{"id":1226,"date":"2011-02-01T00:00:14","date_gmt":"2011-02-01T00:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=1226"},"modified":"2012-06-10T00:51:12","modified_gmt":"2012-06-10T00:51:12","slug":"feature-lazarus-ad-02-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-lazarus-ad-02-11\/","title":{"rendered":"LAZARUS A.D. – The Strong Prevail (February 2011) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAZARUS A.D. – The Strong Prevail<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nFebruary 2011<\/span><\/p>\n

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Lazarus A.D. (l-r): Alex Lackner, Jeff Paulick,
Ryan Shutler and Dan Gapen<\/em><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Pic: Stephen Jensen<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Cyclical in nature much like other music subgenres, thrash metal\u2019s mid noughties resurgence \u2013 particularly championed by Nottingham\u2019s Earache Records whose stable includes the likes of Evile, Gama Bomb, Municipal Waste and Bonded By Blood \u2013 can arguably be divided into two camps; the traditionalists (who attempt to mimic the sounds of thrash pioneers) and the modernists (whose goal is to update the thrash template). <\/p>\n

Lazarus A.D. has no qualms about swearing allegiance towards one school of thought. \u201cIf they wanna throw us in with the thrash revival, then whatever,\u201d asserts vocalist Jeff Paulick. \u201cWe\u2019re not worried about classification. We\u2019re not worried about what people think. We\u2019re gonna write music that we wanna write, and in the way that we wanna write it. I don\u2019t really think we fit in with a lot of those other bands. I think that we\u2019re like bands like Revocation and Sylosis who obviously have thrash influences, but there\u2019s something new, there\u2019s something fresh. They\u2019re not like some of these other bands who are just total straight rip-offs who wear the denim jackets and high-tops and patches, and they get up onstage and they sound like fuckin\u2019 Zetro Souza incarnate. That\u2019s not what we\u2019re trying to do. We don\u2019t wear jeans, jackets and patches and stuff like that, or headbands or any of that crap. We try to look a little modern, we try to put on a really good show, and we try to bring it into the next decade. We\u2019re trying to bring the metal genre forward and we\u2019re trying to be the top act in it. That\u2019s really what we\u2019re looking to do, and hopefully we can continue to do it so we can get to that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Formed during 2005\u2019s spring in the city of Kenosha, Wisconsin, Lazarus A.D.\u2019s personnel consists of; Paulick (lead vocals \/ bass), Dan Gapen (vocals \/ guitars), Alex Lackner (guitars) and Ryan Shutler (drums). \u201cWe formed in 2005 back when we were still juniors in high school,\u201d the frontman confirms. \u201cWe got some tunes together. I had jammed with the drummer and the guitarist for a couple of years already in previous bands, and then we decided to form this and go in a little bit of a heavier and faster direction than we were previously exploring. We picked up Alex about a half a year into writing, and it\u2019s been the same line-up ever since. We just played a bunch of shows locally and did a little bit of national stuff before we were signed and what not. We appeared on the Thrashing Like A Maniac<\/em> compilation which really opened up everything as far as being signed and what not. We recorded The Onslaught<\/em> before that in 2007, and then several months later we appeared on the compilation, and then Metal Blade signed us a couple of months after that in 2008. We then re-released The Onslaught<\/em> in 2009, touring with Testament and Amon Amarth. We played in Japan, which was great. We\u2019ve just been looking forward ever since, really trying to move forward with our musical careers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The outfit\u2019s moniker is lifted from Lazarus Of Bethany, also known as Saint Lazarus or Lazarus Of The Four Days, the subject of a miracle attributed to Jesus in the Gospel Of John. \u201cLazarus is a name from the Bible, a character who was raised from the dead by Jesus,\u201d Jeff elaborates. \u201cWe\u2019re not a Christian band or anything, but I guess it was a cool name to us. It has a Z in the name which a lot of bands don\u2019t have, so that sets us apart. Also, the idea of being raised from the dead has some meaning behind it; we were trying to resurrect a style of music that wasn\u2019t really popular at that time, and just tried to have an old school vibe and yet bring it into the modern times. At that time when we named the band that was how it was referred to, but now it\u2019s taken on a whole different meaning I guess, especially with adding the A.D. to avoid being sued and all that crap. It\u2019s just a name that stuck out to us though.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Onslaught<\/em><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Cut in January 2007, inaugural full-length The Onslaught<\/em> was recorded and engineered by Chris Djuricic (whose CV boasts names like Michael Angelo Batio and Soil) at Racine, Wisconsin\u2019s Studio One and mastered by erstwhile Death and Testament guitarist James Murphy. \u201cIt was recorded quick,\u201d the bassist remembers. \u201cIt was my first year in college, and I remember we booked recording time in-between my semesters \u2013 I had a few weeks off in the winter. We recorded the album at the beginning of January 2007, recording the whole thing in ten days. We had the material already written, ready to go, and we had done for awhile. We just weren\u2019t sure if we were gonna do it ourselves, or if we wanted to go professional. We decided to go professional to get a good quality record. It was a very fast ten days, and a very positive learning curve. Yeah, it was good but it was a long time ago. I can remember just recording the album so fast, but it turned out great. We were very happy with the album.\u201d<\/p>\n

Metal Blade Records re-released The Onslaught<\/em> in March 2009 arguably on the strength of \u2018Last Breath\u2019\u2019s appearance on Earache\u2019s aforementioned Thrashing Like A Maniac<\/em> compilation, released in Europe on January 21st, 2008 and in the US on February 5th. A music career proper seemed more viable at this juncture, but still it came at the price of education. \u201cI was the only one who was going to school,\u201d Jeff clarifies. \u201cI dropped out in my second year right after the Thrashing Like A Maniac<\/em> compilation came out because we were starting to get so many calls about being signed and what not. I realised that it wasn\u2019t any longer my dream, but it was just about to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Onslaught<\/em> was a successful outing, though sophomore affair Black Rivers Flow<\/em> wasn\u2019t penned in the hope of imitating its musical stylings. \u201cThis one is a lot different, and we\u2019re much older now,\u201d the thrasher stresses. \u201cLike I said, we were 17 when we wrote The Onslaught<\/em>. We\u2019re a much more mature band; we\u2019re more mature in our personal lives and everything, and we really wanted to make sure that these songs were gonna stand out on this record. We didn\u2019t wanna write another Onslaught<\/em>, a bunch of thrash songs with really fast, cool riffs. We really wanted to show people that we\u2019re capable of doing something else in the metal genre. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe really focused on the structure of songs, making sure that they\u2019re actual songs; in other words, a verse and then a chorus you can remember, catchy vocal lines, and catchy solos. As far as the writing process, overall it was the same. We really focus on making sure that all the riffs are as good as they can possibly be, and it\u2019s pieced together in a way that it\u2019s gonna make the song have the best point. We wrote the majority of this record in ten weeks, and we went through a lot of grief in our lives; we had a couple of family members die during that process and during the recording process and what not, so they were very hard obstacles for us to get over personally. We met a lot of challenges, but we overcame all of them and we feel like we have an incredibly strong record.\u201d<\/p>\n

Were those challenges reflected in Black Rivers Flow<\/em>\u2019s lyrical content Jeff? \u201cYeah, some of them. There isn\u2019t a direct reference where I\u2019m talking about what happened, but I\u2019d definitely say there\u2019s a vibe on the record which reflects personal struggles and how to overcome them. One of the songs \u2013 \u2018Casting Forward\u2019 \u2013 is directly linked to dealing with somebody dying and stuff like that. Moreso in the music I guess it came out \u2013 we really focused on the music. As far as lyrics, we thought \u2018Whatever.\u2019 We were still somehow able to write really good riffs even going through what we were going through. I was very happy with how it turned out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The difficult second album is a much hyped issue in the annals of music, but composing a successor to The Onslaught<\/em> wasn\u2019t a problem for Lazarus A.D. \u201cWith a lot of people obviously, their second records do really fall short of their first ones if their first ones are the one that broke them out, that people love,\u201d the singer explains. \u201cWe didn\u2019t really wanna focus on that; we just wanted to focus on writing a good record in a different way because we knew that we wouldn\u2019t be able to top The Onslaught<\/em> in terms of the way that it was done. It was a period in our lives that\u2019ll never be there again, and we had a mindset then that we\u2019ll never have again \u2013 it was just a special time and place for that record. What we wanted to do with this one was have a special time and place for this record. I think that\u2019s how every record should be. If you\u2019re trying to sound like something then it isn\u2019t honest music. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe wrote whatever came out and we used what we had \u2013 we didn\u2019t say \u2018I wanna write a thrash song, and this is how it\u2019s gonna be.\u2019 The riffs came out, and Black Rivers Flow<\/em> is how they were arranged together in that time period. I think it\u2019s very important to capture something like that, especially a lot of the solos and stuff like that \u2013 a lot of them are improv on the record. It was a time and place and you have to be in that mindset because you\u2019re not gonna have that mindset again two years down the road. When we do the next record, it\u2019s probably gonna sound different again (laughs). I don\u2019t know what it\u2019s gonna sound like. I just know that this is how we do things, and whatever comes out comes out. We don\u2019t like to force riffs because I think a lot of bands do, and it turns out to me very fabricated and very unemotional, and that\u2019s not what we wanted to do. This is a very honest record.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jeff Paulick<\/em><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Thrash obsessives historically have little patience where flexing one\u2019s musical wings is concerned, so the pressure to write blitzkrieg type offensives is usually overwhelming. \u201cPeople label us as a thrash band, but I don\u2019t think we ever… I mean, yeah, we had that \u2018Thrash or die\u2019 label at that time, especially with The Onslaught<\/em> which was a very fast record,\u201d acknowledges Jeff. \u201cAs far as thrashing though, you can thrash to any type of metal. I never thought we were a straight Metallica \/ Slayer<\/a> tribute band or anything like that. I really thought we had a different sound, even though our stuff was very fast on the first record and now with the second, people are really gonna understand that we aren\u2019t that thrash band or whatever. We\u2019re just a straightforward metal band. You can classify us however you want, but I\u2019m gonna play rock\u2019n\u2019roll. That\u2019s what we\u2019re looking to do; we\u2019re looking to write good songs and put on a killer show, and play. We do have distorted guitars and a double-bass kit, but I don\u2019t know what people constitute as metal these days because everybody\u2019s got an opinion, and everybody seems to know exactly what the hell they\u2019re talking about. I\u2019d like to think that we\u2019re heavy metal (laughs). That\u2019s what we\u2019re gonna continue to play. Whether people wanna say we\u2019re thrash or we\u2019re groove or we\u2019re core or we\u2019re this or we\u2019re that, put your label on us because I really don\u2019t care. I\u2019m gonna come out and put the same show on every night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the material penned in support of The Onslaught<\/em> was written while the quartet attended high school, it\u2019d be understandable for fans to merely assume that Lazarus A.D. is also informed by newer influences nowadays. It\u2019s safer to assume nothing, however. \u201cI guess the influences for Black Rivers Flow<\/em> wouldn\u2019t even really be fresh influences \u2013 we were just delving back into some different stuff,\u201d the bassist discloses. \u201cWith the first record, I can definitely tell you that we were listening to a lot of Exodus, a lot of Testament, a lot of Metallica, Pantera and what not. We still listen to a lot of Metallica and Pantera and we always will, but I know we were definitely going through a classic rock phase towards the end of the Kreator tour and while we were writing this record, just focusing on bands like Bad Company and Creedence Clearwater Revival and groups like that. Very stripped down Southern classic rock. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just awesome, you know what I mean? We took some of those influences I guess into this record as far as the songwriting structures. Obviously, this is not a classic rock album. It\u2019s a very heavy metal record, but I guess just the idea of those big songs that you love to sing along to and you can never forget, and every time they come on the radio you just turn it up and all your friends start banging their heads \u2013 that\u2019s what we wanted to do, but in a heavier vein. That\u2019s what Pantera did, so I guess there is a lot more of a Pantera influence as far as that goes and people can hear that. I don\u2019t mind being compared to Pantera, nor do I mind being compared to Metallica. Those are the two greatest metal bands to ever exist, so if they\u2019re gonna compare us to them. I\u2019m okay with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pantera\u2019s influence is certainly audible, especially on lead album track \u2018The Ultimate Sacrifice\u2019; towards its conclusion, the main riff of \u2018Walk\u2019 (from February 1992\u2019s Vulgar Display Of Power<\/em>) enters the fray. \u201cThe riff you\u2019re referring to is the chorus riff, so I know which part you\u2019re talking about,\u201d Jeff corroborates. \u201c\u2018The Ultimate Sacrifice\u2019\u2019s chorus riff doesn\u2019t sound like \u2018Walk\u2019 at all, but then towards the end of the song we changed the chorus riff to give it a little bit more feel and it ended up sounding a lot like \u2018Walk.\u2019 I guess we didn\u2019t even really realise until after the album was finished, and by then we thought \u2018Oh well, it\u2019s too late to change that now.\u2019 It\u2019s still cool though. If people say \u2018Oh my God, that\u2019s a rip-off of \u2018Walk\u2019,\u2019 it\u2019s not; it\u2019s only the last half a minute of the song, so it\u2019s more of a homage or whatever. It is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Lazarus A.D. (l-r): Ryan Shutler, Alex Lackner,
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The vocal department on Black Rivers Flow<\/em> has a greater synergy, the chemistry between Jeff and Dan generating better vocal co-ordination. \u201cWe use this phrase a lot because we watch a lot of American football back home, in that the teams say they always play to their strengths,\u201d the frontman illuminates. \u201cI thought that\u2019s what we did on this record. When we did the first one, I didn\u2019t even wanna sing. When we first started the band, I didn\u2019t wanna be the singer; we wanted to have a stand-alone singer, but we just couldn\u2019t find anybody in our area who could do anything remotely as good as we\u2019re doing. So we just stuck with it, and we knew for the second record that we wanted to get Dan more involved because he does have a really good voice. We don\u2019t have a stand-alone singer, so we\u2019ve gotta set ourselves apart even farther than just having a very monotonous sound in terms of the vocals. That\u2019s where I really stepped up as far as how I diversified the screams and the singing. Dan then comes in and does his singing as well, so you really get a very fresh and very diverse vocal approach and I think it really adds to the entire record. The record is already very diverse in itself, and then when you get all the vocals the songs don\u2019t become stale. You keep wanting to listen to them. We definitely knew that we wanted to get Dan more involved, and we did, and I\u2019m sure that in the future we\u2019re gonna get him even more involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff\u2019s initial reluctance to handle vocals could lead to rumours he wishes to step away from the microphone to concentrate on bass, a line-up change the man would be open to under the right circumstances. \u201cThat may be a possibility. If we did meet somebody who was absolutely amazing and felt like he would be a good fit in the band and had the image and so on, I would never be opposed to actually having a full-on singer. Obviously, the approach to the music would be much different and you would definitely get a different Lazarus because that\u2019s adding a fifth member. Like I said though, if that opportunity ever came I would definitely not be opposed to it, but who knows if it ever would? Who knows? Maybe the first few records we do without a real singer or whatever may not even be the whole picture. I don\u2019t know though. Who knows if that\u2019ll ever happen?\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris Djuricic returned for Black Rivers Flow<\/em>, but on this occasion recording happened at Racine\u2019s Belle City Sound. \u201cHe was definitely mostly an engineer,\u201d the singer reveals. \u201cHe did especially help produce a lot of the vocals, I will say that. Song structures and things like that we pretty much already had in the bag. A couple of things here and there he helped us with, but a lot of the vocals he helped produce and not even so much telling us what to do \u2013 just trying to drag some stuff out of us. This was new territory for us as far as exploring vocals go, and it was a good experience for us. We gained a lot of confidence after hearing how it turned out in what we were able to do, especially during the times that we were doing it. Overall, it was just a great experience. He did our first record as well, so we\u2019re very comfortable with him. He\u2019s a really good dude, and he has a really good ear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lazarus A.D. favours engineers, producers being regarding with an air of suspicion. \u201cDan\u2019s really against producers and things like that,\u201d Jeff admits. \u201cMe and Dan produce everything pretty much; we really have a good chemistry \u2013 kinda Lennon \/ McCartney style if you will \u2013 and that\u2019s what we like to do. That\u2019s just what works for us. I\u2019m not opposed to having a producer come in and try to give me some ideas, but when a guy starts telling me what to do and starts changing things too much, that\u2019s when heads start to clash. I think there are some really, really great producers out there. I read a biography of Rick Rubin a few weeks ago, and there\u2019s a guy who just totally has such a weird approach to producing, but yet he just pulls these things out of you that you didn\u2019t even know you had. There are other producers who have that ability, and I definitely wouldn\u2019t be opposed to working with somebody like that who definitely sees what we\u2019re trying to go for and just really pulls things out of musicians rather than telling them what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Another gentleman makes a return appearance on Black Rivers Flow<\/em>: James Murphy. \u201cHe nailed it this time,\u201d the bassist maintains. \u201cThe Onslaught<\/em> was already recorded, and we just sent it to him to get it remixed. This time, we already knew he was going to mix it so during the recording process, we were working with him a little bit. Chris did a really great job of tracking it; we got some amazing guitar tones that were all out of our EVH Heads which just sounded absolutely killer, so when it came down to the mix, James just made it sound better than the last one. There\u2019s no question; the drums sound better, the vocals \u2013 everything sounds better. He killed, so we\u2019re in love with the mix. To be able to work with him, and with him being such a legend in his own right… He really loves the band and he loves working with us, so it\u2019s a great relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Black Rivers Flow<\/em> was released on January 31st, 2011 in Europe and on February 1st in North America, all through Metal Blade Records.<\/p>\n

Interview published in February 2011<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LAZARUS A.D. – The Strong Prevail Anthony Morgan February 2011 Lazarus A.D. (l-r): Alex Lackner, Jeff Paulick, Ryan Shutler and Dan Gapen Pic: Stephen Jensen Cyclical in nature much like other music subgenres, thrash metal\u2019s mid noughties resurgence \u2013 particularly championed by Nottingham\u2019s Earache Records whose stable includes the likes of Evile, Gama Bomb, Municipal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-lazarus-ad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1226"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5841,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1226\/revisions\/5841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}