Even though I was never a big fan of that sound, HACRIDE was a band that I respected. And after their previous album Amoeba, I had high expectations about this quartet from France. And thankfully, they didn't disappoint me with their new album with the Greek name Lazarus.

Their history has nothing extraordinary. They formed back in 2001 in France and they never had any ups-and-downs to their lineup. Their first release was a demo in 2003 and from 2005 until now they recorded two full length albums, in 2005 and 2007 respectively. So, HACRIDE, even though French, are just like an Englishman in their appointment with their fans and two years after Amoeba their new album is out on the stores selves ready to hunt you CD player.

To Walk Among Them, the opening track of the album, was for me a strange choice, since it's not normal to have an over-15-minutes track as an opener. But it was a surprise since I didn't even understand how that quarter of an hour passed by! The album flows beautifully will all those different rhythms in every track. The good thing about HACRIDE is that, despite they never tried to hide their influences, the band manages to filter them and present them as their own sound, something difficult in our days. In order to make Lazarus HACRIDE used the following recipe with the best ingredients from the progressive 'post' Metal genre: A kilo of MESHUGGAH bulldozer rhythms, a cup of NEUROSIS riffing, 3 cups of progressive TOOL-like bass lines and riffing (just listen to A World Of Lies and Awakening), a pinch of an electronic touch of CULT OF LUNA and a spoon of THE OCEAN-like postcore . Put them in the studio for about four months and there you have it!

I'm a bit surprised myself with how much I liked the album. It's one of those times, and there are not many, that I wasn't bored listening to that kind of music, probably because those four guys sat down and wrote some songs and didn't try to be more technical or give their music more speed. A very good album that everyone should give a try.