Ashes of the Wake

Ashes of the Wake is the fourth studio album and first major label release by American heavy metal band Lamb of God, released in 2004 via Epic Records. The album debuted at number 27 on the Billboard 200, selling 35,000 copies in its first week and was rated by Guitar World as the 49th greatest Guitar Album of all Time.[7] This album also was rated by Metal Hammer as the 5th greatest Metal Album of The 21st Century.[8] The album was inspired by the events that took place during the war in Iraq, with songs such as "Ashes of the Wake" (which includes snippets of former Marine Staff Sergeant Jimmy Massey in an interview after his return from the Iraq War), "Now You've Got Something to Die For", "One Gun" and "The Faded Line". The quote at the beginning of "Omerta" is a paraphrase of the Sicilian Mafia's code of silence.[9] As of August 2010, Ashes of the Wake has sold 398,000 copies in the United States.[10] Ten years after its release, as of 2014, sales have topped 400,000 copies sold and is Lamb of God’s best-selling record.[11] The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in February 2016.[12]

Ashes of the Wake
Studio album by Lamb of God
Released	August 31, 2004
Studio	Sound of Music, Richmond, Virginia Water Music Studios, Hoboken, New Jersey
Genre	Metalcore[1] thrash metal[2] groove metal death metal[3]
Length	47:40
Label	Epic Prosthetic EK 90702
Producer	Machine Lamb of God
Lamb of God chronology
As the Palaces Burn (2003) Ashes of the Wake (2004) Killadelphia (2005)
Singles from Ashes of the Wake
"Laid to Rest" Released: August 2004 "Now You've Got Something to Die For" Released: March 5, 2005

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Blabbermouth.net	7/10[5]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[2]
PopMatters	favorable[6]

Releases

The first pressing came with a bonus disc titled "Pure American Metal", including songs respectively taken from the band's pervious albums (Burn the Priest, New American Gospel and As the Palaces Burn), a live recording of the song "Black Label" from DVD Terror and Hubris, as well as a pre-production demo of the song "Laid to Rest".

The Japanese edition included a bonus song "Another Nail for Your Coffin" which was released worldwide in 2010 on 3-CD box set Hourglass: The Anthology. The song was later included on the 15th anniversary edition of the album.

A DualDisc version was released in the United States. The DVD side contained the album in LPCM 2.0, and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, as well as various video clips, including the promo videos for "Now You've Got Something to Die For" (intended to promote the Killadelphia release) and "Laid to Rest", a short on the New England Metalfest, a "Meet the Band" and a clip from the Terror and Hubris DVD. A production error in the 5.1 mix of "One Gun" causes the vocals to pitch shift high and low throughout the song.

Reception

The album was generally well received; Blabbermouth.net gave it a 7 rating.[5] Johnny Loftus of AllMusic gave it a 4 out of 5 star rating.[4] He praised Blythe's vocals, saying they became, "Lamb of God's threshold of pain conduit."

Track listing

All tracks are written by Randy Blythe, Willie Adler, Chris Adler, Mark Morton and John Campbell.

Ashes of the Wake track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Laid to Rest"	3:50
2.	"Hourglass"	4:00
3.	"Now You've Got Something to Die For"	3:39
4.	"The Faded Line"	4:37
5.	"Omerta"	4:45
6.	"Blood of the Scribe"	4:23
7.	"One Gun"	3:59
8.	"Break You"	3:35
9.	"What I've Become"	3:28
10.	"Ashes of the Wake"	5:45
11.	"Remorse is for the Dead"	5:41
Total length:		47:40

Japanese edition bonus track

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Another Nail for Your Coffin"	4:37

Pure American Metal (First pressing bonus disc)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Bloodletting" (from Burn the Priest)	1:58
2.	"The Subtle Arts of Murder and Persuasion" (from New American Gospel)	4:10
3.	"11th Hour" (from As the Palaces Burn)	3:43
4.	"Black Label" (live, from Terror and Hubris)	4:37
5.	"Laid to Rest" (demo)	3:47

15th anniversary edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Another Nail for Your Coffin"	4:37
13.	"Laid to Rest" (demo)	3:47
14.	"Ashes of the Wake" (demo)	5:32
15.	"Remorse is for the Dead" (demo)	4:20

Personnel

Lamb of God Randy Blythe – vocals Mark Morton – lead guitar Willie Adler – rhythm guitar John Campbell – bass Chris Adler – drums Additional musicians Alex Skolnick (of Testament) – second guitar solo on song "Ashes of the Wake" Chris Poland (formerly of Megadeth) – third guitar solo on song "Ashes of the Wake" Artwork K3n Adams – art direction, design[13] Greg Watermann – photography

Production Machine – producer, engineer, recording, mixing Lamb of God – production John Agnello – engineer Tony Schloff, Todd Parker, Dan Korneff – Pro Tools Ted Young, Al Weatherhead, Casey Martin, Jeremy Miller, and Cam DiNunzio – assisted Pro Tools Mark Wilder – mastering Management Paul Conroy – management for Entertainment Services Unlimited Scott Greer – product manager Kaz Utsunomiya – A&R Tim Borror – booking agent for Face the Music Touring Jeffery R. Cohen – legal for Millen, White Zelano & Branigan

Charts

Chart (2004) Peak position UK Albums (OCC)[14] 126 UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[15] 11 US Billboard 200[16] 27

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[17]	Gold	50,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[18]	Silver	60,000
United States (RIAA)[19]	Gold	500,000
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Wiederhorn, Jon (August 31, 2017). "13 Years Ago: Lamb of God Release 'Ashes of the Wake'". Loudwire. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
2. Vincentelli, Elisabeth (2004-09-17). "Ashes of the Wake Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
3. Rivadavia, Eduardo (June 28, 2016). "Lamb of God Albums Ranked". Loudwire. Retrieved August 25, 2018. Lamb of God dipped their toes into the metalcore craze with 2004’s ‘Ashes of the Wake,’ but only so far as to successfully incorporate the style rather than allowing it to disfigure their already well-developed thrash-groove-death amalgam.
4. Loftus, Johnny. "Ashes of the Wake - Lamb of God". AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
5. "Ashes of the Wake - Lamb of God". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
6. Begrand, Adrian (2004-10-05). "Lamb of God: Ashes of the Wake". PopMatters. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
7. "50 Greatest Guitar Albums". Guitar World. 2009-02-19. Archived from the original on 2012-04-29. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
8. Hammer, Metal Hammer 2018-10-12T22:37:52Z Metal. "The 100 greatest metal albums of the 21st century". Metal Hammer Magazine. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
9. http://www.americanmafia.com/What_Is_The_Mafia.html
10. "Week Ending Aug. 1, 2010: The Downloading Of Eminem - Chart Watch". New.music.yahoo.com. August 4, 2010. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
11. Schafer, Joseph (September 3, 2014). "Lamb of God's Ashes of the Wake Turns 10". Invisible Oranges - The Metal Blog. Archived from the original on February 21, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
12. https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=Ashes+of+the+Wake#search_section
13. "LAMB OF GOD – Ashes of the Wake". www.K3n.comm. 2004-08-31. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
14. Chart Log UK: "DJ Steve L. - LZ Love". UK Albums Chart. Zobbel.de.
15. "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company.
16. "Lamb of God Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
17. "Canadian album certifications – Lamb of God – Ashes of the Wake". Music Canada. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
18. "British album certifications – Lamb of God – Ashes of the Wake". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
19. "American album certifications – Lamb of God – Ashes of the Wake". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.