19.02.2002

Zao is quite an intriguing band. I have to admit to not being familiar with any releases previous to 1997’s «Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest», and this puts me at an immediate disadvantage as band history goes. From what I’ve been told, Zao was a more straight-forward hardcore outfit before they dramatically revamped the lineup and adopted some new influences. The current product is a bizarre melding of black metal, hardcore, and thrash that is ultimately as memorable as it is unnerving. On «Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest», Zao displayed copious amounts of inspiration from «Reign In Blood»-era Slayer, including a few riffs that were lifted directly from the source. What prevented that album from becoming overly derivative was the vocals. The music invited cataclysmic roars of death-soaked glass-gargling, but Zao mostly opted for black metal screeching. It took some getting used to, but in the end, the vocals really did add a unique dimension to the band’s viciously demented, yet powerfully melodic assault. «Liberate te ex Inferis» sustains this tradition, with few notable departures. One thing that is noticeably different is the production, which I think is thin and ineffective. However, it is difficult to keep a good band down, and Zao seems to manuever past the inferior audio quality with some very thick-sounding riffs. The vocals, thankfully, have been kept intact over the past couple of years, but the production detracts from the disc’s overall clarity, making the lyrics unintelligible in spots. Speaking of lyrics, Zao decided to tackle Dante’s «Inferno» for this one. Five «Circles of Hell» are represented, each with two tracks. An interesting choice, but the songs seem to have very little to do with the «Circle of Hell» to which they are designated. For example, Circle III is supposed to be for «The Gluttonous», but both tracks in that series seem to deal more with Armageddon than with over-consumption and greed. Perhaps it was not their intention to be specific (or maybe I’m just missing something), but as such, the concept is communicated in a confusing manner.

As the title of this disc indicates, Zao will probably end up limiting themselves to a non-secular audience in the long run. But if you are foolish enough to short-change yourself by writing them off as «another Christian metal band», you’ll never know what you’re missing.

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