Ashes of the Wake

"Laid to Rest" redirects here. For the 2009 horror film, see Laid to Rest (film). For the song by Fight, see War of Words (Fight album).

Ashes of the Wake is the fourth studio album and first major-label release by American heavy metal band Lamb of God, released in 2004 via Epic Records. The album debuted at number 27 on the Billboard 200, selling 35,000 copies in its first week and was rated by Guitar World as the 49th greatest Guitar Album of all Time.^[8] This album also was rated by Metal Hammer as the 5th greatest Metal Album of The 21st Century.^[9] The album was inspired by the events that took place during the war in Iraq with songs such as "Ashes of the Wake" (which includes snippets of former Marine Staff Sergeant Jimmy Massey in an interview after his return from the Iraq War), "Now You've Got Something to Die For", "One Gun" and "The Faded Line".^{[citation needed]} The quote at the beginning of "Omerta" is a paraphrase of the Sicilian Mafia's code of silence.^{[10][better source needed]} As of August 2010, Ashes of the Wake has sold 398,000 copies in the United States.^[11] Ten years after its release, as of 2014, sales have topped 400,000 copies sold and is Lamb of God’s best-selling record.^[12] The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in February 2016.^[13]

Ashes of the Wake
Studio album by Lamb of God
Released	August 31, 2004
Studio	Sound of Music, Richmond, Virginia Water Music Studios, Hoboken, New Jersey
Genre	Thrash metal[1][2] metalcore[2] groove metal[2] death metal[2]
Length	47:42
Label	Epic Prosthetic (EK 90702)
Producer	Machine Lamb of God
Lamb of God chronology
As the Palaces Burn (2003) Ashes of the Wake (2004) Killadelphia (2005)
Singles from Ashes of the Wake
"Laid to Rest" Released: August 17, 2004 "Now You've Got Something to Die For" Released: October 4, 2004

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Blabbermouth.net	7/10[4]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	8/10[5]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[1]
Kerrang!	[6]
PopMatters	favorable[7]

Releases

The first pressing came with a bonus disc titled "Pure American Metal", including songs taken from the band's previous albums (Burn the Priest, New American Gospel and As the Palaces Burn), a live recording of the song "Black Label" from DVD Terror and Hubris, as well as a pre-production demo of the song "Laid to Rest".

The Japanese edition included a bonus song "Another Nail for Your Coffin" which was released worldwide in 2010 in a three-CD box set called Hourglass: The Anthology. The song was later included on the 15th anniversary edition of the album.

A DualDisc version was released in the United States. The DVD side contained the album in LPCM 2.0, and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, as well as various video clips, including the promo videos for "Now You've Got Something to Die For" (intended to promote the Killadelphia release) and "Laid to Rest", a short on the New England Metalfest, a "Meet the Band" and a clip from the Terror and Hubris DVD. A production error in the 5.1 mix of "Break You" causes the vocals to be displaced throughout the track, and pitch shift high and low throughout the song. This error is also in the Dolby Atmos mix on Apple Music.

Reception

The album was generally well received; Blabbermouth.net gave it a 7 rating.^[4] Johnny Loftus of AllMusic gave it a 4 out of 5 star rating. He praised Blythe's vocals, saying they became, "Lamb of God's threshold of pain conduit."^[3]

Track listing

Ashes of the Wake track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Laid to Rest"	3:50
2.	"Hourglass"	4:00
3.	"Now You've Got Something to Die For"	3:39
4.	"The Faded Line"	4:37
5.	"Omerta"	4:45
6.	"Blood of the Scribe"	4:23
7.	"One Gun"	3:59
8.	"Break You"	3:35
9.	"What I've Become"	3:28
10.	"Ashes of the Wake"	5:45
11.	"Remorse Is for the Dead"	5:41
Total length:		47:42

All tracks are written by Randy Blythe, Willie Adler, Chris Adler, Mark Morton and John Campbell.

Japanese edition bonus track

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Another Nail for Your Coffin"	4:37

Pure American Metal (First pressing bonus disc)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Bloodletting" (from Burn the Priest)	1:58
2.	"The Subtle Arts of Murder and Persuasion" (from New American Gospel)	4:10
3.	"11th Hour" (from As the Palaces Burn)	3:43
4.	"Black Label" (live, from Terror and Hubris)	4:37
5.	"Laid to Rest" (demo)	3:47

15th anniversary edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Another Nail for Your Coffin"	4:37
13.	"Laid to Rest" (demo)	3:47
14.	"Ashes of the Wake" (demo)	5:32
15.	"Remorse Is for the Dead" (demo)	4:20

20th anniversary edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Laid to Rest" (demo)	3:47
13.	"Ashes of the Wake" (demo)	5:32
14.	"Remorse is for the Dead" (demo)	4:20
15.	"Another Nail for Your Coffin" (featuring Kublai Khan TX & Malevolence)	4:00
16.	"Laid to Rest" (HEALTH Remix)	N/A
17.	"Omerta" (Justin K Broadrick Remix)	N/A
18.	"Remorse is for the Dead" (Live in Richmond, VA)	N/A
19.	"Now You've Got Something to Die For" (Live from '07)	N/A

Personnel

Lamb of God Randy Blythe – vocals Mark Morton – lead guitar Willie Adler – rhythm guitar John Campbell – bass Chris Adler – drums Additional musicians Alex Skolnick – second guitar solo on song "Ashes of the Wake" Chris Poland – third guitar solo on song "Ashes of the Wake" Artwork Ken Adams – art direction, design[14] Greg Watermann – photography

Production Machine – production, engineering, recording, mixing Lamb of God – production John Agnello – engineering Tony Schloff, Todd Parker, Dan Korneff – Pro Tools Ted Young, Al Weatherhead, Casey Martin, Jeremy Miller, and Cam DiNunzio – assisted Pro Tools Mark Wilder – mastering Management Paul Conroy – management for Entertainment Services Unlimited Scott Greer – product management Kaz Utsunomiya – A&R Tim Borror – booking agent for Face the Music Touring Jeffery R. Cohen – legal for Millen, White Zelano & Branigan

Charts

Chart (2004) Peak position UK Albums (OCC)[15] 126 UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[16] 11 US Billboard 200[17] 27

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[18]	Gold	50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[19]	Silver	60,000‡
United States (RIAA)[20]	Gold	500,000‡
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

• List of anti-war songs