In a new interview with Full Metal Jackie‘s nationally syndicated radio show, LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe was asked how being confrontational about social and political issues has painted an inaccurate picture of his personality and temperament. He responded (hear audio below): “I guess some people would think, ‘Oh, this guy is super-duper liberal in all aspects,’ and that’s not true. In some ways, I’m quite conservative. I think change is definitely necessary in so many ways in our society, but I do think, in many ways, with this rampant spread of technology, there’s a lot of good values that are being abandoned. Some people would look at that and say, ‘Oh, that’s stodgy conservatism,’ but I don’t care.
“I don’t define myself as liberal or conservative or Democratic or Republican,” he continued. “Just because you speak on a certain issue… And that’s a problem in our country today, on both the left and the right, is this knee-jerk reaction, that if you disagree with some sort of issue, because things are so polarized right now, then automatically you’re painted as A or B, and that’s idiotic; that’s simply moronic.
“We’re all human beings, and I think people are existing in these echo chambers, particularly ’cause they’re isolated lately. They’re sitting in these digital echo chambers of negativity, and it’s just sort of reinforcing their biases; they’re looking for things to just reinforce their opinions.
“As far as an inaccurate view of my personality, I have no idea of what people really view my personality as,” Randy added. “I mean, my friends tell me I’m a pretty mellow guy. I don’t really care what people think of my personality; it’s not my concern. It’s really none of my business. My business is to act in a manner in accordance with my moral compass, which I would like to think is empathetic and correctly calibrated.”
Last month, LAMB OF GOD issued a three-disc deluxe edition of 2020’s critically acclaimed self-titled album featuring the full record with two bonus tracks and a live version of the album, along with a DVD performance of “Lamb Of God”. The live CD and DVD portion of the deluxe edition features the first of LAMB OF GOD‘s two ultra-successful live stream events from September 2020, in which the band performed “Lamb Of God” in full, plus an encore of four songs, including “Ruin”, “Contractor”, “512” and the debut live performance of “The Death Of Us”, a new song the band wrote and recorded in quarantine for the “Bill & Ted Face The Music” movie and soundtrack. The DVD includes a new director’s cut with bonus material.
In April 2020, Blythe told Consequence Of Sound that he didn’t write the lyrics for band’s self-titled album specifically about Trump. “My disdain for him is no secret,” Blythe said. “Before he ever got elected, people would ask me in the press, ‘What do you think about Trump being president?’ And [I would say], ‘The man’s a fucking idiot, and he’s a criminal.’ All you have to do is research his real estate dealings in New York City; it’s a matter of public fucking record. So it’s not like I’m scared to say, ‘Oh, fuck Trump,’ or something. But I think he’s just a symptom of a larger sociological problem.”
