Ever wonder where your favorite metal bands got their names or what their names might mean to others, whether or not they're aware of it?

To headbangers, Lamb of God has become the very definition of unrelenting, unforgiving metallic brutality, but the root of the name seems to be all about gentleness and forgiveness -- so, we guess we forgive the band for coming up with such a seemingly ill-fitting moniker.

The above photo is of a stone lamb atop a slab of granite that marks the grave site of a young child referred to as a "Lamb of God."

The other references we've found are way more Biblical. According to www.allaboutjesuschrist.org, "The Messiah is called the "Lamb of God" throughout the Bible's New Testament. In John 1:29, for example, after seeng Jesus for the first time, John the Baptist says, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

The religious stuff don't stop there. The Lamb of God is a popular reference to a litany beginning with words used in the Roman Catholic Mass: "Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis" (English translation: "Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.")

Reportedly, the prayer was introduced into the Mass by Pope Sergius I between 687 and 701 AD and is spoken or sun during the "Rite of Fraction and Commingling." We'd give our left pinky to see Lamb of God singer Randy Blythe sing it in church, but we're guessing we'll never have to sacrifice our little digit for that.

Enough God talk, here's something we're more comfortable with -- Lamb of God's "Redneck":