LAZARUS A.D. MAKE “THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE”

The cover artwork for Lazarus A.D.’s new album Black Rivers Flow might not be of Gene Hoglan waxing his nuts, but thankfully Axl Rosenberg was correct in assuming said cover artwork wouldn’t have any bearing on the music contained therein. Lazarus A.D. have just released the first track from that album, a little ditty called “The Ultimate Sacrifice,” and it’s pretty rad.

We’ve actually gotten our advances of the full album already, and though I’ve only listened twice all the way through I can pretty safely say that “The Ultimate Sacrifice” is a pretty good representation of the album as a whole. Laz A.D. still have some of their thrash roots on display, but it seems like they’ve made a conscious decision to musically differentiate themselves from the Earache re-thrash scene; Black Rivers Flow is decidedly more cock rocky and groove-based than its predecessor and than the band’s peers. This is a good thing, as we all know how I feel about re-thrash. The direction Laz A.D. are going in reminds me primarily of two bands: classic Shadows Fall (Art of Balance and War Within-era) mixed with modern The Showdown. This is also a good thing.

Stream “The Ultimate Sacrifice” here. Black Rivers Flow drops February 1st via Metal Blade.

-VN