The only ones I have besides Awake? are Blood and Fire and Liberate. The biggest change between them that I've noticed is how much Scott's singing adds. It also seems like it is less chaotic and almost more of a rock metal style.
truthless86- 06-04-2009
I had my roommate play some Zao on his computer last night (Last Song From Zion). He was not impressed.
But from what you're saying regarding the changes to their style, I may have to head over to their myspace page and sample the new stuff. The vocals have always been the sticking point, why I could never fully appreciate them as a band in the past.
truthdivides- 06-04-2009
You don't like Weyandt's scream? That is one of the reasons I think they are such a unique band.
truthless86- 06-05-2009
Unfortunately, I am one of those people who normally learns a song's lyrics 95% of the time by listening to the song over and over again throughout the course of a few days or weeks. And dammit, I need to be able to sing/scream along with the vocalist when I'm listening to the song in my car. That becomes increasingly difficult when I can't even guess what the lyrics are without running over to my CD rack and pulling out the liner notes (have you ever tried reading the lyrics while driving 70 down the highway? Not easy). I really have no problem with a band when I can understand the words that are coming from the vocalist's mouth, but unfortunately my poor old ears tend to have trouble with that on a regular basis. A scream is good, no doubt. But knowing what he's screaming is very important to me (which is my chief complaint about just about every Solid State band out there).
Nothing personal against Zao, though. They have had some very good songs.
truthdivides- 06-05-2009
I gotcha. Most of my friends say similar things whenever they hear me listening to Zao or other bands like that.
truthless86- 06-20-2009
A somewhat humorous sidenote to this. Zao releases an album called "Awake?" early in the summer, while the band Skillet is releasing an album in August called "Awake". Is this Skillet's idea of answering the "question" in Zao's title? Or just a happy, freaky coincidence?
truthdivides- 06-20-2009
haha, I noticed this also.
Skillet's title may come from the title of their last album, Comatose. So their Awake could be a continuation of that. But if it is otherwise, I say they stole it from Zao. :)
Conspiracy_Theory- 08-16-2009
I had my roommate play some Zao on his computer last night (Last Song From Zion). He was not impressed.
But from what you're saying regarding the changes to their style, I may have to head over to their myspace page and sample the new stuff. The vocals have always been the sticking point, why I could never fully appreciate them as a band in the past.
I preordered the album and it came at a crucial time so I don't regret listening to it. I have loved Zao since the moment I heard Autopsy and this album definitely helped me get through one of the worst periods of my life, true to story with my other experiences with Zao.
I have a habit of buying an album, listening to it to death, and not touching it for a long time. This disk became that; so I sold it. The only real keeper this year was a Sarah Mclaughlen's B-Side album
As for the Zao album:
The best song on it was The Romance of the Southern Spirit, which was written by Russ who is no longer in the band. One particular track about the suicide of a band friend which they posted first on their myspace, was Zao level quality. It was superior in all aspects, music, lyrics, and general togetherness.
I ultimately see Zao as a death metal band because Zao in its best is keeping people alive and picking up what's left when the world hits rock bottom.
The rest of the album sounds like a car running on 2 wheels when it should have four. The production is good, but they are missing two key musicians. The parts written are good...it's just not complete Zao. If I hadn't heard Zao before and did not have a picture of the zenith of Zao, I might not have noticed, but experience as is, it feels incomplete.
Also at times the message is unclear. It just came together a little weird, it seems to me. I think the crowd that will appreciate this album will be the true death metal fans because the "Awake" message is written in such a weird passive goth like approach I don't think it will connect with other audiences. But hey someone has to wake up the death metal crowd so... great.
Overall I love Zao but I didn't see myself ever listening to this on a regular basis. Maybe I'm just mellowing out in my old age.
truthdivides- 08-16-2009
I still like this album a lot. I like the lyrics on it a lot. I might take something different away from them than others, but that's cool with me.
I am gonna hopefully get S/T, Parade of Chaos, Funeral of God, and The Fear sooner than later. But it may be later because I will be paying all my money for tuition in a month or two.
Conspiracy_Theory- 08-16-2009
I still like this album a lot. I like the lyrics on it a lot. I might take something different away from them than others, but that's cool with me.
I am gonna hopefully get S/T, Parade of Chaos, Funeral of God, and The Fear sooner than later. But it may be later because I will be paying all my money for tuition in a month or two.
Parade of Chaos is pretty amazing really.
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