Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe: ‘The Metal Scene Is Alive and Healthy’

“We ain't pretty, but we are definitely HERE, & I'm not bald or fat,” that’s how Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe ended a new Instagram post in which he disagrees with comments made by Mayhem Festival founder Kevin Lyman about the metal scene. During a recent interview, Lyman argued that he and his fellow Mayhem organizers were having trouble booking the fest and selling tickets because the metal genre was becoming “gray, bald and fat.”

Since then, Slayer’s Kerry King has publicly disagreed with Lyman and defended metal music and their fans, blaming the poor Mayhem ticket sales on bad booking choices. Mind you, Slayer is on the bill for the 2015 Mayhem tour with King Diamond, Hellyeah and The Devil Wears Prada.

Lyman has since apologized for his remarks, but that didn’t stop Lamb of God’s Blythe from saying his piece. In the Instagram post, he talks about how the band is vying for the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart right now with their new album VII: Sturm und Drang, and how he is seeing a lot of young male and female fans out in the crowd during their summer tour with Slipknot. He stresses that from his viewpoint, "the metal scene is alive and healthy."

Y'all know I don't talk about my band much here- it's not my thing, this account is for my photography & other creative endeavors- but I must take a moment to speak about something that irked me recently, as I felt it was a bit insulting to our fans & the metal scene that supports my band (especially the females). "What happened was metal chased girls away because what happened was metal aged. Metal got gray, bald and fat."- this generalization was recently made by Mayhem Fest cofounder Kevin Lyman about OUR METAL SCENE- I call BULLSH-T. I wanted to wait until we were on tour to address this, soooooooo.... looking at the HUGE crowds we have played to on this 4 band bill so far (all singing along to our METAL songs & with PLENTY OF GIRLS in attendance), I gotta laugh- I ain't the youngest dude in the world, but from my vantage point, the METAL SCENE appears to be doing just fine. I, a dude from the punk scene of the 80's (AHEM... punk rock existed long before Warped tour, btw- I know, because I WAS THERE) who somehow became the singer of a METAL BAND, just became a nationally best selling author- I've met PLENTY of younger fans who have bought my book, & many were FEMALE. Lamb of god, a METAL BAND, has a new album out- at this very second, we are in a VERY TIGHT race with Jill Scott (an awesome R&B singer I am a fan of who has a HUGE audience) for the VERY TOP slot of the Billboard charts, & if enough folks buy the album before Thursday, we will have our first #1 record- Jill Scott has a much larger fan base than us, but metal fans actually BUY RECORDS- even if we get a #2 or #3 (AGAIN, by the way- not our first top 10 debut), it will still be HUGE. There's TONS of YOUNGER METAL BANDS too- the metal scene is ALIVE & HEALTHY, & it will continue to GROW & the younger bands WILL become headliners, if the fans support it- so far, that DOESN'T seem to be a problem. So sorry, metal isn't watered down pop BULLSH-T for the teeny bopper masses, but it is HEALTHY. So thanks for coming out, buying our records, & singing along, y'all! Thanks for forming new bands & keeping it alive! We appreciate & love you! We ain't pretty, but we are definitely HERE, & I'm not bald or fat.

Lamb of God's new album, VII: Sturm und Drang was released this past Friday (July 24). You can pick up the disc at the band's merch store, iTunes or Amazon. The band is currently on tour with Slipknot and they play in Clarkston, Mich., tonight (July 28). They have dates lined up with Slipknot through the beginning of September, before heading to South America for a few shows and then heading out on a U.K. and Ireland tour with Megadeth later in the fall.

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