Lamb of God and Mastodon, Ashes of Leviathan, Friday July 20th, 2024 with Kerry King, and Malevolence live at the Texas Trust CU Theatre at Grand Prairie, Texas

by Matt Stubbs of the Jerry Jonestown Massacre Podcast

Photos by Dustin Schneider

Tonight, in Grand Prairie I got a good fix of metal. This was a prime metal show that will be ringing in my ears for the foreseeable future. This isn’t a bad thing though. This is the first show I’ve seen at the right decibels at that venue, now called Texas Trust CU Theatre at Grand Prairie. This tour was made for headbangers and heshers like me. It was the celebration of two of my favorite American metal bands and their landmark albums, Lamb of God’s “Ashes of the Wake” and Mastodon’s “Leviathan” as both albums celebrate their 20th anniversary. So, yay for fans like me.

The night started early with the metalcore band Malevolence. This was a cool blend of screaming and soulful melodies from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK. They started their metal craft back in 2010and the dudes are serious spin kickers. They also blaze some cool bluesy metal riffs, reminiscent of headliners Lamb of God. A nice metal Scooby snack before I began my main metal meal.

Next up Kerry King and his all-star squad did exactly what I thought Mr. King’s new band would do. And that was shredding the entire building to pieces. Wow, what a fun group of guys to watch play a live set. It’s cool because I hear a lot of King’s previous place of employment influencing Lamb of God. For those unaware, Kerry King was the guitarist for a little Southern California band called Slayer. See how all this works, yet?

Now, for the birthday boys to play what is my absolute favorite Mastodon album. Well, I go back and forth between Leviathan and Blood Mountain. Hmmm, the inner struggle is real. Leviathan is 20 years old. I’ve grown up with this iconic metal album and it’s been a huge influence on me and my circle of friends. I’ve seen the dudes in Mastodon play a few Leviathan songs throughout the years on various tours, but I have never seen the record played front to back and it was freaking amazing too. I can’t tell you all the different times in my life that I went through phases listening to this album. This band and album mean a lot to me, so thank you Mastodon, it was a special show for us fans.

The other birthday band, Lamb of God, played Ashes of the Wake front to back. This album is just as big in my world as Leviathan. I have listened to this album in so many tense situations, whether working out, processing a decision, going hard at work, or snowboarding in Purgatory. Lamb of God has always reminded me of ‘Tera, probably because of the bluesy riffs and solos. If someone asked me to define what is American Metal, I’d point them to Ashes of the Wake. Vocalist Randy Blythe is a madman, pacing the stage like a caged animal looking for a way out. Both of these bands’ dueling guitar work is crazy good. And it was so fun watching Mark Morton and Willie Adler dance around the fretboard with each other.

Lamb of God and Mastodon are metal royalty. And it was a privilege to see both of them together celebrating a triumphant Anniversary, and a great way to kick off the Ashes of Leviathan Tour. A great night in North Texas for music. This metal beast is only going to get more and more brutal for its 7-week run. Make sure to grab tickets if this tour is headed to your town!

Takeaways: Mastodon has every guitar I’d ever buy if I had “Mark Cuban” money. The bass and drums would be nice for my collection as well. I’ll take the organ too. Can these guys just come and play all my parties?

Ashes Of The Wake is being reissued on August 30 to celebrate its 20th anniversary with a bunch of additional tracks including Another Nail For Your Coffin, featuring North Texas badasses Kublai Khan TX and Malevolence, plus a remix of Laid To Rest by industrial noise-pop group Health.

Dates:

Jul 19: Grand Prairie, TX – Texas Trust CU Theatre

Jul 20: Austin, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater

Jul 21: Houston, TX – 713 Music Hall

Jul 23: Jacksonville, FL – Daily’s Place

Jul 24: Orlando, FL – Orlando Amphitheater

Jul 25: Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre

Jul 27: Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater

Jul 28: Richmond, VA – Virginia Credit Union LIVE!

Jul 30: Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE

Jul 31: London, ON – Budweiser Gardens

Aug 1: Montreal, QC – Bell Centre