Lazarus A.D burst onto the scene in 2009 with The Onslaught, which was one of the most impressive debuts in years (it made my top 100 albums of the decade list). It was a groove-laden thrash masterpiece that cemented them as the best modern thrash metal band I had heard. Black Rivers Flow is a drastic change in sound and unfortunately, also a drastic change in quality.Black Rivers Flow strays away from the thrash/groove metal sound on The Onslaught and instead focuses on a more straight-forward sound. There are still some thrash segments, but for the most part the sound has been completely abandoned. This is a decision that doesn't really work for the best. The harsher vocals are just about non-existent and replaced with mediocre clean vocals. The vocals don't really mesh with the style at all and can off very grating. The whole album just comes off as sort of lazy. It seems like they weren't playing up to their potential. The overall instrumentation is still pretty good, it's just that all of the songs are a severe drop in quality from their debut.
That being said, Black Rivers Flow has it's moments. There are still some solid tracks on here such as album opener "American Dreams" which contains a nice riff and is easily the most reminiscent of their old sound. The production is also good. The mix is more polished than their debut, which is the only improvement on the whole record.
Black Rivers Flow is a huge letdown. Lazarus A.D is one of the best young bands metal bands around and I think this might be a case of trying to live up to the hype of their first record. The sound is just a lot more generic and straightforward than The Onslaught and it's just not even close to as good. Black Rivers Flow really isn't a bad record, it's just that it's not even close to as good as their debut. A decent, but disappointing record overall.
3/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.American Dreams
2.Beneath The Waves Of Hatred
3.The Strong Prevail
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