(Self-Titled)

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My Favorite Zao CD, 2008-07-10
I've been a huge fan of Zao for a while now, and after listening to all of their stuff for a long time I think that (Self-Titled) comes out on top. For me, the strongest part of Zao was Dan Weyandt and Jesse Smith's ability to play of off each other, vocally and musically. Both are incredibly talented song writers and Jesse Smith may not be the most technically talented drummer ever but he uses the drums as an instrument instead of just a time keeper and for me they work absolutely brilliantly throughout the album. The "back and forth" between Jesse and Dan on "The Dreams That Don't Come True" is really amazing, and I think honestly is one of Zao's strongest songs. This album really shows the true brilliance of the older incarnations of Zao (i.e., anything before Funeral of God when Jesse Smith was still in the band) in their overall songwriting and technical ability. Dan Weyandt has got to be one of the strongest vocalists ever, not just in metal/hardcore but really in any genre, his screams can be anywhere from pissed off to brooding to vicious to just plain cool. This album is incredibly experimental so while it's my favorite I understand how there are plenty of reviewers not liking it as much as I do, but I think this is their most individual album so if you want to hear pure Zao without any sort of genre restrictions or guidelines, this is your best bet, otherwise I would recommend Liberate Te Ex Infernis, which is much more accessible than this electronic experimental album.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Zao's best?, 2007-09-28
My honest opinion is this could well be Zao's best effort... the drumming, the guitar work, the lyrics and The vocals throughout... AMAZING! A very moody CD!

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

This is my favorite album from ZAO, 2005-10-26
I know many wouldn't agree, but it's true. Listen to the rawness of their music. It's very deep, moody and their music has so much feeling in it. Liberate and BloodFire are rivals in my list of best albums. But their self-titled is their most unique and most technical album that ZAO dared to approach. 5 Year Winter, Trashcanhands and At Zero are the songs that made me love this band so much more. These songs stand along with Ravage Ritual, For a Fair Desire and Savannah. I wish their following albums would have followed the same path of this one. And I honestly believed that Parade of Chaos would be a continuation, but that CD wasn't bad at all. If you want to know how joining a different label can harm your music then listen to ZAO's the Funeral of God... horrible CD, except for the Rising End and Praise the War Machine... those songs are pretty cool.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

One of Zao's best..., 2005-07-07
Zao has made so many great albums, its hard to rank them. (Self-Titled) is definitely up there though. This is Zao's most "metal" CD. The electronic drums are awesome because they sound so...mechanical. The best thing about this CD: Dan's vocals are the sickest of any Zao CD. They go so low and they're the deathest his vocals have ever been. What's even cooler is I understand that no effects were used to lower or deepen his voice, it's all dan. This album is chock full of Zao classics like : 5 Year Winter, A Tool to Scream, The Race of Standing Stil, and the Dreams that Don't Come True. Tracks like At Zero, Trash Can Hands, and the End of His World will seriously kick you in the teeth. Pretty much every track on this CD that's metal smokes, while the instrumental (alive is dead) and the two other songs provide a break in between while weaving everything together. If you want to see the more metal side of Zao pick (Self-Titled) up, and if you want the more hardcore side of Zao, pick up "Where Blood and Fire Bring rest" or "Splinter Shards..."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Not To Bad At All, 2004-12-13
Ok ZAO is one of the most talented bands ever and pretty much the fathers of modern metalcore. Every album they put out is going to have something good and note worthy on it, but keep in mind no one's perfect. I do agree that this one is not ZAO's best CD and it marks the first time where they departed from their more basic sound to experiment a little bit and for what it is I think they did a great job. Dan is still at the top of his game on this album along with his amazing lyrics. There are some great guitar riffs and solos on songs like 5 Year Winter that leave you in awe, then the drumming is a lot faster and intense then previous albums. I would put this album after Blood and Fire, Liberate and Funeral of God for quality albums, but this is still an album ZAO fans can be proud of, I think their expreiment works here, it's not until their next album where they go a bit too far.