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Lazarus A.D.: Black rivers flow

22/06/11 || InquisitorGeneralis

Despite being a proud citizen of the United States of America, I will admit that there is some validity to the term “New American Wave of Plague Metal” that our fearless leader often uses around here. Bands like Unearth, Avenged Sevenfold, and Atreyu all suck teh cock big-time and you won’t see me waving the Stars and Stripes to rally my countrymen in their defense. However, there are a select few bands coming out of the Land of the Free lately that are able to integrate more modern, melodic elements and production with country-friend guitar work. This unholy union produces an enjoyable sound (to me at least) and shows that not every band coming from America these days that isn’t super-extreme falls into the dreaded Plague Metal category. Lazarus A.D. are one such group. Here is a simple way to describe them; 1/3 Pantera, 1/3 In Flames (not the gay 1/3 though), and 1/3 Down. Those are big names to throw around, but “Black Rivers Flow” is a damn fine record if you can stomach something a bit more mainstream than Wormrot, Gorgoroth, Origin, or Barry Manilow.

The band is awesome, the vocals…not so much. Jeff Paulick’s half shouting, half hard singing doesn’t suck, but I desire something a bit heavier. I must admit though, the clean chorus to the title track is highly infectious. There is not too much clean singing overall though, which is a very good thing. I would categorize the band’s sound as being melodic southern death thrash metal. Nice and simple huh? There are a few moments of quasi-blasting and plenty of double bass to prove that Lazarus A.D. have a strong desire to keep it heavy. You will realize this a few seconds into the solid opener American Dreams. Much like other modern, American metal acts like The Absence and The Showdown, Lazarus A.D. pump out lots of Dimebag Darrell inspired guitar riffs and solos. “The ultimate sacrifice” is more of a standard thrasher but still enjoyable. When Lazarus A.D. focuses on heaviness, they succeed.

There are some filler moments though; “Casting forward” and “Light a city” get a little too metalcore-ish for my tastes. Thankfully, this is a rare occurrence on “Black Rivers Flow”, and plague symptoms are minor and treatable. The back end of the album is propped up by “Beneath the waves of hatred” which brings back the thrash and melodic death metal feel, thankfully. “Eternal vengeance” is definitely the album’s attempt for a deep, epic track and it mostly succeeds. While the song structure (soft beginning, heavy kick-in chorus, wanktastic solo, etc etc) is pretty standard the quality guitar work and drumming keep things interesting.

For what it is, “Black Rivers Flow” is pretty damn good. If you can’t stand modern sounding, melodic metal and you only listen lo-fi grind or black metal, you won’t like it. Go to Asia, buy some Wormrot and Bathtub Shitter cds, and pound your balls with wooden shoe because pain and suffering is your lot in life. As I said before, I would recommend this to fans of bands like Amorphis, In Flames, Pantera, The Absence, Darkest Hour, and Soilwork. What makes Lazarus A.D. stand out from the 1,000,000 other melodic/thrash/death metal bands out there is their use of southern-inspired guitars (thanks again Dimebag) and a definite leaning towards the heavier side of the scale. Give ‘em a shot, and then give me a shot of Jack Daniel’s you letting you know about a pretty good fucking record by a band (and a genre) you probably would automatically dismiss. DISMISSED!

7,5

Information
Released: 2011
Label: Metal Blade
Website: www.lazarusad.com
Band
Jeff Paulick: vocals, bass
Alex Lackner: guitars
Dan Gapen: guitar
Ryan Shutler: drums

Tracklist
01. American Dreams
02. The Ultimate Sacrifice
03. The Strong Prevail
04. Black Rivers Flow
05. Casting Forward
06. Light A City
07. Through Your Eyes
08. Beneath the Waves of Hatred
09. Eternal Vengeance

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