“Hourglass” breaks down Lamb of God’s 20-year career into three discs, each one packed absolutely full to bursting with songs.
For the newcomer, “Hourglass” offers a perfect introduction to Lamb of God’s version of New American thrash-metal. It features not only all of their singles from every album, but also some other tracks.
For the uninitiated, prepare to rock – and look up lyrics. Blythe’s growling vocals almost require multiple listens or a translator to understand what is being said – and that is not a bad thing by any means.
For fans, the first disc may introduce them to Lamb of God’s earliest pieces, which they should love.
The first disc, named “The Underground Years,” of course, shows off the band’s early years, including some of their stuff from when they were known as Burn the Priest.
Some of the band’s breakout tracks are on here, like “Black Label,” “Ruin” and “11th Hour.”
Even better is the fact that disc one alone has 13 songs on it.
The second disc is what is going to be most recognizable to newer fans.
Titled “The Epic Years,” it features tracks from their most recent albums, including songs from 2006’s amazing “Sacrament” album and last year’s “Wrath.”
For the fan, disc two is probably nothing special, sadly. It is Lamb of God’s most prolific stuff and fans probably own all of it already. Sorry.
“The Epic Years” really shows off Blythe’s vocals, more so than either of the two other discs. Featuring songs like the excellent “Redneck,” “Set to Fail” and “Blacken the Cursed Sun.” Like the first disc, disc two also has thirteen songs – that is 26 tracks thus far.
The third and final disc of the collection, “The Vault,” again has some of Lamb of God’s older material on it but as an added bonus, some unreleased material as well. For all the content that is featured, “The Vault” could have been a stand-alone release.
It collects all of the band’s Japan-only bonus tracks, as well as some rare rehearsal tapes, and their earliest Burn the Priest vinyl singles all on one disc. Oh, there are 18 of them on the disc.
That adds up to a whopping 44 songs contained in “Hourglass.”
For the collector, this last disc is essential. No longer will die-hard fans have to buy imported albums and scour the Internet for those rare rehearsal tapes.
If anything, the worst part of the whole package is how sparsely presented the collection is. It is merely three discs in slim CD cases.
No liner notes, no lyrics sheets, nothing. For the newcomer, this would have been a nice addition. For the fan and the collector, it is absolutely fine.
By far, however, the best part of the anthology is the price. At $27, it is an absolute steal, even for the third disc alone.
Newcomer, fan, or collector: no matter what category one falls under, Lamb of God’s new “Hourglass” anthology offers a massive bang for the buck.
Grade: A