Lamb of God's Randy Blythe Lists 3 Things We Can Do to Create a Better Society

These may be troublesome times, but Lamb of God's Randy Blythe is not without hope that we can turn things around in becoming a less combative society. In fact, Full Metal Jackie gave Randy the platform to list three things he'd suggest to turn things around for the better during part two of the Lamb of God singer's appearance on her weekend radio show.

It's probably not surprising that communication is the key. "We have to relearn how to talk to each other and not be so dogmatic in our opinions," says the singer, who argues that the current political divide is unsustainable as a society.

Blythe also digs into two other key points that he feels would help us move in a more positive direction as a society within the chat below.

The conversation comes as part of Full Metal Jackie's two-part interview with BLythe surrounding the band's Into Oblivion album and their upcoming tour featuring Kublai Khan TX, Fit for an Autopsy and Sanguisugabogg. Blythe also speaks to his love for the band's that are joining them on tour this year and also drops a lesser known act that he's been vibing on of late.

Within the discussion, Blythe also goes deep on the things that drive him as an artist and why it has become the path that he's chosen in life. He also shares what he feels is his responsibility as an artist and details his goals over the course of 2026.

Check out more of the conversation below.

It's Full Metal Jackie. We've got Randy Blythe from Lamb of God on the show with us celebrating the release of their new record. It's called Into Oblivion. And of course, you've got the heaviest tour of 2026. Let's talk about some of these younger bands. You've got great ones joining you on this tour, Kublai Khan TX, Fit for an Autopsy, The Bog. They've all built a solid following and this tour should be absolutely amazing. Can you speak to what you know or enjoy about your support acts and what bands either touring with you or out there on their own that you're currently vibing on?

All the bands that are coming out with us are heavy. There's no, "Oh, we're gonna have a melodic like band in the middle," which I like too, man. I like that, but not on this tour. Not on this tour. It's all just face-smashing stuff, you know?

So, uh, Kublai Khan, Fit for an Autopsy and Sanguisugabog, aka The Bog. Sanguisugabog, say it with me. they're all good bands and we're gonna enjoy it. We've done shows with Kublai Khan and have brought Fit for an Autopsy out with us. They're good friends. Love those guys. Looking forward to touring with The Bog.

As far as bands that I'm listening to right now out there, the younger...they're not young. They're not a young band. They've been a while around for a while. But a band I really enjoy listening to is from Richmond, Virginia, in fact, called Division of Mind. They're very metallic, very abrasive sort of hardcore with some political lyrics. I really enjoy them.

So, Division of Mind, check them out. They're really, really, really like their last. Their only album is a self-titled album. I really enjoy it. I've been listening to a lot of Killing Joke lately, Their guitar player, Jordy passed a couple years ago and I've been revisiting their catalog a lot. What a ground groundbreaking band. Had influence on so many people. Just listen to Metallica. they cover "The Wait." When Metallica covers a band, you know they're pretty important.

Lamb of God, "Blunt Force Blues"

Randy Blythe from Lamb of God with us talking about the Into Oblivion album. Obviously, the record is a product of its times. Let's say we break out the whiteboard right now and give you the forum. What are three things that you'd like to see society make a more concerted effort at in order to turn things around for the better?

God. Well, I think one of the first things we, as human beings and I think this is everywhere, we have to relearn how to talk to each other and not be so dogmatic in our opinions. The internet feeds this. You exist in this little echo chamber where everybody agrees with you. You only read what you agree with. You only like interact with people you agree with. And if you're interacting with those other people, you're just screaming at them. I think everybody needs to stop and slow down and realize we are all human beings, every single one of us on the face of this planet and we all want, at our root, the same exact things. We want enough food to eat. We want a safe place to live. We want security for ourselves and our loved ones and we want companionship, you know?

This super hyper-partisan political divide that's happening right now here in America is unsustainable. It is absolutely unsustainable. And I think the nature of our discourse, once again, taking place mostly via the internet, is worsening that divide. People are retreating into their corners. We're in a very dangerous spot right now. Things could get very, very bad on a world level, right? So, we need to learn to talk to each other.

Number two, people need to start taking more responsibility for their own happiness, their own lives. Stop looking to someone else to fix your problems. No matter what's going on, you only have control over one thing. That is yourself, you know? And with me, I try and remember this every morning, man.

I read some stoic philosophy, which has become popular again in the last few years. But I'll read a little Epictetus, or Marcus Aurelius, or some Seneca, and again and again and again, I read the only thing that I have control over is myself and how I choose to perceive things and how I need to question everything, including myself, including my value judgments on things.

Why do I like this? Why do I not like this? Is this part of my conditioning or is this something I really believe? Is this, in fact, correct? Is it ethical? So that puts the onus on me, not on anyone else. No matter what's going on, I have to take responsibility for myself, my state of being, my actions. I have to correct my own thinking if it is incorrect. And sometimes that takes outside input, for sure. But at least the sort of urge to do that lies with me. So, I think we have to learn to communicate. I think we have to learn to take responsibility for ourselves.

And finally, I think this ludicrous idea of success being defined by either the status of your bank account or your level of fame being defined as being a successful person, that's gotta be discarded.

Randy, you don't get to this stage of your career without a passion for what you do. But I'm sure the answers on this probably vary on which musician you talk to. What, within this life of making music, is your bedrock for doing it? Is it the love of the creativity? Is it having the platform to deliver a message that moves people? Is it simply the pleasure of rocking out? What is the thing that this within this career that keeps you coming back and wanting more? And has that answer changed from what it was when you first started?

At its base, I make music because I love making music. I write because I love writing. I shoot photographs because I love shooting photographs. They are passions of mine. I really, really enjoy making music. Not just with my band, but I've made music with a lot of people. There's something special about it and that hasn't changed.

When we started this band, I never had any inkling to ever make a living at it. Never. I never in my wildest dreams thought, "Oh, one day, you're gonna make a living off this band." It seemed implausible because, in fact, for the most part, it is. It just is. Most people don't get to make a living off their music and have it be their major source of income, so I realize I'm very lucky in that.

But it was never the point. It was never the point for me. I started writing when I was a child. I remember the first thing I ever wrote creatively, I wrote sort of a poem and I guess I was like five or six. It was in my neighbor's backyard and I remember writing it and I remember, "Oh, I made these words rhyme." I was playing with the language. And at five or six years old, that was incredibly appealing to me. I loved it. And I still do. I get great satisfaction writing just by myself.

When I take a photograph, I see something beautiful and I photograph it and I look at it later, it gives me immense satisfaction. So that's the reason why I do this, because I'm an artist. I'm not really good at much else. I'm just not. I used to cook in restaurants. I'm a pretty good cook and I'm a halfway decent roofer. I could do some construction work on your house. But the things that I am suited to involve art. They just do. Those are my strengths.

I'm certainly not saying I'm the greatest artist in the world, but it's what I'm the best at. So, that being said, doing these things and pursuing these things, it has turned into a way for me to make a living and the longer I do it, the more intentional I am about what I do.

I want to be more and more and more focused.

Randy, we've talked about what keeps you coming back for more at this stage in your career, so let me ask you this. What do you see as your primary responsibility as an artist?

My primary responsibility as an artist, I believe, is to make something that I'm true to, to make art that that is true. Otherwise, it's not really art. It's just commerce cloaked in aesthetics cause you're trying to make something that will appeal to people. If it doesn't in order to make money, if it doesn't appeal to you, then what's the point?

But I do want to be intentional with it. And as weird as it is to me that this is my career, I know that sometimes what we create helps people. I know this because I've been told again and again and again by fans who have listened to our albums or read my books or even been to an art exhibit and looked at my photography, they're like, "This spoke to me. This helped me during a rough time in my life." I've been told that countless times.

For me, that instills a bit more of a sense of responsibility to not create something harmful, I suppose. I mean, anything can be interpreted any way by anyone and once you create something and put it out in the world, in a sense, it becomes everyone's. It's not just yours anymore. It becomes everyone's. So people will do with your art what they will in their own lives. But for me, I want to be intentional and express myself in a manner that may be useful to someone else, even if it's putting words in a feeling they can't quite do themselves.

I don't know if you've ever listened to a song or read a book or something, "Oh, that's how I feel! That's how I feel! This other person expressed it," and it's almost like a sense of relief to me when that happens. And it happens to me all the time when hear something, like, "That's amazing! That's precisely how I feel about this. I was struggling to understand this." So if I can do that for someone, even just like someone is, "Ah, this is how I feel," and help them figure out that feeling, I'm doing something good. Because I think for me, making art, the process of making art, is in the moment of creation, the artist is struggling to understand themself and their place in the world.

At least, that's what I'm doing. I'm trying to make sense of all this craziness 'cause I don't have any answers. I'm just trying to make some sense of all this craziness and I'm using the tools that I am best suited to employ and what I have at my disposal and that's music and writing and photography.

Randy, what is on the horizon for you and what would make 2026 a successful and rewarding year for Randy Blythe?

What would make 2026 a successful and rewarding year for me? I am trying to complete my first novel. We have a lot of touring lined up and it's very difficult to write on heavy metal tour. I'm not one of those guys that can write in public. I need to be alone and quiet and no music and all that stuff. Backstage at a heavy metal show, it's a little difficult.

So for me, I'm trying to really conscientiously carve time out to focus on writing when I'm on the road this year, which I've written part of both of my books before while on tour. This year there's a lot of shows coming up and I'm not gonna have much of really extended times to sit at home and get in a rhythm. So I'm gonna have to try and instill some discipline and crank this first novel out. I'm tired of writing nonfiction. It's time to play and make believe for a little bit.

Well, I hope you get that opportunity and you're able to carve out that time, 'cause it is going to be a busy year for Lamb of God. See them on this tour. Pick up the new record, Into Oblivion. Randy, I always love getting a chance to, to chat with you. And obviously every time we talk it's because something great is happening for you and Lamb of God. So these are exciting times. I appreciate you taking the time to check in.

It's Full Metal Jackie. You have been listening to part two of Randy Blythe's two-part takeover as we gear up for Lamb of God's new album, Into Oblivion and the heaviest tour of the year kicking off March 17th. Our thanks to Randy for the chat. You can stay up to date with Lamb of God through their website, Facebook, X and Instagram. Find out where you can hear Full Metal Jackie's weekend radio show here.

See what bands join Lamb of God in the "Big 4" of 2000s metal in the gallery below.