We caught up with Lamb of God vocalist Randy Blythe just before he took the stage at this year’s Chicago Open Air festival. Along with Lamb of God’s current tour with Slayer and Behemoth, Blythe spoke to us about his recent guest performance with Bad Brains, the importance of his sobriety and much more.

Back in June at the opening night of bassist Darryl Jenifer’s art exhibition, Bad Brains surprised a room full of fans with a reunion performance. It was the first Bad Brains gig in years and it featured the entire classic lineup including H.R. on vocals. For some of the faster songs, Randy Blythe was called in to provide vocals — an invitation he accepted in a heartbeat.

“For us to just come out and play and nobody to know and there be like 75 people in this art gallery, it was a spiritual experience for me,” Blythe says. “The vibe was so positive. Everybody was so freaking happy.”

It was recently the five-year anniversary of Randy’s manslaughter arrest in the Czech Republic — a charge he was later found “not guilty” of. Despite being imprisoned in the Czech Republic for over a month and enduring months of uncertainty while on trial, the past five years have been largely positive for Randy, for which he attributes to his sobriety.

“That period of my life brought a lot of sadness to me and that’s still with me. That will never go away,” Blythe says. “I was still creative when I was drinking, but there was a damp filter on it. When I got sober, that was ripped away, so my mind is on overdrive all the time. I’m writing, I’m shooting photos, I’m making music — becoming really engaged with life … As long as I’m moving forward and creating things that I think have artistic merit, I’m generally a pretty happy guy. Not every day is sunshine and unicorn farts, but that’s not the way it is for anyone.”

Check out our exclusive interview with Randy Blythe in the clip above. For all of Slayer, Lamb of God and Behemoth’s current North American tour dates, click here.

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