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The “pure American metal” quintet surprised the hell out of everybody when they got signed on by upper-echelon label Epic Records about six years ago. One of the most successful and revolutionary heavy metal bands to have stomped onto the music scene, Lamb of God should probably be tooting their own horn and throwing smirks at the mainstream music scene, but they’re not. Bassist John Campbell speaks to us about keeping it real.

What does “pure American metal” sound like? 
It sounds just like it is—a cool tagline.

Sixteen years is a long time. How do you guys keep it together, and more importantly, how did things get so big? 
We’ve been really lucky, for one. We’ve been successful without having to compromise. We never really expected any success; it’s just been a really smooth ride, and it keeps getting better. The main reason why we’re still together and still good at what we do is definitely because we absolutely love what we’re doing.

We’ve heard that you guys can get quite “extreme”. Exactly how extreme are you? 
We’re pretty normal people, really. Except, maybe we have some extreme drinking habits. It’s more our music and our performances that are extreme. When we’re out there performing, we give a lot.

Describe your best gig. 
Without a doubt, touring with Metallica at Madison Square Garden was the best experience ever. But in 1998, we did this gig in Ohio at a place called Skatopia, which is a kind of a skate park. We played on a piece of scaffolding that was like, three storys up in the air, and below us was an empty pool and kids were skating. There were about eight people present and we didn’t get paid. But it was awesome.

What is the most trying thing about touring? 
When we’re on the road, sleeping on top of one another and going through day after day away from our wives and children, it can get pretty tough. When our families are in trouble, we’re on the other side of the planet and there’s nothing we can do to help.

What’s the recipe for a good, thrashy song? 
Add blistering fast riffs, keep it simple and interesting and sing about important things. An example of a good song is “Contractor.” It’s super crazy and super fast.

What would you advise bands that want to make it as big as you?
Seriously, if you want to be a good band, you’ve got to practice. And make sure you’re doing what you love. If all you want is success, you might not ever get it.

Say, Lamb of God was a piece of metal. What metal would you be? 
We’d be steel, buried deep in the earth at Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is a steel mine so we’d be the root of all metal.—Hidayah Salamat I-S Magazine