Similar Bands: Testament, Lamb Of God, Rumpelstiltskin Grinder
Review:
It’s always nice to be pleasantly surprised by a record that you had next to no expectations of. That is definitely the case with Lazarus A.D and their debut album, The Onslaught. Hailing from the small city of Kenosha, Wisconsin this foursome seems to show their resume of favorite groups as they span the metal spectrum from Testament to Lamb Of God. Actually that would be the perfect way to describe what Lazarus AD sounds like. But I’d have to mix in a little bit of Pennsylvania’s own Rumpelstiltskin Grinder for good measure.
My buddy pressured me into listening to these guys and I never wanted to give them a second of my time. He tends to find bands that have either been broken up for years or bands that are small time enough to which I will never have the chance to see them live. Most of the time in either case the band is completely irrelevant to me and I tend to bore myself with a lot of his suggestions prior to even listening to them. I started to do that with these guys and then I had the chance to check them out live. When I saw them, they didn’t do much to blow me away so I wrote them off as a mere “meh” and went about my business.
So now let’s jump ahead to a few weeks ago when I found this album turn up in the review download pool on Metal Blade’s website. Figuring it couldn’t hurt to give them a shot for free I went ahead and downloaded the record. What’s the worst that could happen? It sucks and I give it a bad review, subsequently pissing of my friend at the same time. I couldn’t lose.
Well I can officially eat crow. What I remember seeing live bears little no resemblance of what I have been listening to on record. I’m going to chalk up my live experience to me not knowing a single chord from them and not necessarily being interested in them at the time. This album actually took me by total surprise. I’ve had it in my possession for about 2 weeks now, have gotten my hands on other review material, and still find myself going back to this record very frequently. It’s that good.
Like I stated in the introductory paragraph, the band seems to show their depth in metal and their influences are very obvious. Thrash legends Testament (who coincidentally was the headliner of the show I saw these guys at) come to mine for the majority of this record. It’s even so apparent that the boys from Oakland are an influence that bassist Jeff Paulick mimics Chuck Billy’s low singing voice when it’s his time to perform his secondary job of backing vocals. Lazarus A.D’s other forefront influence has to be Lamb Of God. Throughout the record there are chuggier parts that are laced with artificial harmonics that seem clearly stolen from As The Palaces Burn. Even drummer Ryan Shutler does his best job of imitating Chris Adler, especially with the double bass footwork. Vocally, Dan Gapen sounds remarkably like my good friend Eli Shaika (former singer of Rumpelstiltskin Grinder/currently in XXX Maniak). I don’t know if RSG had any influence on the band but the similarities are there.
For all the retro thrash records by new bands that are saturating the music scene, Lazarus A.D. stands out amongst the pack slightly because of their obvious blend of both new and old school. The Onslaught will be a record I listen to for a long time. Is it the next Master Of Puppets? No. Is it the reinvention of the wheel? No. But what it is, is a solid thrash metal release that I think most fans of the genre can appreciate and get behind. Hopefully these guys land themselves on some massive tour like The Sword was able to pull off with Metallica because these kids definitely deserve it.
This CD has been in constant rotation with me for months now. Love these guys. I wanted to go to the show you were talking about, but couldnt get anyone to go with me. But yea, I hope these guys keep it going.
Your Profile/Options: [
Offline
9 
