Lamb of God’s Mark Morton Reveals Biggest Takeaway From ‘Desolation’ Memoir
"I went into the book project wondering if it would be cathartic or therapeutic or this process of self discovery, as you alluded to. I'm not sure that it was," Lamb of God's Mark Morton share with Full Metal Jackie on her weekend radio show But that said, Morton share his biggest takeaway from his tackled the idea of telling his story in his "Desolation" memoir.
Morton was also on hand to discuss Lamb of God's "Ashes of Leviathan" co-headline tour with Mastodon, reflecting on that period of time with the band, his initial thoughts on the album, and bringing new life to the anniversary reissue with Kublai Khan and Malevolence.
Check out more of the chat below.
It's Full Metal Jackie, we're very excited to welcome to the show Lamb of God guitarist extraordinaire Mark Morton. Happy to have you back on the show. And it's a big year for Lamb of God, who are, of course, celebrating the 20th anniversary of their Ashes of the Wake album. And Mark himself has recently released his "Desolation" memoir. Mark, reflecting on Ashes of the Wake, did you know you had something special as the record was coming together?
No. And I talk about it in the book. I was honestly pretty terrified. We had just done As the Palaces Burn. That album, which we felt great about and gotten a major label record deal right after that happened. So the label wanted their album. They wanted a new album quick.
And I felt creatively like, certainly for me, and I can probably speak for the other guys, too. We felt like we were pretty squeezed out in terms of material. So we were kind of going in with not a lot of preparation and just kind of writing immediately what came out.
And that's really what Ashes of the Wake is.
Mark, with an anniversary comes a special edition of Ashes of the Wake. How excited are you guys to see this album celebrated with contributions from health, Justin Broderick, Kublai Khan and Malevolence, bringing new value to an already classic album.
Excited for the re release and thrilled to have those new contributions and that new perspective on those songs. It's always fun to hear a fresh take on something and the "Another Nail for Your Coffin" song in particular. For me, hearing those younger guys on there and really just spitting fire on those vocals, it made the song fresh and new for me.
Again, that was a bonus track. And now to see it, people responding to it as if it's almost a new song because it has this new energy. I'm grateful when anyone likes any of our music, but for people to be celebrating this album like they are is just a thrill for me.
I'm grateful that the fans still care about it. And sometimes you'll read in comment sections and stuff. Well, they haven't done anything good since Ashes of the Wake or something like that. Somebody being snarky, and to me, that's a compliment because it means you liked anything we did.
So I love that people love the record, and I love that we can get out there and play it for people and have it be a really special event this summer.
That's a great attitude to have because I'm sure it's kind of annoying. Some trolls for artists and public figures that people who can hide behind a keyboard would never say anything like they say online to your face. You know, it must be challenging sometimes to not turn around and, you know, say something snarky back.
You have to see it as, like, the dunking clown. It's a game. They're gonna rattle you from behind the curtain there, and you can either throw the ball and try and dunk him in the water, or you can just laugh about it.
You know, it's just a game.
Lamb of God, "Another Nail in the Coffin" Featuring Kublai Khan and Malveolence
Mark, we know how well the album did back in the day, but what was the time period like for you supporting it? Were you creatively fulfilled with that record? And what memories come rushing back as you think about the support and promotion of that album and also what is your favorite song from the record?
So releasing Ashes of the Wake was really, really exciting just as it was coming out and the whole process of it being released. It was a new label. It was a major label. We were doing the Ozzfest tour in 2004, which was a huge look for us and really exciting.
And at the time, I think it was very much really captured the essence, the kind of zeitgeist of what was going on with metal. There was this big resurgence, and we were a part of it, and we. We were thrilled. You could feel it all around. And so I distinctly remember just being excited and wondering what would become of that.
I had no idea that it would last for us as long as it has and take us to places it has, but I knew that we as a band were part of something special that was happening and we were thrilled to be there.
This summer, Lamb of God are touring with Mastodon, who are also celebrating an anniversary. And Kerry King, a longtime friend of the band, is also on the tour. Mark, what are your thoughts on your tour mates and this being such a key tour for all the parties involved on this run, with all kinds of reasons to celebrate.
A thrill to be able to put this together. Mastodon have been friends and peers all along and it's pretty astounding to think that they released Leviathan and we released Ashes of the Wake on the same day in 2004 so to still be friends, to still be peers, to still be in touch and to get assemble a tour together to celebrate that 20 year anniversary is something really special.
It would be special if either band just did it on their own but to be able to do it at the same time and together is awesome. And having Kerry's new band out, you know both Mastodon and Lamb of God have opened for Slayer on multiple occasions, multiple tours and I think it really speaks to Kerry King and his authenticity and just the character of who he is to have absolutely no problem jumping back out and supporting our bands when we've supported his band for so long and now he's got a new project and he's just out.
With us supporting, helping add to the mix of what we're doing. So he's just a real one. Kerry King's a real one and we're thrilled to have him with us.
As this appears to be a time of reflection for the band, I'll ask you to look back on your history. What's the riff or musical contribution you're most proud of making to one of Lamb of God's songs over the years?
Wow. I don't know that I can pick one. I think I'm grateful that I can't just pick one. I think overall, what I'm most proud about of Lamb of God in general is just the body of work. And I think that our care, the fact that we've cared all along, and I think sometimes it's easy for bands to get in a rut and for bands to just kind of go through the motions.
I can't say we've never been guilty of that one or another of us at a certain time. That's a pretty human condition. But I think collectively, we've always just been really passionate about what we do. I think, I hope one of my contributions has been to sort of push the limits and push the boundary of what we're able to do creatively and what risks we're willing to take musically.
It's Full Metal Jackie, Mark Morton from Lamb of God on the show with us this week. Mark, we also need to talk about your new memoir, "Desolation." In taking a look back at your life, what was the most surprising thing you discovered about yourself in the process of putting this book together?
Yeah, that's an interesting question. I went into the book project wondering if it would be cathartic or therapeutic or this process of self discovery, as you alluded to. I'm not sure that it was, Jackie. I think the big takeaway from me, I essentially wrote the book just to see if I could do it.
It wound up being a mountain of work. It was kind of .. The joke was on me because, yeah, I could do it, but it was a monumental project. But also, I think the big takeaway from me was just this sense of relief and gratitude that I had gotten past.
So much of the stuff that happens in the book, my life has by no stretch, been a sob story. There's a lot of just absolutely thrilling things that I've been fortunate enough to be a part of. And there's a lot of humor in the book, but there's some tragedy and some trauma as well.
So for me to be sitting where I'm sitting now and being able to reflect on that informs all of those experiences with a sense of hope. And I'd like to think that's one of the takeaways of the book, is that, you know, there's always hope and there's always a chance to get better.
READ MORE: Mark Morton Dives Into New Memoir 'Desolation'
As you mentioned. Offering this fair share of some of your personal tragedies and low points. It's got to be a tough line to walk of how much you want to share. How far did you want to take it in putting yourself out there? And is it a process you ultimately found rewarding?
Yeah, it's a scary thing to try and balance how much you want to let go of, because there's some really, really personal stories in here, and those can be handled a lot of different ways. And you can go for shocking, or you can go for guarded, or, you know, there's a lot of different angles you can take with some of those stories. And I had to. That was a learning process for me.
I've never written a book, and I barely read books, frankly. When I do, they're usually rock memoirs. So I had some point of reference. So I think I had to learn that as I went. And the big thing I found was to just be genuine and to try to tell those stories with a sense of respect not only for the experience that I had, but for people who may have had a similar experience.
So to try and be respectful of people who have lived through similar things as I have, but to also be genuine and not wear things as a badge or water things down to take the weight out of them, just to be authentic with it.
Mark, lot's going on now, but what beyond all that is next in 2024?
I have so many cool things that I'm so fortunate to be a part of happening right now, and I can't announce any of them, but there's lots of cool stuff happening. And, you know, every day I wake up and I get to work on creative projects that I'm excited about.
So there will be more stuff. I just can't talk about it yet.
All right. All right. I won't tell anyone. We'll wait to hear about it. But we're excited for the future.
Me, too. Me too.
Thanks tp Lamb of God's Mark Morton for the interview. Stay up tp date and get ticketing info the Ashes of Leviathan Tour; Dig into all things Lamb of God through their website, X, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify platforms. Find out where you can hear Full Metal Jackie's weekend radio show here.
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Gallery Credit: Joe DiVita