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BLACK RIVERS FLOWLAZARUS A.D.Metal Blade CDAh, the dreaded „second album“ syndrome... You know the drill, young troop explodes on the scene with their debut which puts them on all the relevant metal maps and often becomes the burden which group can’t rid off during the whole career. There are numerous examples in all metal genres, from Riverside to Death Angel and tons more, so let us see did Lazarus A.D. skip that curse. Their debut issue „Onslaught“ was ripping display of Thrash metal which owed much to old masters such as Testament but it did not shy away from the time it is in, so it carries just right dose of modern tendencies and it should be noted that influences of groovy Pantera sound could be spotted but they were measured so good that they didn't spoil the overall enjoyment. But unfortunately (for me, anyway), Lazarus A.D. decided to change the proportions and to give larger place to those Groove elements in favor of unadeltered Thrash ripping. The whole album is way more controlled, some people would call it maturity and maybe would be right as this effort is way more controlled and the song arrangements are much richer and varied. It's too bed that they have lost in that process the crucial element of this music - energy. I feel that "Onslaught", although maybe youthful and naive, carried much more pure and unadultered metal which you could also find on "Black rivers flow" but larger place belongs to that mid tempo Thrash which carries Lazarus A.D. close to Shadows Fall or even Trivium territory. The best songs on display here are the ones where they let it loose like on „The strong prevails“ so I guess maybe the problem here is with me as I much more prefer that style of playing. Oh yeah, I should mention that aside from Jeff the boys decided to include also the vocals of guitar player Dan who goes more for the cleans in Southern rock / Black Label Society vein which is one more thing that turns me away as I feel that it doesn’t suit the music that much. As I see, the reactions on „Black rivers flow“ are already very mixed, from „masterpiece“ to „crap“ comments, so I guess that you will have to decide for yourself. Me? I must say that this is OK album but it leaves somewhat bitter taste in my mouth – I have expected more... Trifunovic Slobodan (7.5) |
PUBLISHED ISSUESMETAL SOUND #mpu vorbereitung |
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