By Aline Miladinovich

Hailing from “America’s Heartland,” a region not typically associated with brutal thrash metal, comes a very heavy and pleasant surprise. Formed in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2005 and signed to Metal Blade Records in 2006, Lazarus A.D. are already becoming quite a force to be reckoned with in the metal scene— and with only one record under their belt. Having already logged tours with such heavy hitters as Testament, Anthrax and Vader, they’re currently gearing up to hit the road with Kreator in March.

YMM: I know there has been a lot of buzz about the impressive old-school thrash sound that Lazarus A.D. has and how well you guys pull it off. People who grew up on Testament, Anthrax, etc., love you guys. Have you been finding the more established bands you’ve been touring with to be encouraging and supportive of you as a more up-and-coming band?

Jeff Paulick: Absolutely—you know we definitely have the “old school” feel. That’s what we were going for with this record, but we do have that modern influence, and you can definitely tell that in the production and in the songwriting. I think that’s why older bands are attracted to it, like Testament, and I keep saying Testament because that’s one of my all time favorites. They’re kind of doing the same thing. They have that old school sound, because they WERE in the old school, but their new stuff is so much more modern, there’s so much more production going on and that’s definitely what we’re going for as well. The old-school guys really appreciate what we’re doing, and they appreciate us trying to put it into the forefront as well. These bands are getting older, and they’re not going to be able to do it for too, too much longer. We realize that the next generation is going to carry it on. I guess they would much rather have bands who are trying to keep the sound how it was in the 80’s, maybe rather than this whole new “deathcore” or “metal revolution” or whatever that’s happening these days.

YMM: I know you have tours lined up for early in the year, but any ideas when you might go into the studio to start recording?

Jeff Paulick: Yeah, we’re actually going to be off until the Kreator tour in March, and we’re going to take that time to write and really prepare for the next record and have everything ready to go. Probably by next summer we’ll be back in the studio. So, even though we only released our last album a year and a couple of months ago, it was two years prior to that when we actually recorded it, you know what I mean? So, it’s old to us, while it’s only fairly old to everyone else. We’re just really excited to get the new material out and really show everybody what we can do now, versus what we did when we were nineteen.

YMM: I always like to take the opportunity in interviews to ask the musicians I’m talking to for a recommendation on who they think deserves some recognition.

Jeff Paulick: First and foremost, I’ll say our guys in Havok. They’re from Colorado, and they’ve been good friends of ours for a long time. They’re an up and coming thrash band, kind of like us, and they’ve just been working really, really hard. There’s also another band I enjoy listening to from the UK called Sylosis. They put out a brand of music that – well, is kind of a mix of thrash mixed with Killswitch…I don’t know, it’s just really, really good! The production on the CD is so unbelievably tight, and the musicianship and songwriting is so good.

YMM: Last question: Your dream tour, the sky’s the limit, who’s on the bill, and where are you going?

Jeff Paulick: Aw, Jesus! (Laughs) Dream tour…oh, man! I don’t know? If I could pick any band…I wish Dime wasn’t gone, because I would definitely say Pantera. Because Metallica, Pantera, they’re definitely two ultimate bands that we love and adore, and would love to tour with. Metallica would be the number one that we could tour with. Anything – opening supporting, just let us ride on the tour bus! I don’t even care! I’ll set up some bongos and an acoustic guitar outside the venue if I have to, you know what I mean? Just to be on tour with Metallica, I think that’s everyone’s dream. They’re the biggest metal band in the world – they’ve sold the most records, back in the 80’s they took the most risks, and they just dominated all, you know? They’re the biggest and the best, no matter which way you look at it. There’s always going to be haters, arguers, stuff like that, but the fact remains, they are number one. I think all these bands that are touring with them now, you know like Slipknot, Machine Head, Lamb of God, Gojira, stuff like that…that’s so awesome. They can say that, “yeah, we toured with Metallica.” I think that as a metal musician, that’s your plateau. That’s your pinnacle. I don’t think you can get any bigger than that unless you’re headlining that tour, and the day that someone headlines over Metallica, we’ll all be spinning in our graves.

You can read the entire interview at yourmusicmagazine.com.

Lazarus A.D. is:

Jeff Paulick – Lead Vocals/Bass

Alex Lackner – Rhythm Guitar

Dan Gapen – Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals

Ryan Shutler - Drums

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