Zao

I know they are more under the Metalcore/hardcore umbrella. But oh well, I enjoy them, so I'm starting a thread!
I remember, back when I was 14 "The Funeral of God" rocked my world. The bass was alive, the vocals were angry, and I was digging it.
Thoughts on the band? Like? Dislike? Don't give a single crap?

2004 rocked for the Christian hardcore scene......

Hard to respond to this one.

one of the very best metalcore bands out there.

I'm not really a fan of 'hardcore', but I do enjoy Zao's stuff. I have 2 of their early cds.

Never liked the vocals.

I was into em around 2004 also, but with much earlier records of their's. Where fire and blood bring rest and liberate were both rad as Smurf.

Liked them a bit in the 90's. I still have a handful of Zao CDs but I haven't actually spun a Zao disc in years.

ultmetal wrote:

I still have a handful of Zao CDs but I haven't actually spun a Zao disc in years.

Same here.

I had everything up until F.O.G, even the original All Else Failed. Just kinda grew out of it, but but wouldn't mind listening to them if I wanted to.

Too heavy for my liking. Is there something like a melodic metalcore with preference to clean vocals?

BearOnUnicycle wrote:

Too heavy for my liking. Is there something like a melodic metalcore with preference to clean vocals?

Maybe check out the first Demon Hunter record, dude.

An early band I played in (primedia cellout) played with them in their infancy (1993). They were terrible, but their albums are pretty good.

listening to those clips makes me wanna dig out some Zao. it's been a while.

Where Blood And Fire Bring Rest is my favorite of theirs.......crushing!

I love love love 'Liberate Te Ex Inferis' and 'The Funeral of God', this is some serious "metalcore" with soul that doesn't care whether it fits strictly into that tag. I also enjoy 'Splinter Shards The Birth of Seperation' a great deal, I never got as much into 'Where Blood And Fire Bring Rest' as much as those but it's still good. The others...self-titled, 'Parade of Chaos' etc I'm not into at all.....so when they're kind of bad, I don't care, but when they're good they are excellent.

Stender wrote:

BearOnUnicycle wrote:

Too heavy for my liking. Is there something like a melodic metalcore with preference to clean vocals?

Maybe check out the first Demon Hunter record, dude.

Any of the Demon Hunter albums for that matter.

ZAO are not really a band that I ever got into. My brothers were into them big time along with Stretch Armstrong, Blindside and the Agony Scene.

You know, I've wanted to try them forever and I always forget about them. They have a big Discography too.

I like August Burns Red, Sleeping Giant, etc.....are they similar/as heavy? I don't care for alot of "clean" vocals in my 'core.

Those songs sound pretty awesome.

they don't do clean vox, aside from a bit part here or there. usually just sticks with the Carcass style vox.

Liberate Te Ex Inferis is my favorite by them, but that's not saying that any of their other albums are undeserving. I have every LP minus Parade of Chaos and listen to every one of them pretty often.

jettafiend wrote:

ZAO are not really a band that I ever got into. My brothers were into them big time along with Stretch Armstrong, Blindside and the Agony Scene.

The Agony Scene was one of the few other metalcore bands I could really get into. Although their imagery was laughable.

metalhead777 wrote:

jettafiend wrote:

ZAO are not really a band that I ever got into. My brothers were into them big time along with Stretch Armstrong, Blindside and the Agony Scene.

The Agony Scene was one of the few other metalcore bands I could really get into. Although their imagery was laughable.

I completely agree, they took themselves a bit too seriously, but are fantastic musicians. One of the things that I really liked about them was the lead singers voice. He has a really cool sounding scream.

I used to hate zao. But in the last few years I've grown to enjoy them quite a bit. One day my buddy was playing his iPod on shuffle and a couple zao songs made appearances. I think it was "free the three" that really caugh my attention and I suddenly got it. OCI is right on the money when he says that they are one of the few metalcore bands with soul. I think I used to mistake that soul and feeling for sloppiness, but now I see that their looseness and chaos is integral part of that soul.

So I'm slowly picking up zao records as I see 'em now. I love "parade of chaos" and "the fear is what keeps us here" and today picked up funeral of god and self-titled. Now I'm looking forward to blasting those records as I drive home from Spokane in a couple days.

WE MARCH LIKE FOOLS IN A PARADE OF CHAOS!!

They're ok for 'core. Saw them live and I have to say, they kind of bit. Singer kept losing the lyric and the guitarist was sloppy but they made up for it by being extra loud. BTA was with them and were tight.