Sacrament is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Lamb of God. Released on August 22, 2006, Sacrament debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 charts with first-week sales of 63,000. The album was the top-selling heavy metal album of 2006 and received the Album of the Year award from Revolver magazine. As of 2010, it has sold over 331,000 copies in the United States, and was certified Gold by the RIAA on September 27, 2019.
The song "Redneck" was nominated in the 2007 Grammy Awards for Best Metal Performance, but lost out to Slayer's "Eyes of the Insane".
After headlining the 2005 'Sounds of the Underground' tour in August 2005, Lamb of God returned to Richmond, Virginia and began the writing process for Sacrament.
In a 2006 press release drummer Chris Adler stated:
Following several months of writing the band took a break in December 2005 to headline a European tour.
The album was produced by Machine to produced their previous 2004 album Ashes of the Wake. Pre-production began in Richmond, Virginia on March 13, 2006.
The albums first and only single "Redneck" was released on June 21, 2006.
The album was later released on August 22, 2006 and sold 62,000 copies in its first week debuting at number 8 on the Billboard 200. The album went on to become the best selling heavy metal album of 2006. It was initially released on CD and DVD deluxe edition, which included a 90 minute special behind the scenes footage of the making of the album.
The band appeared on major tours to support the album, including The Unholy Alliance with Slayer, Mastodon, Children of Bodom, and Thine Eyes Bleed, Gigantour, supporting Megadeth; main stage at Ozzfest; an appearance at the Download Festival, and an exclusive co-headlining tour with Killswitch Engage, Soilwork, and DevilDriver, where Killswitch Engage and Lamb of God shared headlining spots alternately each show. The song "Pathetic" was performed live on the February 9, 2007 edition of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. This marked the first major network performance for Lamb of God.