LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe spoke to U.K.'s Kerrang! magazine about "Checkmate", the first single from the band's upcoming self-titled album.
"[The track is] the most on the nose politically, but this whole record is political," Blythe says. "There's not a single song [on the album] about an individual.
"When we had [George W. Bush] during the [2004 album] 'Ashes Of The Wake' era, he was a whole lot easier to write specifics about because we had the war in Iraq, the mythical weapons of mass destruction, but right now, the political world everywhere looks like Peewee Herman's playhouse.
"They are two sides of the same coin," he continues. "Civility and discourse is at an all time low, and that's because people view political parties now not for their policies, but they support these different parties like sports teams. The lyrics reflect that. The system is a fucking fraud."
In a 2017 interview, Blythe spoke about the fact that Trump portrayed the nation during the election as a corrupt, collapsing dystopia that needed to be saved. "President Trump sold this fantasy that we're going to return to the 1950s and be in some sort of idyllic Beaver Cleaver world that was only good for middle-class white Americans in the first place," the singer told Yahoo! "And that idea is gone. It's dead and it's not a valid option in this modern world. We're not going to batten down the hatches and shut the rest of the world out. Life doesn't exist that way anymore. Basically, the world is a mess and all you can do while this shitstorm is going on is try and be a moral person, at least, and not pay attention to too much of that noise. I do my best to do the right thing in my personal life because I sure as fuck can't change what’s going on in the Oval Office."
Blythe went on to say that current political situation in the country "would be hilarious to me if it wasn't also horrifying at the same time. You know, we have this infuriated orange bowl of sherbet in the Oval Office," he said. "If you're going to be a politician, at least be slick about it. But I don't know. Maybe he's brilliant. The way he got elected with this blitzkrieg of napalm across the misanthropic synapsis of middle America is kind of genius. We're going to make America great again? Whatever. It means nothing. I never thought America was bad in the first place. But he instilled a massive amount of fear and then said, 'I am the Messiah.' So, you know, when America doesn't become great again, what's gonna happen?"
"Lamb Of God" will be released on May 8 via Epic Records in the U.S. and Nuclear Blast Records in Europe. The follow-up to "VII: Sturm Und Drang" will mark LAMB OF GOD's first recordings with Art Cruz, who joined the band last July as the replacement for the group's founding drummer, Chris Adler.
"Lamb Of God" was recorded with longtime producer Josh Wilbur (KORN, MEGADETH, GOJIRA, TRIVIUM). Special guests on the disc include Jamey Jasta (HATEBREED) and Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT).
Last week, LAMB OF GOD announced a special show at the House of Vans in Chicago on February 14. The event is free and will include a photography exhibit featuring photos from Blythe that will be included in the new LAMB OF GOD album artwork. HARM'S WAY will open the show.
Photo: Travis Shinn
