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Zao - The Fear is What Keeps Us Here

 

	RELEASED: June 13th, 2006 PRODUCER:Steve Albini LABEL:Ferret BAND: Dan Weyandt Scott Mellinger Marty Lunn Jeff Gretz
+ All-out ferocity, Weyandt’s lyrics, Production - Couple forgettable songs, Production	TRACKS: 1.Cancer Eater 2.Physician, Heal Thyself 3.Everything You Love Will Soon Fly Away 4.It’s Hard Not to Shake with a Gun in Your Mouth 5.Kingdom of Thieves 6. Killing Time ‘Til It’s Time to Die 7.There’s No Such Thing as Paranoia 8.Pudgy Young Blondes With Lobotomy Eyes 9.My Love, My Love (We’ve Come Back From the Dead) 10.American Sheets on the Deathbed 11.A Last Time For Everything

 

OVERVIEW

Forget everything you thought you knew about Zao.  Forget that their lineup changes approximately as often as most of us change socks.  Forget that they all but defined modern metalcore with records like 1998’s “Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest”.  Forget all the ridiculous “Is Zao a Christian band?” arguments, the onstage breakups, and the experimental albums that alienated as many fans as they won.  What matters is that Zao has just put out what’s arguably their best record since 1999’s “Liberate Te Ex Infernis”, an all-out, savage, raw, grind-influenced beatdown of an album that explodes out of the gate and hits you right between the eyes with their trademark metalcore sound – often imitated, never duplicated. What you’ll immediately notice about this record, aside from Zao’s renewed ferocity, is the raw, bare-bones production job of analog guru Steve Albini (Nirvana, Fugazi, The Pixies) that simultaneously highlights Zao’s brutal attack and almost blurs the mix to the point where it sounds like a really, really loud basement concert, which from what I’ve heard was exactly the point.  On the downside, it does muddy the mix to the point where it’s hard to hear individual parts, but the songwriting is really what makes this album what it is – Mellinger and Weyandt have penned some of their best songs in a seriously long time, and it shows in this record’s infectious sonic brutality.

SONGS

The 2-minute “Cancer Eater” really isn’t a song, per se, but sets the anticipation high with some haunting arpeggios that eventually give way to “Physician, Heal Thyself”, which immediately goes for the throat with newcomer Jeff Gretz running an absolute clinic on the drum kit and everyone else thrashing along in a grind-influenced fury.  “Everything You Love Will Soon Fly Away” keeps things double-kicking along with some great riffing and rhythms, not to mention some of Weyandt’s most cathartic screaming ever, and things only get crazier with “It’s Hard Not To Shake With a Gun in Your Mouth”, a scathing rebuttal to the judgmental church. “Kingdom of Thieves” dares to slow the pace slightly, but that’s not saying much, and “Killing Time to Die” speeds by in a blur of furious rage and (gasp!) Scott Mellinger’s first guitar solo in, well, a really long time.  “There is No Such Thing As Paranoia” rumbles by and is honestly sort of forgettable for me, but never fear, Zao comes right back with “Pudgy Young Blondes With Lobotomy Eyes” with more sledgehammer riffing, not to mention a great acoustic(ish) interlude.  “My Love, My Love, (We’ve Come Back From the Dead) is Weyandt’s zombie love story, complete with one of the nastiest groove riffs on the record, and the furious American culture critique “American Sheets on the Deathbed” follows suit with some insanely catchy, brutal riffing combined with a savage breakdown that make it one of my favorite songs on the record.  “A Last Time For Everything” definitely isn’t one of the more memorable songs, but as a closer, it certainly gets the job done and provides some sort of closure to the 37 minutes of auditory bludgeoning.

CONCLUSION

Zao’s best record since “Liberate Te Ex Infernis”.  Brutal, cathartic, introspective (read the lyrics if you don’t think savage metalcore can be thoughtful), and chaotic – in other words, everything a great Zao record should be.  Well done, dudes.

Review by Matt Rewinski

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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