The Omens Tour: Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, Baroness, & Suicide Silence Live at Coca-Cola Roxy!

Lamb of God (LoG) is groove/thrash/death/heavy metal band that hails from Richmond, VA. and has been together as a band since 1994. LoG consists of D. Randall (Randy) Blythe (vocals), John Campbell (bass), Mark Morton (lead guitar), Willie Adler (rhythm guitar), and Art Cruz (drums). The band has released nine (9) LPs as LoG with Omens being the latest release, one (1) live LP, two (2) EPs, one (1) compilation LP, and numerous singles. Plus, the band has released two (2) LPs under their original name Burn the Priest when they first formed as a group with original drummer Chris Adler (1994-2019; hiatus 2018-2019).

I first had the pleasure of doing photography at a LoG show when they toured with the legendary Slayer for their final tour with Anthrax, Testament, and Napalm Death at Cellairis Amphitheatre in Atlanta back in 2018. I was eager to get back in the pit for another LoG show based on my previous experience with the band. This time getting the opportunity to do photography while they toured on their own headlining tour was very special to me. One of our colleagues (Richard Davenport) was fortunate enough to do photography at the Metal Tour of the Year featuring LoG, Megadeth, Trivium, and In Flames at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN.

Joining LoG on the Omens Tour would be Killswitch Engage, Baroness, and Suicide Silence. If you have been following Concerthopper for some time now, you may recognize Baroness being covered in my column before at their intimate show at the Earl (2015) and also during their Gold & Grey Tour with War on Women at Buckhead Theatre (2019). Suicide Silence was also previously covered during their 10th Anniversary tour for their debut album The Cleansing back in 2017 by Hayley Page.

Starting off the night would be Suicide Silence, a deathcore band, from Riverside, CA. that has been together since 2002. The band consists of Chris Garza (rhythm guitar), Mark Heylmun (lead guitar), Dan Kenny (bass), Herman “Eddie” Hermida (vocals), and Ernie Iniguez (touring drummer). The band has released six (6) LPs with their long-awaited seventh (7) LP coming in 2023 entitled Remember… You Must Die. I would be remised if I did not mention nor pay respect to founding member and former lead singer Mitch Lucker whose life was tragically taken on November 1, 2012, after succumbing to injuries sustained in a motorcycle/vehicle accident on October 31, 2012. Mitch was very influential with the creation of their first three (3) LPs including their epic debut, The Cleansing.

Suicide Silence - “Blind” Live cover of Korn.

Eddie Hermida (formerly of All Shall Perish) knew he had some big shoes to fill when he took over the vocal duties nearly a year later (October 2, 2013). Since then, Eddie and the boys have dropped three (3) incredible albums including the upcoming Remember… You Must Die. On this evening, Suicide Silence took the stage to an eager crowd screaming loudly before the first riff would consume their lives for the next 30 minutes. Unfortunately, due to traffic en route and the Atlanta Braves game taking place in the same vicinity, I was just late enough to miss the first couple songs. With that being said, I was not able to get in the photo pit for their set. Fortunately, I was able to listen to the last few songs from Suicide Silence from the photographer corral which was set up in the foyer area of the venue.

Check out the set list from their performance below:

· “Unanswered”

· “Wake Up”

· “You Must Die”

· “Fuck Everything”

· “Love Me to Death”

· “No Pity for a Crowd”

Also, you can follow this link to check out some of Suicide Silence’s music via Apple Music.

Next up on stage was the sludge/alternative/progressive metal band Baroness who originally called Savannah, GA. home. Baroness has released five (5) LPs and two (2) live EPs since forming as a band in 2003. Currently, the band consists of John Baizley (lead vocals/rhythm guitar/keyboards/percussion), Nick Jost (bass/keyboards/additional backing vocals), Gina Gleason (lead guitar/backing vocals), and Sebastian Thomson (drums). Baroness has made a musical progression that stems from their debut LP, Red Album, up to their most recent LP, Gold & Grey, that I have admired immensely. From their crunchy and brutal riffs, then add some powerful lyrics, and mix in a dash of Appalachian sludge, Baroness has made a name for themselves in the music scene while being one of the best live acts to take the stage. No matter the size of the venue or stage, every single time Baroness comes out on stage, they demonstrate to the crowd what ‘being grateful to perform in front of fans’ looks like. If you have never seen Baroness live, you need to change that soon and by that, I mean keep checking their tour page to see when they are coming close to you. You won’t regret it.

Check out the set list for this evening’s performance below:

· “The Sweetest Curse”

· “Isak”

· “A Horse Called Golgotha”

· “March to the Sea”

· “Shock Me”

· “Take My Bones Away”

You can head over to their Official Bandcamp page to hear any of their LPs (including their live recordings from the BBC Studios.

Killswitch Engage was next to play and the masses gathered let them know how much they wanted to see them play. Killswitch Engage is a metalcore band from Westfield, MA that formed as a band back in 1999. Since forming, they have released eight (8) LPs and three (3) live performance LPs. The band consists of Mike D’Antonio (bass), Adam Dutkiewicz (lead guitar/backing vocals), Jesse Leach (lead vocals), Justin Foley (drums), and Joel Stroetzel (rhythm guitar/backing vocals). They are best known for their seminal album, The End of Heartache (2004), which has been certified gold by the RIAA and the title track was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance (2005). This would be my first time getting to see Killswitch perform live, and I can see why the fans love their live shows. From the start, each member came out ready to keep the crowd’s enthusiasm at an all-time high with their performance. Adam Dutkiewicz was especially having fun interacting with the crowd any chance he could get. And I know some lucky fans riding the rail were happy when Jesse Leach jumped down from the stage into the photo pit during the first few songs.

Here is Killswitch Engage’s set list from their power performance on this tour stop:

· “Strength of the Mind”

· “This Is Absolution”

· “Rose of Sharyn”

· “Beyond the Flames”

· “Unleashed”

· “The Crownless King”

· “Hate by Design”

· “Know Your Enemy”

· “My Curse”

· “Daylight Dies”

· “This Fire”

· “The End of Heartache”

· “In Due Time”

· “Holy Diver” – Ronnie James Dio cover

· “The Signal Fire”

You can hear some of Killswitch Engage’s music also on Apple Music by following this link!

Finally, it was time for LoG to take the stage and give the people what they wanted! Hearing the exuberant excitement from the crowd would get any band pumped and ready to unleash some carnage. A large curtain covered the stage and gave cover for a silhouette of Randy to come out on stage and start the beginning of “Memento Mori”. The crowd lost it when the curtain dropped, and LoG relentlessly began playing “Memento Mori” with a very amped up Randy Blythe bouncing around the stage. But guess what? LoG also brought some pyrotechnics for their stage set and let me tell you this effect gave their performance a little something extra. Every photographer there that night knew Randy was going to do ‘the jump’, but now we knew he would probably do so with pyro in the background.

All in all, this was a great LoG set with some fan friendly, older songs mixed in with some of their more recent tracks from their expansive discography. Up until the very last song, the pit was in full effect and many fans had stayed in the pit for this entire set. Respect.

You can easily check out the unforgettable set list from Lamb of God’s performance below:

· “Memento Mori”

· “Walk With Me in Hell”

· “Now You’ve Got Something to Die For”

· “Resurrection Man”

· “Nevermore”

· “Ruin”

· “11th Hour”

· “Omerta”

· “Contractor”

· “512”

· “Ghost Walking”

· “Vigil”

· “Laid to Rest”

· “Redneck”

Head over to LoG’s Apple Music page today and hear some of the new album, Omens, or any of their celebrated metal classics online. While you are listening to some LoG, do not forget to preorder your copy of Omens (due out October 7th) today from the band’s website.