Review Summary: Zao are back with "The Well Intentioned Virus" and they show the world why sometimes a hiatus can be the best thing for a band.
Zao are an anomaly in the realm of heavy music. Over the band's nearly 25 year career they've gone through woes to kill a lesser band several times over. From the constant lineup shifts in their early Christian days, to the departure of their final original member- Jesse Smith, to a nearly 6 year hiatus from which the band has only recently exited. Where one would normally expect such setbacks to negatively impact Zao's musical output, they somehow manage to rise stronger than ever each time. This is exactly the case on their 10th full length album, "The Well Intentioned Virus."
Clearly rejuvenated after such a long break the album springs to life with its first track, "The Weeping Vessel." One of the heaviest and aesthetically darkest songs the band has ever made, with lyrics focusing around a miscarriage, the song absolutely pulverizes; stomping the listener with sludgy mid tempo riffs and only letting up for a brief clean section in the center. The next song, the title track, speeds forward and assaults the listener with the kind of chaotic and technical riffing that the band began to really utilize on 2006's "The Fear is what Keeps Us Here." It's not all bludgeoning heaviness however as slower and more atmospheric songs like "Apocalypse" and "Broken Pact Blues" showcase guitarist Scott Mellinger's clean vocals in a more subdued way than on previous Zao records. I will not spoil the final track, the epic seven-and-a-half minute beast "I Leave You in Peace" however I will say that it is very remiscent of songs like "The Latter Rain" off of 1998's "Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest."
I would be absolutely amiss to not mention vocalist Dan Weyandt, whose inhuman growls and screams have somehow only become more powerful with age. He sounds genuinely angry on this album as well, something I felt was absent from the band's last full length effort. The lyrics are really quite powerful and poetic as well. As mentioned earlier, "The Weeping Vessel" paints a horrifying and abstract portrait of a miscarriage while other tracks like "Xenophobe" cut deep into the heart of current social issues in America. The rest of the band give great performances as well, it's particularly refreshing to hear long time member Russ Cogdell finally performing on another album after over a decade. The production here is also quite good, finding a passable middle ground between the raw and almost lo-fi "The Fear is What Keeps Us Here" and the overly clean "Awake?"
Zao are back and with "The Well Intentioned Virus" and they show the world that sometimes a hiatus could be the best thing for a band. All the exhaustion and fatigue of their last couple albums has been replaced by a new found sense of vigor and energy. To put it plainly, the album rips and it's easily one of the best the band has ever put out. "The Well Intentioned Virus" is a must-listen from one of metalcore's finest.
