Zao
Legendary

February 2005
Released: 2004, Solid State Records
Rating: 2.5/5
Reviewer: Lord of the Wasteland

While I have never heard of them before, Zao is a Seattle-based Christian metalcore band who hold something of a cult following in the Pacific Northwest. Formed in 1997, Zao has gone through a TON of lineup changes (*look to your right --->) and skipped around to a few labels, as well. Under the impression Zao had ceased to exist as a functioning band, Ryan Clark (Demon Hunter, Training For Utopia, Focal Point) put together LEGENDARY, seventeen of the "best" tracks (in his opinion) from Zao's brief career. Seattle's Solid State Records got behind the release and, in an interesting (stupid?) marketing move, released the CD in a white jewel case with just the tracklisting and no labeling anywhere as to what was inside. An information-filled booklet, written by Clark, is included that offers an extensive commentary on the band, full discography and the laundry list of band members.



One would never guess these guys are Christian, as there is no overt Bible-thumping going on and the vocals are barely discernable. The music is a blend of metalcore, punk and hardcore with throat-shredding vocals at points. The tracks on LEGENDARY are a mixed bag. "Free The Three" is actually quite brilliant in its use of emotional news clips to set the mood of the song. "Ravage Ritual" oozes with savage Slayer-like riffs and "The Race of Standing Still" is a monstrously heavy track. On the other hand, "Times of Separation" is just plain awful due to the vocals of Shawn Jonas and the three new tracks featuring the return of former vocalist Cory Darst are just as bad as those that Jonas appears on. Shredded vocal cords singing take on the same annoying rasp of the current phalanx of screamo bands terrorizing the market and no one in their right mind can encourage that type of behavior!



It just seems that for every killer track on LEGENDARY, there are two that are mediocre or terrible. Obviously, having SO MANY lineups mashed together on to one CD makes the music seem ever more divergent but LEGENDARY carries the same lack of cohesion that a soundtrack CD does. Zao hardly strikes me as a "singles" type of band, but isn't a "best of" collection supposed to showcase a band's career in a positive light?