Blistering.com: In terms of the new record, how was the writing and recording?
Morton: Our approach this time was to strip away some of the studio tricks and the layering and to really showcase the band in its natural environment almost. To take it down to its most basic elements of the band, because we feel that foundation is our strongest point. Sacrament was a great record for us and we’re all very proud of it and I like that record a whole lot, but we were really ambitious from a production point of view on that album. I think as a response to that Wrath is sonically a little more direct.
Blistering.com: Was that a conscious decision right from the start, from the songwriting approach?
Morton: I think it was. We knew we were going to take that approach. In terms of the songwriting, the process was the same, but we knew we wanted to write some really heavy stuff and as always it was a primary objective to do something different. Writing heavy stuff isn’t necessarily different for us, so we incorporated a lot of intros and some acoustic guitar stuff and some clean guitar breaks and that kind of thing. Things you haven’t heard us do before. That kept it fresh for us, kept it pretty interesting from a songwriting point of view and from a recording point of view. To be in the studio recording acoustic guitars, I’ve done that as a player individually, but I’ve never done it in the context of this band. So that was a lot of fun for me and something I’d been hoping to do for some time. So to see it come to fruition was something I really enjoyed.
Blistering.com: It’s good to hear that you’re not content to just continually do the big riff songs just because you know you can do that.
Morton: No, we have to, when you’re a band as long as we are… first and foremost we’re musicians. I would say that I was doing this before you ever heard of us [laughs] and I’ll be doing it when you don’t care about us anymore. I’ll still be writing songs and playing my guitar, because that’s what I do. So to keep it interesting and to keep myself satisfied as a player and as a songwriter I’ve got to break new ground and try new things musically.
Blistering.com: Exactly. Anyone who does anything artistically that they really believe in has to do that.
Morton: You have to if you plan on getting any kind of satisfaction from it. Yes, we could just put it on auto-pilot and crank out songs that all sound the same.
Blistering.com: But what would be the point. Why would you want to be in Lamb Of God if you just did that?
Morton: I wouldn’t. It would become incredibly boring. So even at the risk of maybe sometimes… frankly at the risk of not giving some people what they want. There’s a lot of people I can read on the message boards that want to hear As The Palaces Burn again or Ashes Of The Wake is their favourite record and how come the new one doesn’t sound like that? Well, you know, I love that you love that record, but the new one doesn’t sound like that because I already made that record and I don’t want to just keep spitting out the same stuff over and over again. None of us do. I’m speaking personally for myself, but I can assure that none of us just want to get into a groove and stay there. We want to develop as a band. That’s something we all agree on and there aren’t very many things that all five of us agree on.
Blistering.com: I’m sure at its core, Wrath is still going to have that anger and that ferociousness.
Morton: Well that’s what it’s all about man, it’s all about the catharsis, musical catharsis and releasing that aggression and energy through our instruments and our music, in Randy’s case through his voice. We love it. There’s a chemistry amongst the five of us that’s unique and we’re luck to have this outlet that we cherish.
Blistering.com: So songs from Wrath, which of them are you looking forward to playing live?
Morton: Well the song “Set To Fail” is floating around right now. It’s got a cool, heavy groove song and I have a lot of fun playing it and it’s got a really bluesy solo. That’s one that we put on stage and it’s going down really rocking. There’s also a song called “Grace” that I’m hoping to play live. It’s a pretty fast acrobatic guitar-orientated song, but it’s one of my favourites on the record and again a solo I’m really proud of that I worked on for a long time. It’s certainly one of favourite I’ve ever put to record.
Blistering.com: Finally, do you think having signed to Roadrunner Records has helped you guys because I remember reading an interview with you guys, about four years ago, an on the road piece and it was very angry piece.
Morton: I think I know the interview you’re talking about. I think the writer was definitely focused on the fact that our label at the time wasn’t doing much to push us. I certainly don’t want to make any indication that we are against Epic or not happy with Epic. Epic, in terms of how they’ve worked with Lamb Of God in the United States have been amazing. We’re on our third record with a major label, they’ve never once asked us to change a thing about our music. They realise as well as anyone that no one can tell us how to make a Lamb Of God record. They’ve supported everything we’ve done creatively, they’ve put records in the stores, we’ve had a top ten debut in the US on our last record, we stayed on the Billboard Chart for a while. They do a phenomenal job. In the United States [laughs].
Elsewhere we felt like… we didn’t know what the problem was. We didn’t know if we weren’t a priority, but clearly we were, or if it was that or if they didn’t know what to do with a band as metal as us. There was just a different group of people working the record overseas. To their credit, they were supportive enough to release us to the hands of someone we knew could work the records better than anybody and that’s Roadrunner Records. That’s a credit to Epic and our success in the United States is a credit to them. That said we are extremely excited to be part of the Roadrunner family. It’s the best of both worlds. We’re on a major label in the US and we’re on THE metal label overseas.