夜的灰烬 (2004)

Ashes of the Wake is the third studio album and first major-label release by American heavy metal band Lamb of God, released in 2004 via Epic Records. The album debuted at number 27 on the Billboard 200, selling 35,000 copies in its first week and being rated by Guitar World as the 49th greatest Guitar Album of all Time. This album also was rated by Metal Hammer as the 5th greatest Metal Album of The 21st Century. As of August 2010, Ashes of the Wake has sold 398,000 copies in the United States. Ten years after its release, as of 2014, sales have topped 400,000 copies sold, making it Lamb of God’s best-selling record. The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in February 2016.

Background and promotion

Ashes of the Wake marked Lamb of God’s major label debut. The band did not have much time in between their previous release, As the Places Burn, and Ashes of the Wake. This was due to Epic Records signing the band shortly after the release of As the Places Burn in 2003, and wanting the band to release a follow up soon after. Commenting on the quick turnaround between albums, guitarist Mark Morton stated:

We didn’t have a whole lot of time to write new songs, it felt like a lot of pressure to deliver what was going to be a very important record for us very quickly. I think that’d be the only negative memory because of the pressure there; but at the same time, I think it was a good exercise for us as a band – for myself as an artist, just to learn that we could live up to that standard, we could operate at that level.

Many of the songs on the album started off with the guitar riffs that Willie Adler and Morton wrote. They would then bring the demos to the rest of the band and put it all together, with the lyrics coming last.

On May 17, 2004, Lamb of God announced the title of the album. The first single, "Laid to Rest", was released on August 14, 2004, accompanied by an official music video. The video ended up getting heavy playtime on both Headbangers Ball and Fuse.

The album was released on August 31, 2004 and sold 35,000 copies in its first week, becoming the band's first album to reach the Billboard 200, peaking at number 27.

The band supported Ashes of the Wake with extensive touring, including a second stage slot on Ozzfest in 2004 along with being headliners in the US and Europe, including the 2005 Sounds of the Underground tour.

Lyrical themes

Several songs on the album were inspired by the events that took place during the war in Iraq and in Afghanistan, with songs such as "Ashes of the Wake" (which includes snippets of former Marine Staff Sergeant Jimmy Massey in an interview after his return from the Iraq War), "Now You've Got Something to Die For", "One Gun", and "The Faded Line" criticizing the war and the George W. Bush administration.

"One Gun" was inspired by Nas' song "One Mic", with guitarist Mark Morton explaining, "I remember thinking, If you can change the world with one mic, you can definitely change it with one gun." "Omerta" addresses organized crime, with the title and intro quote drawing from the Sicilian Mafia's code of silence. "Break You" is about tensions between band members.

Releases

The first pressing came with a bonus disc titled "Pure American Metal", including songs taken from the band's previous albums (Burn the Priest, New American Gospel and As the Palaces Burn), a live recording of the song "Black Label" from DVD Terror and Hubris, as well as a pre-production demo of the song "Laid to Rest".

The Japanese edition included a bonus song "Another Nail for Your Coffin" which was released worldwide in 2010 in a three-CD box set called Hourglass: The Anthology. The song was later included on the 15th anniversary edition of the album.

A DualDisc version was released in the United States. The DVD side contained the album in LPCM 2.0, and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, as well as various video clips, including the promo videos for "Now You've Got Something to Die For" (intended to promote the Killadelphia release) and "Laid to Rest", a short on the New England Metalfest, a "Meet the Band" and a clip from the Terror and Hubris DVD. A production error in the 5.1 mix of "Break You" causes the vocals to be displaced throughout the track, and pitch shift high and low throughout the song. This error is also in the Dolby Atmos mix on Apple Music.

On August 30, 2024, Lamb released a 20th anniversary deluxe addition of the album. It featured new remixes by HEALTH, Justin K Broadrick (Godflesh and Jesu), Kublai Khan TX, and Malevolence, along with demo and live versions of tracks from the album. In the Summer of 2024 Lamb of God went on a co headlining tour with Mastodon with both bands celebrating 20th anniversaries for their albums Ashes of the Wake and Leviathan. Both albums were played in full at each concert.