ZAO - Awake? 2009

Artist : ZAO
Genre : Metal / Hardcore
Album : Awake?
Location : Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Website : http://www.myspace.com/zao
Label : Ferret Music
Releases : May 5, 2009
Available Format : CD/DVD, Digital Download


Description :

AWAKE? is the tenth studio album by metalcore band Zao. It is scheduled to be released on May 5, 2009, on Ferret Records. It contains 9 previously unreleased tracks and a re-recording of the track Romance of the Southern Spirit. Only 8,000 physical copies of the album are being made. Each copy is numbered and has 6 different cover artwork.

Track Listing :

01. 1,000,000 Outstretched Arms Of Nothing
02. Entropica
03. The Eyes Behind The Throne
04. Human Cattle Masses Marching Forward
05. Romance Of The Southern Spirit
06. What Will You Find?
07. Awake?
08. Quiet Passenger Pt. 1
09. Reveal
10. Quiet Passenger Pt. 2 / The World Caved In


Line Up :

* Daniel Weyandt (1997–) – Lead vocals
* Scott Mellinger (1999–) – Guitar/backup vocals
* Marty Lunn (2005–) – Bass guitar
* Jeff Gretz (2005–) – Drums


Press Release :

ZAO - "Awake?" - Biography 2009


"If the melodic end of the kingdom has been taken by Killswitch Engage then the extreme end belongs to Zao. No question." - Metal Hammer Magazine

Awake? will sound immediately familiar to anyone who has followed Zao’s convoluted, controversial and altogether exciting career, with its signature all-out heaviness and beautifully simple memorability. Awake? stands easily beside the best and brightest of the Zao catalog, with the kind of production (courtesy of guitarist Scott Mellinger himself together with As I Lay Dying vocalist Tim Lambesis and Daniel Castleman) that Zao has always deserved.

Thunderous, epic, and full of passion, Zao (Greek for “alive”) is driven by vocals that exorcise singer Daniel Weyandt’s demons as if his life depended on the songs. His words reshape a personal history wrought with tragedy, suicide and death into beautiful musings that connected with their brutal honesty and naked self-observation. Mellinger, the band’s primary songwriter, adds melodic vocals as well.

Zao’s storied career was documented on the two-disc The Lesser Lights Of Heaven DVD and the luminaries of today’s heavy music scene are well aware of their debt to the band. Underoath and Unearth opened for Zao. Thrice, As I Lay Dying and Demon Hunter love Zao. Matt Heafy from Trivium joined the band onstage during a tour together.

Zao’s hometown of Greensburg, Pennsylvania isn’t known for many things besides being in close proximity to the mall where George A. Romero filmed Dawn Of The Dead. And that isolation has allowed the band to steer clear of trends.

Zao’s original incarnation formed in the mid-90s with evangelical zeal. When that version of the band fell apart, Zao as it would come to change the course of heavy music was born. Recently hailed by Alternative Press as “one of the most important albums of 1998, Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest took the conventions of hardcore and heavy metal and turned them upside down.

When Scott Mellinger joined Zao for the following year’s Liberate te ex Inferis, it began a song-writing partnership with Weyandt that persists to this day. Self-Titled was written and recorded by Dan, Scott and Jesse Smith (the only remaining holdover from the pre-Blood&Fire days) and featured a vast amount of experimentation with electronics, dark soundscapes, and melodic interludes. “Five Year Winter” continues to be one of Zao’s most popular songs in the live setting. The trio created Parade Of Chaos together as well, pushing the envelope even further.

Zao’s first album for Ferret Music, The Funeral of God, was recorded as a five-piece with producer Eric Rachel (Atreyu, Every Time I Die). The album became Zao’s biggest selling record and saw them receive their first airplay on MTV2 and Fuse and major press accolades.

After tours with bands like Bleeding Through and Dillinger Escape Plan, the band – now Dan, Scott, Marty Lunn (bass) and Jeff Gretz (drums) – recorded The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here with Steve Albini (Nirvana, Pixies, Neurosis) manning the reel-to-reel. Next they hit the road with In Flames, Trivium, Demon Hunter & Throwdown.

Dan, Scott, Marty and Jeff reconvened for Awake?, their first album of new material in three years. The record was produced and engineered almost entirely by Scott in Pennsylvania, with Daniel Castleman and As I Lay Dying vocalist Tim Lambesis producing drums in Southern California and handling the mixing. Longtime friend and Grammy nominated graphic designer Ryan Clark returned to handle the packaging, with some artwork from Dan’s close friend, Gabe Felice.

Zao’s latest album wants to step into your consciousness, unnerve you, make you think. Are you truly… Awake?
http://www.myspace.com/zao