“11th hour” deals with alcohol addiction, exploring the theme through biblical language and personifying alcohol as a demon that takes control of the narrator’s life. The song’s title references the biblical Book of Matthew, chapter 20, verses 1-16. Also called the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, these passages illustrate a concept repeated throughout the bible: the idea that “the last will be first and the first will be last.” In the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, this concept is represented by the owner of the vineyard paying workers who appeared at the 11th hour (or near the end of the day) a denarius for a day’s work, the same wage paid to those who appeared at the beginning of the day.

In modern times, the English idiom “Eleventh hour” refers to the idea of completing something at the last minute, or barely meeting some preconceived deadline. In the context of Christianity, however, this is meant to represent the belief that all are equal in God’s kingdom, regardless of the time of their arrival to salvation. Lamb of God invert this concept by associating it with salvation from alcohol addiction, not salvation in the eyes of the Christian god. The song explores addiction as a sort of false god, or a demon in disguise, from which the narrator may have been saved at the last moment, i.e., right before death.