Randy Blythe of Lamb Of God was found non guilty on manslaughter charges, but the trial ended up bankrupting the band. Read below:
Adler said he and the band were relieved, even ecstatic, that Blythe was freed of the charges. But the incident pushed Lamb of God to a turning point.
“Not only were we not able to generate any income, but we ended up having to pay more than half a million dollars in legal fees,” said Adler, calling from a tour stop in Madison, Wis. “It bankrupted the entire band, no money left for any kind of payroll or anything. When Randy was acquitted, everything was on the line at that point. Either it was completely over, or we had a chance to get back out there and pay these bills and get ourselves back on our feet.”
Some say Lamb of God had no real future without Blythe anyway.
“They started as an instrumental group, but it took Randy to give them focus and bring them a visual frontman who was capable of captivating an audience while this aggressive, multi-faceted music was hitting them like an assault to the chest,” said Jon Wiederhorn, co-author of “Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal,” which includes a chapter on Lamb of God. “Even at their most non-melodic, Randy is capable of keeping it in a wholly compelling range so that it never resorts to sheer dissonance.”
During the hiatus from touring, the main way Lamb of God makes its money, Adler said he explored other options, namely as a session drummer. For two months he was holed up in Canada playing drums on an album by the metal band Protest the Hero.
