
I love it when bands decide to celebrate anniversaries on tours. Whether celebrating their time together or the anniversary of an album, those bands always make it memorable for the fans. But, it is rare when you have more than one band celebrate anniversaries on a tour together. This was the case with The Ashes of Leviathan Tour where two bands celebrated the 20th anniversary of albums. Lamb of God‘s Ashes of the Wake and Mastodon‘s Leviathan turn 20 years old on August 31st. So the bands decided to tour together to celebrate. Along with them was Slayer guitarist, Kerry King, with his solo band.
I requested to cover the tour at Daily’s Place Amphitheater in Jacksonville, FL because it is an amazing venue with fantastic lighting and sound. Though it’s a 2 hour drive, it is worth seeing bands perform there. Unfortunately, it ended up being a 3 hour plus drive due to a major accident on the highway and I missed opener Malevolence. I heard they put on a great show.
Next on the lineup was Kerry King. After Slayer retired from touring, guitarist Kerry King decided to do his first solo project. He gathered Mark Osegueda (vocalist) from Death Angel, Phil Demmell (guitarist) from Machinehead and, Vio-lence, Kyle Sanders (bass) from Hellyeah, and fellow Slayer performer Paul Bostaph (drums). Together, the band release Kerry’s debut solo album titled From Hell I Rise on May 24th via Reigning Phoenix Music. And that night, the Jacksonville crowd got a taste of Kerry King’s music.
Kerry King had a great setup on stage with a beautiful backdrop and lights shaped like the Kerry King logo. When Kerry King led the band on stage, the crowd went absolutely wild. The crowd knew what to expect from Kerry King’s band and they were not disappointed. Their entire set was hard-hitting, throw-down in your-face, metal from start to finish. “Where I Reign”, my favorite song off the debut album, kicked us off that night. They sprinkled in some other great singles including “Toxic” and “Idle Hands”. Of course, they had to throw in some classic Slayer songs with all-time favorite “Raining Blood” and “Black Magic”. And Kerry’s band did a great job with both songs.
As a supergroup, Kerry King’s band performs as if they’ve been together for years. Paul rocks the drums as always as he was still performing with Slayer. Kyle lays down bass the way it’s meant to be played for metal, quick and loud. Mark is an amazing vocalist and he delivers every lyric with such passion and power. And then we have the guitarists Phil and Kerry. Phil was off the chain that night with awesome riffs and his expressions as he played. Of course, Kerry played fabulously banging his head and ripping through the notes as fast as possible. Check out their music and merch over at https://kerrykingofficial.com.
Next up was Mastodon the metal band from Atlanta, GA. The band formed in 2000 and released their debut album Remission in 2002. They followed that with their concept album Leviathan (based on Moby Dick) in 2004. They released 6 more studio albums. Their most recent album was Hushed and Grim in 2021. The band members are Troy Sanders (vocals, bass), Brent Hinds (lead guitar, vocals), Bill Kelliher (rhythm guitar), Brann Dailor (drums), and touring keyboardist Joao Nogueria.
The crowd gave the band a huge cheer when they stepped onto the stage and wasted no time performing their album Leviathan. The album itself received fantastic reviews for taking on a classic novel in a musical format. With singles “Blood and Thunder”, “Iron Tusk”, and “Seabeast” the fans roared in approval. For 45 minutes they told this classic tale in their own words, while the Jacksonville crowd moshed and headbanged along. It was an incredible sight to see. After finishing the album, Mastodon also threw in 3 more songs of “More Than I Can Chew” from Hushed and Grim, “Circle of Cysquatch” from Blood Mountain, and “Steambreather” from Emperor of Sand. It was an amazing stage show especially with so much pyro going off during their set. They know how to make a crowd get out of their seats.
Mastodon is one of those rare bands whose lineup has primarily remained the same since their start. And they are all very talented musicians. Brann is a master on the drums with some really fast notes he goes through during songs and stays so focused on his playing. Though I nearly laughed when I first started photographing as Brann has this adorable dog on the front of his drumkit. Joao seemed lost in the music as he flowed his way through the songs. Bill was stoic through every song and very focused on his performance. Brent looked so intense whether he was playing or singing. And Troy always plays and sings like a man possessed. You can tell how much he loves performing for fans. Mastodon rocked their set, as they always do. You can find their music and merch over at https://mastodonrocks.com.
And then closing out the night was Lamb of God. The metal band from Richmond, VA formed in 1994 under the name Burn the Priest and released one self-titled studio album in 1999. In 2000, they changed their name to Lamb of God and released their first album New American Gospel in 2000. They would go on to release 8 more studio albums with their most recent being Omens in 2022. The band did go back and release 1 additional studio album under the name Burn the Priest in 2018 titled Legion: XX. Lamb of God consists of Randy Blythe (vocals), Mark Morton (lead guitar), Willie Adler (rhythm guitar), John Campbell (bass), and Art Cruz (drums).
If you ever want to see dedicated metal fans, go attend a Lamb of God show. Jacksonville packed Daily’s Place Amphitheater on a Tuesday night to see these bands and they went nuts for Lamb of God. The band did not disappoint their fans and provided their anniversary performance of their 2004 album Ashes of the Wake. Every song from Lamb of God wants to smack you in the face and shake you to ensure you’re alive and rocking out. And on this album, every song will bring you to the point where you want to throw down in a circle pit. I had a perfect view of the circle pit that night and if Lamb of God was performing, that circle pit was running hard. Songs “Ashes of the Wake”, “Now You’ve Got Something to Die For”, and “Omerta” just kept the crowd amped up and running. After finishing the album they wrapped up with “Walk With Me in Hell” and the ever-popular “Redneck” both from Sacrament released in 2006.
This was an amazing performance from Lamb of God. Art killed it on the drums with those thunderous, rapid beats to these songs. John is always heavy on the bass as he swings his body around, with his long hair whipping back and forth. I love his bass playing and that he rocks out on stage as he does. Willie always seems so calm on stage and smiles at the crowd like he’s hiding a secret. He plays so smoothly too for such heavy music. Mark is the mischievous one from the way he smiles on stage and just lets loose and rips out these songs. And Randy, even without the dreadlocks and jumps, he is a powerful vocalist. He belts out these songs that he’s done for years without hesitation and never misses a note. He is a top notch metal frontman and he’s very animated on stage. Check out their music and merch at https://lamb-of-god.com.
Overall, it was an amazing night of metal music over in Jacksonville, FL and absolutely worth the trip. I would never miss a show with a lineup like this and you shouldn’t either. Go check out the Ashes of Leviathan tour while you can and be prepared to headbang and throw up horns all night long.
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