Altsounds - Hacride - Lazurus [Album]

Lazurus is the third full-length release from French metal band Hacride, which, like all their previous records, is released through Listenable records. Lazurus explores quite a variety of different metal styles, ranging from progressive, death, tech with elements of thrash. The progressive element is very apparent throughout, there being only 7 tracks on Lazurus but the average length being just under 8 and a half minutes each. There are also hints of Meshuggah which pop up from time to time, but unlike a Mushuggah record which is consistently brutal from start to finish, Hacride add a more melodic element with more singing and chilled out break downs.

The production is great with clarity through out and strong definition on all of the punctuation. For people who have never heard of Hacride imagine a mixture of Mushuggah, Gojira, Opeth, Cult of Luna, The Ocean and Burst. This album is definitely a grower. There is a lot going on with a great level of intricacy in the playing, which takes some time to get used to. The vocals, in places, are very similar to those of Gojira frontman Joe Duplantier. I’m not sure where this uniqueness comes from but I assume it must be something to do with being French.

The more I listen to this album the more I like it. The constantly changing dynamics of the songs make it easier listening compared to a band that just blasts you with noise for 60 minutes. It also seems that more and more bands are becoming less afraid to broaden the spectrum of their music and step out of the confines of a single genre. Hacride have a level of maturity which shows that they are musically knowledgeable and able to create an album which, as a collective shows that its possible to be incredibly diverse with extreme fluidity.