Zao — Zao

Zao have been around since March 1993, and in that time almost everything about the band has changed except the name. They began in Parkersburg, West Virginia, moved their centre to Greensburg, Pennsylvania, went through more lineups than most bands go through albums, and released eleven full-length records. None of the founding members remain. The band name comes from the Greek word zao, which means "alive" or "to have life."

Christ-centered hardcore

The first Zao was vocalist Eric Reeder, guitarist Roy Goudy, bassist Mic Cox and drummer Jesse Smith. Reeder is credited with the name. They called their sound "Christ-centered hardcore," and they wanted to reach people who felt pushed away from the organised church. The early songs, on All Else Failed and The Splinter Shards the Birth of Separation, made direct references to God and returned again and again to the peace of God.

Reeder left before All Else Failed was recorded, and Shawn Jonas took over. Jonas later formed Symphony in Peril and became a youth pastor. Kevin Moran replaced Cox on bass, and Ron Gray joined on second guitar. Then, after the 1997 Cornerstone festival and a few shows on the way home, everyone except Smith quit.

The new Zao

In 1998 Smith recruited Brett Detar, guitarist in the Pennsylvania emocore band Pensive. Detar brought two friends, guitarist Russ Cogdell and vocalist Dan Weyandt, who had both played in the Christian hardcore band Seasons in the Field. Smith drove for hours to Greensburg to write and rehearse with them. The result was Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest, the first album from the new Zao and the one many fans still call its defining record. We reviewed it here.

Live, the band built a reputation in the underground on raw emotion and Weyandt's personal storytelling between songs. Smith set up his drums facing away from the crowd. Detar left in 1999 to focus on The Juliana Theory.

Liberate Te Ex Inferis and the self-titled record

Smith wanted a break. Weyandt and Cogdell started a quieter project, Eight Stars for Elijah, with guitarist Scott Mellinger, formerly of Creation Is Crucifixion. When Smith came back wanting another Zao album, they brought Mellinger with them, and Rob Horner joined on bass. That lineup made Liberate Te Ex Inferis for Solid State Records. The title is Latin for "save yourself from hell," a line from the film Event Horizon. Weyandt said the lyrics were so dark that he lied to some people about what the songs were about.

Cogdell left in 2000 for film school, and Weyandt left to work as a tattoo artist. Corey Darst sang on tour. The next record, Zao, was written and recorded mostly by Mellinger and Smith, with Weyandt coming in for a few days for lyrics and vocals. It's known for Smith's dark pop interludes, its electronic drum sound and "Five Year Winter," which was written in the car on the way to the studio in Little Rock, Arkansas, and became one of the band's signature songs.

In December 2001, at a show in Pittsburgh, the band "broke up" on stage. Smith couldn't get through the set, and tensions that had built for years boiled over. The moment was later captured on the band's DVD.

Parade of Chaos and the farewell tour

Smith went back to Solid State, and Tooth & Nail funded two more projects: Parade of Chaos, made by Smith, Mellinger and Weyandt, and a re-recording of All Else Failed. In the film The Lesser Lights of Heaven, the band said they made the re-recording because they were broke and needed to finish their contract. Weyandt recorded vocals for both in three days. They then went out on the Burn It Down and Walk Away Tour, billed as Zao's final tour, with Underoath, Unearth, Dead Poetic and The Underwater.

Ferret and The Funeral of God

It wasn't the end. The Liberate lineup came back together after a label offered to fund a new album. That deal collapsed before any music was recorded, so Smith went to Ferret Music, which signed the band for two albums. Weyandt left for a time, dealing with addiction. Society's Finest singer Joshua Ashworth stepped in. By the end of 2003, Cogdell and Mellinger decided they didn't want to make a Zao record without Weyandt. Smith and Horner left to start a band called Gods, Ashworth stepped aside, and Weyandt came back. Bassist Shawn Koschik and drummer Stephen Peck joined from Cogdell and Mellinger's band Jade Meridian.

That lineup made The Funeral of God in 2004, a concept album imagining a world where God had abandoned humanity. Ferret pushed it hard. Zao made their first music video, for "The Rising End," and toured the US heavily. It became the band's best-selling album, and they did their first big European headlining tour. Marty Lunn, a longtime friend and their tour manager, took over on bass, and drummer Jeff Gretz joined in 2005 after Weyandt left him a note saying the band needed a drummer.

In 2005 the band released The Lesser Lights of Heaven, a DVD history featuring Don and Ryan Clark of Demon Hunter, Bruce Fitzhugh of Living Sacrifice and others.

Steve Albini and The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here

In January 2006, Weyandt, Mellinger, Lunn and Gretz went to Chicago to record with Steve Albini, one of their heroes. They wanted an album that sounded like a band playing together, with no filler. The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here came out in June 2006 while Zao were on tour with Demon Hunter. They filmed a video for "My Love, My Love (We've Come Back from the Dead)" on that tour, a self-described "zombie love story."

After a run with Throwdown, Evergreen Terrace and Maylene and the Sons of Disaster that autumn, Mellinger and Weyandt agreed it was time for a long break. Gretz joined From Autumn to Ashes.

Awake? and the long return

Cogdell rejoined in January 2007. In mid-2008 Zao played their first show in two years, with Demon Hunter at Mr. Smalls in Pittsburgh. They recorded Awake?, co-produced by Mellinger, Daniel Castleman and Tim Lambesis, and Ferret released it on May 5, 2009. The band said they were surprised how well it did, given there was no tour behind it.

Then came a five-year unofficial hiatus. In July 2014 Zao went back into the studio. The Xenophobe EP came out on July 10, 2015, and The Well-Intentioned Virus, their eleventh album, followed in December 2016. The Pyrrhic Victory EP came in 2017, a split 7-inch with Yashira in 2018, and Decoding Transmissions From the Möbius Strip in 2019. The lineup of Weyandt, Mellinger, Cogdell, Lunn and Gretz is the longest-running in the band's history.

Faith and the band now

For years Zao featured Christian themes and were seen as a Christian band. Over time that became a debate within the group, and the band no longer calls itself a Christian band. Of the current members, only bassist Marty Lunn identifies as a Christian.

That history is why Zao still belong in the story of Christian heavy music. They came out of Christian hardcore, played Cornerstone and recorded for Solid State. Along the way they toured with Underoath, Demon Hunter and many other bands from that scene. A band named for the word "alive" has kept proving the point for more than thirty years.