Only Steve Blaze remains from the original lineup of Lillian Axe — one of the greatest unheralded hard-rock/heavy-metal bands of the late Eighties and early Nineties — but he's still the band's visionary. That's why Waters Rising, Lillian's first studio album of new material since 1993's Psychoschizophrenia, sounds so comfortably familiar. "I Have To Die, Goodbye," for example, is a slowed-down, less-seething version of that album's "Those Who Prey," and Waters Rising's title track, "Until the End of the World" and "The 2nd Day of May" sound as if they could have been recorded 15 or more years ago. "Quarantine," "Antarctica" and "Become A Monster," on the other hand, offer solid examples of how Blaze and his new bandmates successfully balance the past and the present. And Derrick LeFevre mightily handles lead vocals, making listeners all but forget original singer Ron Taylor.
Lillian Axe always had a dark side (for proof, just listen to "All's Fair in Love and War" from 1989), but that darkness is accentuated a bit more on Waters Rising, which nevertheless retains the band's keen melodic sensibilities that were too smart for the likes of Lillian's peers. A handful of songs here appeared in different form on 1999's Fields Of Yesterday, a collection of previously unreleased tracks recorded between 1989 and 1992, but they're dusted off and freshened up.
It's doubtful Waters Rising will lift Lillian Axe to the heights the band should have reached the first time around. But how ironic that had this record been released back in the day, it just might have been Lillian's big break…
Track Listing:
1) Waters Rising
2) Antarctica
3) Become A Monster
4) Quarantine
5) I Have To Die, Goodbye
6) Fear of Time
7) Until the End of the World
8) Fields of Yesterday
9) Thirst
10) The 2nd of May
11) Deep in the Black
12) 5
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