Lamb of God and Mastodon Lay Austin to Rest: Review and Photos

There are two types of album-anniversary tours: those that re-energize a band still at the peak of its powers, and those that make you wish a diminished artist had made this decision 10 years earlier.

Lamb of God and Mastodon‘s Ashes of Leviathan tour is unquestionably the former.

The co-headlining trek — which commemorates the 20th anniversaries of Lamb of God’s Ashes of the Wake and Mastodon’s Leviathan — launched on Friday and stopped at Austin’s Germania Insurance Amphitheater the following night, rocking roughly 7,000 fans to their core with ferocious sets highlighting arguably the best albums in their respective discographies.

You can see Loudwire’s exclusive photos and the set lists from the show below.

Lamb of God and Mastodon Both Sound Reinvigorated on Ashes of Leviathan Tour

It’s not like Lamb of God or Mastodon are slouches; both bands remain formidable live acts and have issued a steady stream of solid albums in recent years. But as they’ve ascended from clubs and theaters to amphitheaters and arenas, they’ve amassed a trove of set list staples that some day-one fans have inevitably grown tired of hearing.

The Ashes of Leviathan tour corrects that issue — but still, it’s never a guarantee just how an artist will commit to a full-album play. Some forward-looking bands understandably don’t want to dwell on an album that’s several decades old, so they’ll play the hits with the same fervor as always while phoning in the rest. Not so with Mastodon and Lamb of God, both of whom relished the opportunity to play some of their heavier, more obscure and challenging deep cuts.

READ MORE: Brann Dailor Opens Up About the Longevity of Mastodon’s Band Members

It helps that both records are front-loaded with career-defining bangers. Mastodon came out swinging with “Blood and Thunder,” setting the tone with earth-shaking riffs and pulverizing drumming. The titanic grooves of “Seabeast” and “Iron Tusk” galvanized the band, as Troy Sanders stalked across the stage and Bill Kelliher punctuated his riffs with well-timed high kicks. The sinewy, dueling guitars and labyrinthine compositions of “Naked Burn” and “Aqua Dementia” were accentuated by dazzling, elemental visuals, and the 14-minute penultimate Leviathan track “Hearts Alive” took the scorched audience on a heady journey before Mastodon encored with a trio of non-album songs.

It would be a tough act to follow for most bands — but Lamb of God have never been most bands. The spirited applause for Mastodon morphed into full-blown hysteria as the Virginia metal veterans began their set with “Laid to Rest.” Randy Blythe wielded his bloodcurdling screams like a hammer and stayed in perpetual motion, leaping off stage risers and dousing himself in bottled water as flames roared behind him. Mark Morton’s incendiary guitar solos dazzled on the title track, and drummer Art Cruz nailed the breakdowns of “One Gun” and “Break You” with metronomic precision. These deep cuts blended seamlessly with set list staples “Now You’ve Got Something to Die For” and “Omerta,” making a convincing case for Ashes of the Wake being the definitive all-killer-no-filler metal album of the 21st century.

READ MORE: Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe Discusses New Book + Anniversaries

Get There Early for the Openers

It feels wrong to bill Kerry King as an opener (and morally reprehensible for him to take the stage in blinding sunlight), but the Slayer guitarist nevertheless rewarded fans who showed up early with a furious 35-minute set largely culled from his debut solo album, From Hell I Rise. King played with the same unrepentant fury that made him one of thrash metal’s most important figures, backed by an all-star touring band featuring Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph, Death Angel singer Mark Osegueda, Hellyeah bassist Kyle Sanders and Violence and ex-Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel. Osegueda marshaled the crowd to mosh with his obliterative bellow, and a blistering cover of Slayer’s “Raining Blood” earned the first legitimate circle pit of the evening.

British metalcore heavy hitters Malevolence round out the tour — anybody doubting their live prowess need only watch their exhilarating pro-shot Hate5six set from last year. In all, Lamb of God and Mastodon have devised a monstrous, front-to-back crowd-pleaser of a tour. With Sacrament and Blood Mountain both turning 20 in 2026, is it too early to start hoping for a Blood Sacrament trek?

Lamb of God, 7/20/24, Circuit of the Americas, Austin Set List
1. “Laid to Rest”
2. “Hourglass”
3. “Now You’ve Got Something to Die For”
4. “The Faded Line”
5. “Omerta”
6. “Blood of the Scribe”
7. “One Gun”
8. “Break You”
9. “What I’ve Become”
10. “Ashes of the Wake”
11. “Remorse Is for the Dead”
Encore
12. “Memento Mori”
13. “Redneck”

Mastodon, 7/20/24, Circuit of the Americas, Austin Set List
1. “Blood and Thunder”
2. “I Am Ahab”
3. “Seabeast”
4. “Island”
5. “Iron Tusk”
6. “Megalodon”
7. “Naked Burn”
8. “Aqua Dementia”
9. “Hearts Alive”
10. “Joseph Merrick”
Encore
11. “More Than I Could Chew”
12. “Circle of Cysquatch”
13. “Steambreather”

Kerry King, 7/20/24, Circuit of the Americas, Austin Set List
1. “Where I Reign”
2. “Trophies of the Tyrant”
3. “Residue”
4. “Toxic”
5. “Idle Hands”
6. “Shrapnel”
7. “Raining Blood” (Slayer)
8. “Black Magic” (Slayer)
9. “From Hell I Rise”

Malevolence, 7/20/24, Circuit of the Americas, Austin Set List
1. “Malicious Intent”
2. “Life Sentence”
3. “Still Waters Run Deep”
4. “Self Supremacy”
5. “Higher Place”
6. “Keep Your Distance”
7. “On Broken Glass”