J-Man
Black Rivers Flow is not a bad album at all. There are plenty of interesting things here, to be sure, but it also strikes me as somewhat uninspired and generic. Those who've been paying any attention to the modern thrash scene should notice instantly that Lazarus A.D. isn't the most original band on the block (which isn't nessacerily a bad thing), but the music on Black Rivers Flow simply isn't great enough to justify a derivative approach. This just doesn't strike a single emotional chord inside of me like some of the stronger modern thrash releases do, and when the album is over I feel that it was a "mediocre listen" - nothing more, nothing less. There are undoubtedly people out there who will eat up the latest Lazarus A.D. effort; as far as my money is concerned, however, I'll be heading elsewhere.
The music here is modern thrash metal with some metalcore tendencies. Although that's far from my favorite genre of music, Lazarus A.D. has managed to deliver some high-quality modern metal on Black Rivers Flow. I'm not super impressed, as almost the entire album leaves me cold and uninspired, but people who dug their debut or are big modern thrash fans should enjoy this much more than me. Most of the album is a full-on thrash assault with little breathing room, but there is some good variation between all of the tracks. The only thing that's missing (for me, at least) are some really memorable compositions - those annoying metalcore-ish vocals and generic riffs get in the way of my enjoyment far too often. Aside from my gripes related to the vocals, all of the instrumentalists are extremely talented and play as a tight and impressive unit. The production is, technically speaking, excellent, but it seems far too sterile and clean for my tastes.
Black Rivers Flow has every ingredient to succeed as a modern thrash metal album. The musicians are talented, the production is top-notch, and the music is really heavy; yet somehow it comes across as uninspired and unmemorable to these ears. It's not a bad album by any stretch of the imagination - this is just way too polished and, dare I say, sterile for my tastes. People who enjoy polished thrash-metalcore hybrids should love this one, but you can definitely say I was a bit disappointed. 2.5 stars are deserved for this decent album. There's an audience out there for Black Rivers Flow, but it's safe to say I'm not in it.