Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Zao - Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest (1998)

The perfection of Zao's second and last album with the original lineup carries on to a new one. 1998 marked a new era for the band who have been grateful to God for where their ongoing lives took them. The remaining founding member Jesse Smith continued with new members Daniel Weyandt, Russ Cogdell, and Brett Detar, the latter from rock band The Juliana Theory for a dark turning point in hardcore/metal. Where would bands like Underoath and Haste the Day be without this offering?

Let me just say, Dan Weyandt's screaming is perfect! Besides that, the two guitarists have heavy guitar riffs that would surely blow your minds. While they maintain the Christian lyrical themes, they focused less on the spiritual side and the topics are more about Weyandt's fallen loved ones.

You can immediately hear what's different as "Lies of Serpents, A River of Tears" opens the album. They switched from the hardcore tone of Earth Crisis to a more metallic Converge-like direction, especially in the guitar duo's atonal riffing. "To Think of You is to Treasure An Absent Memory" has vicious drumming. That song was written in memory of a friend of the band who committed suicide. Those lyrics pay great tribute to the fallen, "When you shut your eyes and fell asleep, Dark clouds descended on the souls of the ones who held you close to their hearts." Continuing that tragic theme is "A Fall Farewell", for Weyandt's late relative, in which the message is basically his faith shining to keep him alive after all the losses he and the band suffered. Its heavy impact has caused many Christians and non-Christians to relate.

Once again, guidance from the Lord is prayed for in "March" without having to use the name in vain, "A single quiet voice and the breath of His words consumed the night and brought strength I have never felt on my own, He held me up until I could walk again and promised to stay by my side forever". Next up, "Ember" has heavy riffing that reminds me of early Trivium. "Ravage Ritual" shows a bit of forlorn pain in the vocals as the lyrics fight against the judgmental. Once again, where would bands be like Eighteen Visions, Bleeding Through, and Bring Me the Horizon without a song like "Fifteen Rhema"!?

Only one song threatens the perfection of this release and that's "For A Fair Desire". There just isn't as much lyrical passion as the rest of the album, but I think the song might work well as just a separate single or something. "The Latter Rain" is a greater improvement from that slight misstep, a 6-and-a-half-minute epic! Though it's not the end yet... "Violet" is a beautiful 7-minute piano outro to wrap up the album pleasantly.

All in all, Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest marks a different transition from The Splinter Shards The Birth Of Separation, including shorter songs, though both albums are the best. You like As I Lay Dying and all those bands I've mentioned earlier? Pick this up! Whether you're Christian or not, this is for the heavier metalcore fans. Zao is still alive!

Favorites: "Lies of Serpents, A River of Tears", "To Think of You is to Treasure An Absent Memory", "Ember", "Fifteen Rhema", "The Latter Rain"