For better or worse, if metal really is going to conquer the mainstream all over again, the impetus will surely have to come from across the Atlantic. The signs are pretty good so far, as a steady succession of good (and occasionally great) bands deliver the goods, keeping hopes alive and pointing towards one possible bright future for the genre as a whole. What American metal now needs to produce, however, are a few albums that will go down in history as bona fide milestones, just the way Metallica’s Master Of Puppets and Slayer’s Reign In Blood did in the ’80s and Pantera’s A Vulgar Display Of Power and Machine Head’s Burn My Eyes did a decade or so ago. Only one band from the modern era is brave, smart and distinct enough to fit the bill, and that’s Lamb Of...
