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ZAO |
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Jonathan Mariante
Zao are a trio from Pennsylvania
who play rough, raw, and aggressive (sometimes distorted) metal in the
vein of Pantera/Sepultura/Soulfly. The thrash out with a fury, singer
Dave Weydandt putting his vocal cords through some serious abuse, guitarist
Scott Mellinger churning out some blistering, abrasive riffs, and drummer
Jess Smith pounding away for all he's worth! "Parade Of Chaos" is a good
name for this album-this is the stuff mosh pits are made of! These guys
mean business, playing music that kicks between the eyes! There are, however,
a few songs on here where they venture into slightly different musical
territory. "Angel Without Wings", for example, is a slightly less aggressive
song with some more melodic singing, and-believe it or not!-an REM flavor!
There is also a ballad called "Man In The Womb", and a rather quirky instrumental
called "The Ballad Of Buddy Bigsby", which is basically made up of electronic
sound effects, which sound bizarre and distorted. The rest of the album
is a full throttle assault on the senses! Some songs that stood out for
me were "The Buzzing", the title track, "A Pirates Prayer", "Killing Cupid"
(a perfect song for Valentine's Day! I'm sure there are a lot of people
who would sympathize with this sentiment!) and "Free The Three", an ode
to the West Memphis Three, a trio of young Tennessee men who were convicted
of slaying children as part of a Satanic ritual, whom many believe were
wrongly accused (including the band, apparently). Interesting subject
matter. If you listen to this album, be sure and check your backside for
boot prints afterwards!
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