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There are many metalheads out there who say the last of the great Thrash bands died out in the 80's and early 90's. Those that claim this have clearly not heard Lazarus A.D., who, with this release, show that Thrash is still a viable force in metal. The band may be disguised as Groove/Thrash, but make no mistake… this album is 100% pure, aggressive, in-your-face modern Thrash at its absolute very best. Sure, it doesn't sound exactly like Overkill or Slayer, but that differentiation from the usual sound most Thrash bands are associated with helps give this band an identity all their own.

I could give a track by track analysis of each song, but that would be redundant, since each one would sound exactly the same: this track is fast-as-hell, thrashy-as-hell, and is bound to get you in the pit. Rinse. Repeat. This is the truth of the matter, because all of their tracks are like this; the absolute epitome of what Thrash can be.

The guitars rely heavily on playing the root note of the song at blazingly fast speeds with deviations on the scale, often taking time to segue into portions of maniacally fast and accurate triplets that are impossible not to headbang to. Many times these are layered under one of the absolutely beautiful and catchy solos one of the guitarists is playing. I mean wow, these guys can shred and make it sound melodic and aggressive at the same time like hardly any other band I've heard before can do. All this amazing guitar work is only complemented further by the outstanding drums, providing relentless double-bass at just the right times and accentuations on the notes the guitars are playing to make the music even heavier. The vocalist just barely keeps up with the instruments in terms of raw brutality coupled with cripplingly accurate technicality, yet does his job of belting out emotional and fitting lyrics that complement the tone of the songs. Even when the main vocals do fall short, splendid backup vocals reminiscent of new Testament make any sort of blunder forgivable and forgettable. Simply put: every musician on this record does their job great.

This album is amazing. Go get it as soon as you can. I have no doubt that Lazarus A.D. will be one of the biggest names in metal in no time (they're already one of the most talented). Get this album and in ten years when this band is selling out venues and have already been established as the next Slayer, you can look back and say that you were there from the beginning. Highly, highly, recommended.