Randy Blythe Explained
David Randall Blythe (born February 21, 1971) is an American vocalist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of heavy metal band Lamb of God and Burn The Priest. He has also performed guest vocals for Cannabis Corpse, A Life Once Lost, Overkill, Gojira, Pitch Black Forecast, Eyehategod, Eluveitie, Bad Brains, Soulfly, Clutch, Body Count, DevilDriver, Suicide Silence, Doyle, Metal Allegiance, and Voodoo Glow Skulls, and is the lead singer of side-project band Halo of Locusts.
Professional career
Blythe joined Lamb of God in 1995, when they were still known as Burn the Priest.[2] Before the band was successful, Blythe had previously worked as a cook and a roofer.[3] He also has a side project band known as Halo of Locusts, who were founded around 2004. A full-length release was planned, but has yet to be released. They contributed to For the Sick, the tribute album for Eyehategod, covering "Dixie Whiskey".[4] In 2005, Blythe worked with the metalcore outfit A Life Once Lost on their album Hunter. He provided additional vocals on the track "Vulture" as well as helped in the vocal processing of the track. He later worked with them again in 2007 on "Iron Gag." He also appeared on the song "Skull and Bones" by the band Overkill and "Adoration for None" on Gojira's album The Way of All Flesh. He was also featured on Shadows Fall song, King of Nothing, on their 2009 release, Retribution. Blythe was featured in many of his peers' DVDs, such as Killswitch Engage's (Set This) World Ablaze and Machine Head's Elegies. Blythe was also featured in , Working Class Rock Star, Melissa Cross's The Zen of Screaming, and Suicide Silence's (2014).
He appears as Luke in the movie The Graves (2009), written and directed by Brian Pulido.[5]
On January 5, 2012, Blythe announced that he would be running for President of the United States via a blog entry entitled "I want to be The Big Cheese".[6] His official campaign slogan was "Fuck the dumb shit. Let's get real here." Blythe did not appear on the ballot in any of the fifty states or the District of Columbia.[7] [8]
On November 20, 2014, was announced that Blythe is to star in an action movie being made by Taiwanese metal band Chthonic.[9] On July 14, 2015, Blythe's first book, Dark Days: A Memoir was released by Da Capo Press. During its first week of sales, it made the Publishers Weekly non-fiction National Best Sellers list.
In February 2016, he joined Deafheaven on stage at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles with their song "Dream House". Seven months later, in September 2016, he was recruited by Eyehategod as a replacement for lead singer Mike Williams during their US tour.[10] [11]
In July 2018 he collaborated with DevilDriver on the covers of "Ghost Riders in the Sky" by Johnny Cash and "Whiskey River" by Willie Nelson from Devil Driver's country covers album.[12] In October, his voice appeared in the Soulfly song "Dead Behind the Eyes" from Ritual. On April 4, 2019, Blythe made a music video for the Black Queen song "The End Where We Start".[13]
In November 2019, Blythe was a member of the supergroup, Pigface, during the group's first tour in fourteen years. Initially, Blythe had agreed to perform with the group for the first five dates of the twelve-date tour but due to his enjoyment of it, he agreed to stay on for the remaining seven dates.[14]
In April 2020, Blythe and Scottish brewery BrewDog announced a collaboration that yielded a non-alcoholic beer named "Ghost Walker". The name is taken from the Lamb of God song "Ghost Walking" which is on their 2012 album Resolution. Blythe wrote the lyrics to the song whilst beginning his journey to live an alcohol-free lifestyle.[15]
Manslaughter charges and acquittal
See main article: Randy Blythe manslaughter case. At the end of June 2012, Blythe was arrested, charged and remanded in custody by the Czech authorities in connection with an incident that had happened during Lamb of God's previous concert in Prague two years earlier. According to the prosecution, Blythe shoved Daniel Nosek, a 19-year-old fan, off stage, thus inflicting fatal wounds on him. After being released on bail, which was contested by the State Attorney, Blythe denied responsibility for Nosek's death and pledged to return to attend the trial, which began on February 4, 2013.[16]
According to a verdict delivered by the Municipal Court in Prague on March 5, 2013, it was proven that Blythe had shoved Nosek off the stage and Blythe thus has the moral responsibility for his death. Due to the circumstances, however, Blythe was held not criminally liable with most of the blame lying with the promoters and the security members.[17] The State Attorney appealed the verdict,[18] but the acquittal was upheld by the Prague High Court on June 5, 2013.[19]
Discography
thumb|Blythe at Wacken Open Air 2013
See also: Lamb of God discography.
With Lamb of God
Demos (as Burn the Priest)
- Demo Tape (1995, independently released)
- Split with ZED (1997, Goatboy Records)
- Split with Agents of Satan (1998, Deaf American Recordings)
- Sevens and More (1998, mp3.com)
Studio albums
- Burn the Priest (1999, Legion Records)
- New American Gospel (2000, Prosthetic Records)
- As the Palaces Burn (2003, Prosthetic Records)
- Ashes of the Wake (2004, Sony / BMG Music)
- Sacrament (2006, Sony / BMG Music)
- Wrath (2009, Sony / Roadrunner)
- Resolution (2012, Epic / Roadrunner)
- (2015, Epic / Nuclear Blast)
- (2018, Epic / Nuclear Blast)
- Lamb of God (2020, Epic / Nuclear Blast)
- Omens (2022, Epic / Nuclear Blast)
Guest appearances
- The Mercury Lift (2003) by Haste − guest vocals on "God Reclaims His Throne"
- Without Any Remorse (2004) by Bloodshoteye − guest vocals on "F.U.B.A.R"
- Hunter (2005) by A Life Once Lost − guest vocals on "Vulture"
- Immortalis (2007) by Overkill − guest vocals on "Skulls and Bones"
- Iron Gag (2007) by A Life Once Lost − guest vocals on "Pigeonholed"
- Absentee (2008) by Pitch Black Forecast − guest vocals on "So Low"
- Lesser Traveled Waters (2008) by Gollum − guest vocals on "Cross-Pollenation"
- The Way of All Flesh (2008) by Gojira − guest vocals on "Adoration for None"[20]
- Icons of the Illogical (2009) by The Kris Norris Projekt – lead vocals
- Retribution (2009) by Shadows Fall − guest vocals on "King of Nothing"
- Jasta (2011) by Jasta – guest vocals on "Enslaved, Dead or Depraved"[21]
- Tour dates with Chthonic in Taiwan as guest vocals[22]
- Cannabis Corpse (2012) – guest vocals on the 'Cory Smoot Memorial' show
- Suicide Silence (2012) – "You Only Live Once" (vocals) at the Ending is the Beginning: Mitch Lucker Memorial Show
- Teenage Time Killers (2015) – guest vocals on "Hung Out to Dry"
- Metal Allegiance (2015) – guest vocals on "Gift of pain"
- Aquatic Occult (2016) by Sourvein – guest vocals on "Ocypuss"
- Westfield Massacre (2016) – guest vocals on "Underneath the Skin"
- Deafheaven (2016) – guest vocals (live) on "Dream House" at Hollywood, California
- Ironshore (2016) by Oni – guest vocals on "The Only Cure"
- Bloodlust (2017) by Body Count – guest vocals on "Walk with Me…"
- Doyle II: As We Die (2017) by Doyle – guest vocals on "Virgin Sacrifice"
- Souls of the Revolution (2017) by ChthoniC – guest vocals
- (2018) by DevilDriver – guest vocals on "Whiskey River"
- Ritual (2018) by Soulfly – guest vocals on "Dead Behind the Eyes"[23]
- Anesthetic (2019) by Mark Morton – guest vocals on "Truth Is Dead" (with Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy)
- Ategnatos (2019) by Eluveitie – guest vocals/narration on "Worship"
- The Weathermaker Vault Series, Volume 1 (2020) by Clutch – guest vocals on "Passive Restraints"
- Veritas (2024) by P.O.D. – guest vocals on "Drop"[24]
- Lacuna Coil (2024) – guest vocals on "Hosting the Shadow"
Notes and References
- Book: Blythe . D Randall . Dark Days: A Memoir . July 12, 2016 . Da Capo Press . Philadelphia, PA . 978-0306825095 . 29.
- Web site: The Burn the Priest Story. February 20, 2013.
- Web site: Randy Blythe: 'For 10 of the 20 Years I Was in Lamb of God, I Was a Roofer and Restaurant Worker at the Same Time'. Ultimate-Guitar.Com. March 12, 2019.
- Web site: [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r932715|pure_url=yes}} Various artists – ''For the Sick: A Tribute to Eyehategod'']. Allmusic. September 1, 2008.
- Web site: The Graves (2008). IMDb. September 1, 2008.
- Web site: I want to be The Big Cheese.. Randonesia.tumblr.com.
- McKenna, Dave (January 29, 2012) "Lamb of God gives local blast before global tour", "Blythe – who announced recently via YouTube that he was bidding to become president in 2012...." The Washington Post, Retrieved February 8, 2013.
- Dörting, Torsten & Wigger, Jan (February 9, 2012) "The most important metal albums of the month: 4th Part: Lamb Of God – healing for hip-hop artists", "Statement: If you have even traced in part in the race for the Republican presidential nomination in the U.S., suspects that it is finally time to infiltrate the political system of the United States. This man is ready: LOG singer Blythe has recently announced his candidacy.", Spiegel Online; retrieved February 8, 2013.
- Web site: Randy Blythe to star in Chthonic action movie - Metal Hammer . November 24, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235048/http://metalhammer.teamrock.com/news/2014-11-20/randy-blythe-to-star-in-chthonic-action-movie . March 3, 2016 . dead .
- Web site: Eyehategod Recruit Randy Blythe in Place of Mike IX Williams. Loudwire.com. September 22, 2016 .
- Web site: Watch LAMB OF GOD's RANDY BLYTHE Front EYEHATEGOD In Portland. October 9, 2016. Blabbermouth.net.
- Web site: Here's Randall Blythe Doing Vocals For DEVILDRIVER's Version Of A JOHNNY CASH Song - Metal Injection. May 25, 2017. November 30, 2017.
- Web site: June 24, 2020 . April 4, 2019. The Black Queen - The End Where We Start(Randy Blythe DC Montage). https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/jELls7vciKc . 2021-12-13 . live. The Black Queen (official channel). YouTube.
- Web site: Lamb of God's Randy Blythe to continue as vocalist for industrial supergroup Pigface for entire fall tour. November 19, 2019. December 11, 2019.
- Web site: Lamb Of God release 'Ghost Walker' non-alcoholic beer . April 14, 2020. LambGoat . April 15, 2020.
- Kenety, Brian (March 5, 2013) "Lamb of God's Randy Blythe acquitted of manslaughter" CNN, Retrieved March 7, 2013.
- Web site: Soud metalového zpěváka Blytha osvobodil, je nevinen . Josef Koukal . March 5, 2013. novinky.cz. cs. The court has acquitted Blythe the metal singer, he is innocent. April 7, 2013.
- Web site: Kauza usmrceného fanouška – zpěvák Blythe zproštěn obžaloby . March 5, 2013. ceskatelevize.cz. cs. The case of the killed fan – singer Blythe cleared of charges. April 7, 2013.
- News: June 5, 2013 . Czech appeals court clears Randy Blythe in fan's death . Richmond Times-Dispatch . dead . June 15, 2013 . https://archive.today/20130616021637/http://www.timesdispatch.com/entertainment-life/music-movies-tv/music/article_7b1ce6ce-cdd3-11e2-ba80-0019bb30f31a.html . June 16, 2013.
- Web site: Lamb of God frontman to guest on new Gojira album. blabbermouth.net. September 1, 2008.
- Web site: SHADOWS FALL: New Song Featuring RANDY BLYTHE (GOD in the flesh) Posted Online. blabbermouth.net. July 25, 2009.
- Web site: Metalship . February 22, 2012 . Interview with John Campbell (Lamb of God bassist) . En.metalship.org. February 28, 2012.
- Web site: Kaufman . Spencer . Soulfly premiere new song "Dead Behind the Eyes" featuring Lamb of God's Randy Blythe . . September 14, 2018 . September 15, 2018.
- Web site: P.O.D. Releases 'Drop' Music Video Featuring LAMB OF GOD's RANDY BLYTHE . . September 21, 2023 . 25 September 2023.