“It really just follows us along what wound up being a very, very eventful tour cycle for Resolution,” he understates. “It picks up with the idea that the band is going to some pretty exotic places in different parts of the world that not a lot of bands go to, and doing character studies on a series of people and the impact that heavy metal in general has on their lives. The film evolves into a more candid look into some of the things going on with the band.”
As well as featuring selections from the band’s canon, the documentary (titled As The Palaces Burn, taking its name from the band’s 2003 album) will showcase original score compositions from Morton. “There’s certainly some Lamb Of God music in there, because of the fact it shows us on tour. I would say I composed and performed most, not quite all, of the original music for the score. It was different, which is why it was such an exciting project for me. You’re not writing a heavy metal song, you’re really setting the mood for a scene,” Morton states. “A lot of the time I would use a key word or emotion, how I would sum up a scene, and write with that in mind. I didn’t really sit in front of a screen and write to the visual, but I would now what was happening in the scene and write with that in mind. It’s really a different approach than anything I’ve done before, which is why I got so much out of it.”
The film articulates how Lamb Of God’s music, and metal in general, has resonated with fans from all reaches of the globe. “There’s a scene in the film where they’re talking to fans outside and around the show in India. And you see parents with their children, young people in their late teens and early 20s, who have travelled 24 hours, 36 hours on trains to get to this show. I’ve watched it a couple of times and honestly tears well up in my eyes, because it’s just so incredibly overwhelming to think that someone so far away, that I would have never otherwise come into contact with, are such big fans and are so connected,” he divulges. “They’re so passionate that they would go through so much just to see a show. That’s incredible that our music has that kind of effect on people. It’s humbling to think that I’m part of something that has that sort of impact.
“I’m not sure if it is just metal. I’m sure fans of lots of other genres of music – hip hop, bands like Radiohead, anything – they do have that loyalty and connection to the music they listen to. I don’t think it’s something exclusive to our genre. But I do know that metal is very much a lifestyle kind of music. We’ve talked about it before, but people don’t listen to metal and put it away. Metal fans tend to wear it, talk it, walk it, live it and breathe it. For the diehard metal fan, it becomes part of their lifestyle and it bleeds out of everything they do. That part of metal if not unique, but one of the few genres you could say that about.”
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the album As The Palaces Burn. While the band is at the stage of the career where they can contextualise their body of work with such milestones, Morton doesn’t feel the need to dwell on such occurences. “It’s the tenth anniversary of As The Palaces Burn, but a few years ago was the tenth of New Amercian Gospel, and then we’ll have the tenth anniversary of Ashes Of The Wake. But we’re still making records, goddammit. It’s cool to recognise and acknowledge those records, but at the same time, I think our best record is Resolution,” he reasons. “And that just came out, what, a year and a half ago? But I’m still proud of the work that we did ten years ago. But I honestly believe, for better or worse, our most dynamic and well-crafted record is Resolution. So I’m proud that we continue to evolve and just get better as a band. How long can that go on? I dunno. Most of us are in our 40s now. I don’t know what the future holds for us. I don’t mean to sound like it’s over, because it’s certainly not. I don’t know if there’s another 20 years in the band. But I would like to think that a long as we continue to engage this project that we’ll continue to evolve and do different things.”
BY LACHLAN KANONIUK
