LAMB OF GOD helped inaugurate "Heavy Metal Night" at CarMax Park in Richmond, Virginia on June 4, 2026, bringing a full slate of activities to the Richmond Flying Squirrels' minor league baseball game against the Erie SeaWolves. The hometown celebration underscored the band's enduring connection to the city where they were born.
Guitarists MARK MORTON and WILLIE ADLER performed the national anthem together on the field before the game — a metal rendition that drew strong applause from the crowd. The full band then tossed the ceremonial first pitch and hosted a meet-and-greet at The Backstop venue adjacent to the ballpark, where the first 1,000 attendees received commemorative posters. During the seventh-inning stretch, drummer ART CRUZ and frontman RANDY BLYTHE stepped up to lead the crowd in the traditional baseball anthem — a scene that would be difficult to imagine with almost any other metal band.
Formed in Richmond in the mid-1990s under the name BURN THE PRIEST, LAMB OF GOD have remained fiercely loyal to their hometown even as they ascended to the upper tier of American metal. Two of their albums — Ashes of the Wake (2004) and Sacrament (2006) — achieved gold certification from the RIAA, and the band has accumulated five Grammy Award nominations throughout their career.
Their latest album, Into Oblivion, arrived in March 2026 under the stewardship of producer JOSH WILBUR. The record was tracked across multiple locations: drums in Richmond, guitars and bass at MARK MORTON's home studio, and vocals at Total Access studio in California. Critics have praised the album's uncompromising intensity.
The Heavy Metal Night event is the latest reminder that LAMB OF GOD's relationship with Richmond runs far deeper than geography. For a band that has played arenas and festival main stages worldwide, a minor league ballpark in their hometown clearly still means everything.