Although the American heavy metal group Lamb of God isn’t touring, they are promoting As the Palaces Burn – a feature-length documentary about the band. Director Don Argott originally set out just to follow the band and their fans (The Congregation) on the road –Venezuela, India, Israel, the US – but while on the road, Lamb of God lead singer Randy Blythe was arrested on charges of manslaughter. He was blamed for the death of 19-year-old fan Daniel Nosek, whom Blythe threw offstage during a concert in the Czech Republic. Nosek sustained head injuries which lead to a coma and his subsequent death. Argott got permission to film the 2013 trial in Prague. The verdict: Blythe was not held criminally liable. On January 27, 2014, Blythe posted a statement saying he’s going to take a long break from the band: “I will not be thinking about lamb of god, touring, playing heavy metal, writing new lamb of god materials – for a good long while.”
Two months after that announcement, while promoting the documentary with Argott, Blythe went on camera to take the “Entertainment Weekly Personality Test.” Blythe, known to sing lyrics like “The fiends have gagged a generation of pacified fools / Bound by our greed a nation enslaved as corporate tools” happily answers questions including what was your first concert (ZZ Top, 1983), and which movie made you cry (Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness). Now three years sober, Blythe is writing a book Dark Days, due February 2015 by Da Capo Press. He’ll have plenty of material.
