For an up-and-coming band, getting banned from venues can be the proverbial kiss of death. But for Virginia-based metal quintet Lamb of God, nothing could be further from the truth.

The band, which used to be named Burn the Priest, was recently barred from playing at the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles when the church that owns the venue learned of its former moniker. Vocalist Randy Blythe says he doesn’t mind the controversy.

“Ah, fuck ’em, I don’t care,” Blythe says. “I’m getting more press from it, let ’em ban me.”

Blythe says although many of the songs on the group’s latest album, “Ashes of the Wake,” deal with current events, and he has worn anti-Bush shirts in photos, Lamb of God shouldn’t be taken as political pundits.

“We are in no way a political band,” Blythe says. “We write about things that depress us or piss us off, and our current administration does both.”

Although the band is known for expressing its political views through its lyrical content, Blythe says the subject matter of Lamb of God’s songs doesn’t have to be about such polarizing subjects.

“We could just as easily have a song about how I hate my next-door neighbor,” Blythe says. “The band is merely my vehicle to express my opinion.”

The band, which recently signed to Epic Records for “Ashes of the Wake,” also had their first album, “Burn the Priest,” reissued by the label. Blythe says in addition to musical differences between the two albums, the band member’s personal lives have changed as well.

“I don’t have to work a day job anymore,” Blythe says. “I can concentrate on being a musician.”

Blythe says maintaining creative control of the band was his biggest concern when being courted by the label.

“Before we signed, we had a meeting with the president of Epic, and they took us out to dinner,” he says. “The first thing I did is say, ‘Look, you cannot fuck with us.'”

Despite heavy music’s resurgence in popularity, Blythe says he feels metal’s revival is just part of popular music’s constant state of change.

“Music is cyclical,” he says. “What we’re doing might be popular right now, but who knows, maybe polka rock will be popular next.”

Regardless of how long the current wave of heavy metal bands flirt with the mainstream, Blythe is happy that something other than run-of-the-mill pop music stands a chance at dominating the airwaves and MTV.

“As long as I don’t have to listen to that Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys bullshit,” he says. “That’s not music — that’s noise pollution.”

In its 16 years of existence, Lamb of God has participated in a variety of different types of tours, ranging from festivals like Ozzfest to the dingiest of rock clubs. Each tour Lamb of God partakes in has its pros and cons, but Blythe says he enjoys the freedom of movement an arena stage offers.

“It’s apples and oranges,” Blythe says. “I have a lot more room to jump around like a moron.”

Despite the thrash-influenced Lamb of God attracting different types of fans than the nu-metal stylings of their tourmates Slipknot, Blythe says he welcomes the diverse crowds the bill brings to the show.

“I want to go tour with a punk band and a country band and a metal band,” he says. “I don’t like to play on a tour where we all sound the same — what’s the point?”

One thing the band won’t be doing on this tour is encouraging the crowd to participate in the infamous “wall of death,” a style of moshing that resembles a battle scene out of the movie “Braveheart.” Lamb of God is known for inciting the “wall of death” during their signature song “Black Label.”

“We kind of laid off on the wall of death because people were getting fucked up bad,” Blythe says.

Although the band intends to begin writing new material this winter, Blythe jokes that Lamb of God intends to tour behind “Ashes of the Wake” for the foreseeable future.

“We’re going to tour until we all commit suicide for this record,” Blythe says.

Who: Lamb of God, opening for Slipknot

Where: Hilton Coliseum

When: 7 p.m., Saturday

Cost: $33