Randy Blythe has gazed in horror at the whole world on the slide. On the eve of apocalyptic 10th album Into Oblivion, however, Lamb Of God’s indefatigable frontman sees that now is not the time for fatalism, but one which demands righteous outrage, hope and courageous action. So strap in for an unsurprisingly furious state-of-the-planet address.
“Well, this is off to a good start,” Randy Blythe grins, having just darted back from a between-interview bathroom break to knock half the equipment from his desk. “Christ, I’m a disaster, running around like a crazy man! I’m drinking non-alcoholic beer and still smashing into shit.”
Honestly, ‘high-impact’ is just how Lamb Of God’s firebrand frontman has always lived his life. A wiry troublemaker who’s endured the kind of rollercoaster ups-and-downs that would have made plenty of others pack up and go home a long time ago, he’s grown into one of the genre’s most erudite elder-statesmen.
Soaking up knowledge from the packed bookcases around his house has been a big part of that. Even more important has been the accrual of self-awareness, seeing his biases, understanding his shortcomings and knowing the things he doesn’t know. All of which means that when he does choose to speak on a subject, his words hit like a well-placed knuckle sandwich.
Echoing bassist John Campbell’s old explanation that Lamb Of God are “a punk rock band who play heavy metal” in the run-up to the Virginian icons’ explosive tenth album Into Oblivion, Randy stresses the importance of one’s outlook. Seeing that the world is going to shit isn’t particularly perceptive in 2026. Nor is slipping the wry nihilism from which punk was founded in the least bit productive.
Instead, it’s about empowering yourself and those around you to confront even the darkest shadows of this world, and to pull together to drag this grim reality back into the light...
It feels like a hell of a lot has happened in the couple of weeks since from your massive K! Cover story in January. Does it feel like the world is slipping further and further Into Oblivion?
“My prediction for the rest of this year is that things are just going to get worse and worse. We’re at a tipping point, a dangerous inflection point around the world. But I think there’s going to be a turnaround. I don’t believe that this level of polarisation and open corruption and all the other stuff is sustainable. Something has got to break. Before we get to that point, though things are going to get worse before they get better. So buckle up, motherfuckers!”
Do the United States’ November mid-term elections feel like a point of hope on the horizon?
“They do. But there is a very real concern that those mid-terms could be manipulated – or cancelled outright. It’s like that movie Wag The Dog [where a Hollywood producer helps fabricate a war in Albania to distract from a presidential sex scandal]. There’s a lot of chaos but it feels like that’s by design. That chaos will only continue, so I think that people have to show up and engage in the democratic process. We can’t allow ourselves to become so beaten down and full of despair that we don’t exercise our voices and our right to vote.
“That applies wherever you live. These problems aren’t exclusive to America. There is chaos in a lot of places. The chaos here pales to that in Iran where you had thousands and thousands of protestors being killed by this insane fundamentalist government [and where, since this interview took place, the United States and Israel have waged war]. That’s horrifying. It’s crazy. But what you see in Iran is indicative of the broader picture: in the end, repression is not sustainable because eventually people will rise up. I hope that happens peacefully for the most part. No-one should be executed for their beliefs!”
When waste circles the drain, it starts slowly then speeds up as it spirals into the hole. Does it feel like the rate and extent of outrage is ramping up, from people being killed in the streets of Minneapolis to the heavily redacted Epstein files?
“All you need to do is watch one of the reputable documentaries about Epstein to get a sense of this web that is being exposed, constantly getting bigger and bigger. If you start talking about that stuff you can sound like a crazy conspiracy theorist – this guy had interacted with so many people, and even if they weren’t involved in crimes against children a lot of them were coming to him for money after he had been found guilty. They knew. Celebrities. People in academia. Scientists. They all came looking for funding from someone they knew was a sexual predator, of children. That’s disgusting.
“The broad-reaching implications of the Epstein scandal are happening across the globe. People are losing jobs and being arrested. But not in America. Right now, we’ve got [U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi] talking about how well the stock market is doing. No matter which side of the political divide you sit on, that’s sick.”
How depressing is it to see that that’s not even a point at which many people draw the line?
“How do I rationalise that? I don’t. It’s a fucking cult. Cognitive dissonance is a motherfucker. It’s disheartening to see that for a lot of people it isn’t the point where they will draw the line, but I do believe that a lot of other people do see how truly fucked up all of this is. Also, it’s exposing the levers of power that are being pulled. Once again, those are things I can’t believe are sustainable.”
More and more, there seems to be the response that musicians or ‘entertainers’ should stay out of politics. How do you respond to that?
“To those people, I say ‘Go fuck yourself.’ I’m an American citizen and a world traveller. More than that, I’m a human being. I’m not some dancing monkey put here for your entertainment. If you have any sort of moral compass at all, it's irresponsible to not exercise your right to speak up. If people are willing to compartmentalise something like a child sex trafficking ring because they think it might better their bank account, they’ve lost a component of their humanity. They’ve lost an integral part of what it is to be a righteous human being. At that point, it’s time to stop and reassess and reevaluate. You’re not going to be able to carry your money into the grave, motherfucker, but you will be able to carry the memories of silently going along with people that enabled child sex predators. How are you going to feel about that on your death bed?”
How hopeful are you for the longer term?
“I kind of have to be hopeful. There is an apocalyptic side to my nature. I will admit that, and plenty of our lyrics reflect it. I have to watch myself with that. I have to acknowledge that that possibility exists. But I don’t need to sink into glorifying it. It’s okay to pay attention to what’s going on and be worried, but you need to do your best to change it. Everyday citizens in a functional democracy have a right to vote and they need to not become apathetic. I have a lot of problems with our American system. There are things that are archaic such as the electoral college, which should be abolished. But that is the only system we have right now. And if I do not engage in it and do my best to be a force for positive change, then I am abdicating responsibility and handing what little bit of control I have – my agency – over to someone else.
“In general, I see that fatalist, defeatist attitude in people and it bums me out. Like, ‘Oh, it doesn’t make a difference…’ Well, you’re right, because if you don’t do anything, then that won’t make any difference at all. So please carry yourself to the voting booth and do what you can. I don’t understand politics in the UK, but I do know that you need to vote. Don’t just be an apathetic slug and complain when everything turns to shit.”
Into Oblivion is released on March 13 via Century Media/Epic Records. Lamb Of God return to the UK this summer to headline Bloodstock.
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