Two guys from Germany got together to form LAZARUS DREAM. Once a drummer was added, they are presenting their third full album Imaginary Life for our listening pleasure. Their proposal is a softer and more palatable kind of Metal. The ones you can take your family to a concert without concerns. The not dangerous kind of Metal. Maybe we can call it Hard Rock. Please don’t be too soft. The first song is “The Sweetest Chaos”. It starts already on some kind of  catchy chorus and turns into a well composed song with a few handful of melodies. The musicianship is good but the main star is the singing. Carsten Schulz has a good melodic range and enough ruffness when necessary.

A traditional DIO style guitar riff introduces “Vulture's Cry”  and it has also a nice baseline during the verses and another nice vocal melody. The band does not turn much into the epic metal style genre and reminds me more of the  80's and 90’s American hard rock bands. Phaser on the guitar and here we go! “Rebel Again” is next with a sporadic keyboard presence  and a faster tempo increasing the energy. The composition and performance are from well seasoned musicians and every tune you have something nice to catch. Nice vocal and backing vocals work so far.

“My Imaginary Life” starts again with the chorus in a nice voice arrangement that will probably not work live with only one 2 vocals. The song is peppered with a very traditional guitar riff  and a BON JOVI melody if Bon Jovi could sing. The song reminds a lot of the softer and more melodic rock from when I was younger and makes you think of a hand full of bands. We follow with “Beauty Among The Ruins” with a nice rhythm pattern from drummer Markus Herzog. This is the inevitable ballad and once again it gives totally 80’s and 90’s vibes. Good arrangement and good melody with that traditional suffering vocal lines takes you back in time. The song to listen to with your significant other.

We pass the halfway point with “Disaster Love” and they do like to start the song with either the title or a chorus. Great riff from guitar player Markus Pfeffer with some distorted chug chugs and a good solo. The melody is catchy as ever despite the weird ending of the song. LAZARUS DREAM certainly drank from the fountain of DEF LEPPARD, EUROPE and even WARRANT and this is evident in every song including “Vertigo” that starts with a nice guitar and keyboard arrangement (please do not start with the chorus), and it does not! Nice and traditional hard rock riffs that are structured a little on the softer  side for your listening pleasure. Another nice backing vocal work as well.

All songs are well structured showing that we are listening to well seasoned musicians and composers. The songs have an average of over 4 minutes but they do not sound overdone at all. All it is in its place. We get to “Prayer” and the band surprises with a nice welcoming riff with a nice bass line. I do not know if LAZARUS DREAM is a religious metal group and I did not feel that on the album up until now. If they are, props to them as the song is great (despite God not existing) and would make STRYPER look like the Devil. Great energetic chorus talking to the man upstairs.

We reach a heavy one with “Drink My Blood” and it is another great guitar riff and a catchy chorus. We have to mention again the very good singer Carsten Schulz who seems to be the leader of the pack. Flawless voice and great range in all songs and on this one we are presented with some high screams. His kind of voice is perfect for the genre and makes a lot of other famous artists of the same genre run for their money.

We end this good album with “Empire Of Thorns” and we go back to the title of the song as the first thing you listen to, followed by a crazy guitar solo. All tunes are well produced and the output quality is good. This song has different moods and riff ideas spread throughout  as all the others do. Really palatable hard rock without going too close to EUROPE or BON JOVI style. I look forward to seeing a live performance with all the gear and musicians to reproduce this work live with fidelity.