outside of North America. The CD was once again produced and mixed by Josh Wilbur with engineering by Wilbur, Nick Rowe and Kyle McAulay, and was recorded at NRG Recording Studios in North Hollywood, California and Suburban Soul Studios in Torrance, California.

LAMB OF GOD has announced the variety of bundle options available for the pre-order of “VII: Sturm Und Drang”. They range from the “everything bundle” (including the deluxe CD or LP, a 7″ vinyl single of bonus tracks, a signed album art lithography, a t-shirt, hoodie, cassette and sticker set and retails for $175) to the standard digital download (which retails for $11.98).

The album’s first single, “Still Echoes”, was made available on May 18 via all digital retailers and streaming services.