It was only yesterday that we found out that Lamb of God would be releasing a new EP, The Duke. The title track was written about a fan of the band who reached out to Randy Blythe as he was dying of leukemia. Blythe and the fan, Wayne Ford, struck up a friendship, and Ford’s strength and stoicism in the face of his impending death inspired “The Duke.”
Today, the song was released via Rolling Stone, and it’s another new sound for the band. Randy Blythe said yesterday thatthe band opted not to include the EP’s title track on VII: Sturm und Drang, and while it certainly stands on it’s own, you can see why the band opted not to include it on the album. It’s one of the most commercial songs the band has written, and continues the trend of Blythe singing clean. That’s not to say that it’s not certainly heavy. Blythe screams in the song as well, and there’s a great solo. “The Culling,” the other original song, was written just for the EP, and is apparently “thrashy, heavy,” according to RS.
And as opposed to December, which is when it was initially thought the EP was coming out, it’ll be in stores on November 18th, the same day as Metallica’s Hardwired… To Self Destruct. Not only will that probably help sell some records for those that walk into a record store (remember those) to pick up Metallica and see Lamb of God, but it’s also the week before Black Friday, which officially kicks off the holiday shopping season.
You can pre-order the EP, which will be out on November 18th on Epic, here. A vinyl version will be out the following week.
