Zao

Zao formed in Parkersburg, West Virginia, in March 1993 and later moved its base to Greensburg, Pennsylvania. The name comes from the Greek word for "alive." Over three decades the lineup has turned over so often that no founding members are left.

Christ-centered hardcore

The first lineup was singer Eric Reeder, guitarist Roy Goudy, bassist Mic Cox and drummer Jesse Smith. They called their sound "Christ-centered hardcore" and aimed it at people they felt the church had pushed away. Reeder left before the first album. Shawn Jonas sang on All Else Failed (1995) and The Splinter Shards the Birth of Separation (1997), and he often preached between songs. After Cornerstone festival in 1997, everyone except Smith quit.

The rebuild

In 1998 Smith rebuilt the band with Brett Detar of the Pennsylvania emo band Pensive. Detar brought in his friends Russ Cogdell on guitar and Dan Weyandt on vocals. The result was Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest (1998) on Solid State. Weyandt's lyrics turned personal, dealing with grief and loss, and AllMusic later called it the definitive Zao album. Smith's habit of setting up his drums facing away from the crowd only added to the band's underground reputation.

Detar left in 1999 to focus on The Juliana Theory. Guitarist Scott Mellinger joined for Liberate Te Ex Inferis (1999), a darker record with keys and spoken word. The self-titled 2001 album gave the band "Five Year Winter," still one of its signature songs. Tensions came to a head when the band "broke up" on stage in Pittsburgh in December 2001. Smith, Mellinger and Weyandt regrouped to finish their Solid State contract with Parade of Chaos (2002). The members later said they were burned out at the time.

The Ferret years

Smith had lined up a two-album deal with Ferret Music, but he left in 2003, and that meant no founding members were left. Weyandt, Mellinger and Cogdell carried on. The Funeral of God (2004), a concept album about God abandoning mankind, brought the band's first music video, for "The Rising End." It became their best-selling album. The 2005 DVD The Lesser Lights of Heaven told the band's story up to that point. In 2006 they recorded The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here with Steve Albini in Chicago and toured with Demon Hunter that summer. Awake? followed in 2009.

Still going

After a long quiet stretch the band came back with the Xenophobe EP in 2015 and The Well-Intentioned Virus in 2016. The Crimson Corridor came out in 2021 on the band's own label, Observed/Observer Recordings. The current lineup of Weyandt, Mellinger, Cogdell, bassist Marty Lunn and drummer Jeff Gretz is the longest-running in the band's history.

Faith

Zao began as an openly Christian band. Smith later steered it away from preaching, saying the original lineup would "force it down people's throats." Weyandt's lyrics grew more personal with each album. As of 2015 only Lunn identified as a Christian, and Mellinger has said the band would rather just be known as a metal band.

Where they sit in the scene

Zao never had a mainstream hit. But members of Underoath, Norma Jean, Demon Hunter, Converge and Every Time I Die have all named them as an influence. AllMusic has said countless bands copied Weyandt's hissed vocals, and it called Zao one of the most important bands in metalcore.

Our review

• Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest (1998)