Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Zao - The Splinter Shards the Birth of Separation (1997)

I've listened to many bands during my nearly 5 years of listening to metalcore, and I'm currently exploring more of the classic groups such as Cave In, Coalesce, Converge and Botch, and obscure bands like This Day Forward. But there's one band that is, alongside Converge, one of the earliest metalcore bands to still be active today... Zao! Named after the Greek word for "Alive", this band made a solid mark in the metalcore and Christian metal scenes.

The Splinter Shards the Birth of Separation is the second album by the band and shows the band traveling through hardcore roads to add more than just simplicity. There's complex music, with phenomenal drummer Jesse Smith taking the band to battle, and defiant screams by ex-vocalist Shawn Jonas that perfectly match the instrumentation.

The first of those many songs is "Times of Separation", and considering how similar the intro is to that of Every Time I Die's Radical, you might think the latter made a tribute. Anyway, Shawn's long screaming is often what levels up the quality. In "Surrounds Me", he continues to be surrounded by the killer music. "Exchange" is one of 4 songs re-recorded from their earlier material. Not highly different, but it highlights Zao's creativity.

The Christian lyrical message in particle has a bit of a worship vibe, "I will lift You up, I will praise Your awesome name, For what it's worth and nothing less." However, they've done it better than Underoath at that time. "Repressed" is one of my favorites here, sounding quite heavy at times. And another standout is "In Loving Kindness", starting with a short bass intro before some of the best rapid drumming to be found in 90s metalcore. There are great lyrics in "Endure" telling about the surviving truth of Christianity, "It has been proven, It shall remain, This faith has stood the test, It persists through conflict, Through the revolts against its ways, Nothing has held true like this."

"The Children Cry for Help" starts off with a good speedy intro for 20 seconds, and continues into the fast metalcore style you would expect from Zao. However, it just slows down to midtempo for most of the 5-minute length. I still like it though. One other re-recorded song (besides 3 others) is "Resistance" which once again has some of the best vocals here. "Song 1" is OK, but the silence and hidden experimental outro is slightly pointless, though it's still fine and much better than Blur's "Song 2".

I've made the right call of following that YouTube commenter's recommendation, and I'm glad to receive this rewarding masterpiece. My next stop is their 3rd album Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest, but for now, any metalcore fans around can hold on to this album and play it to their heart's content. Never separate!

Favorites: "Times of Separation, "Exchange", "Repressed", "In Loving Kindness", "Resistance"