History Music / Zao

Zao now has no original members remaining, after the departure of Jesse Smith in 2004. Longtime members Dan Weyandt (vocals), Scott Mellinger (guitar), and Russ Cogdell (guitar) are often seen as the "core" of the band's current incarnation.

Zao is an American MetalCore band formed in 1993. They started off playing hardcore punk, but the original lineup almost completely disbanded after their second album, with the exception of drummer Jesse Smith, who kept the name and recruited a new roster. With the new members came new musical influences. While other bands before them had fused elements of hardcore and metal, Zao's music (particularly the albums ''Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest'' and ''Liberate Te Ex Infernis'') has been tremendously influential on modern metalcore, to the point where they are often considered one of the [[TropeCodifier Trope Codifiers]] of the genre.

''"Burn it down and walk away."''

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: They've had ''a lot'' of lineup changes.

* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "Violet", the final track from ''Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest'', is a sombre piano ballad.

* NewSoundAlbum: ''Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest'' is the most prominent example, marking their shift from hardcore to metalcore. Most of their albums since then have featured tweaks and changes to their sound, though never crossing over into a different genre.

Zao is an American MetalCore band formed in 1993. They started off playing hardcore punk, but the original lineup almost completely disbanded after their second album, with the exception of drummer Jesse Smith, who kept the name and recruited a new roster. With the new members came new musical influences. While other bands before them had fused elements of hardcore and metal, Zao's music (particularly the ''Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest'' and ''Liberate Te Ex Infernis'' albums) has been tremendously influential on modern metalcore, to the point where they are often considered one of the [[TropeCodifier Trope Codifiers]] of the genre.

Zao is an American MetalCore band formed in 1993. They started off playing hardcore punk, but the original lineup was almost completely disbanded after their second album, except for drummer Jesse Smith, who kept the name and recruited a new roster. With the new members came new musical influences. While other bands before them had fused elements of hardcore and metal, Zao's music (particularly the ''Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest'' and ''Liberate Te Ex Infernis'' albums) has been tremendously influential on modern metalcore, to the point where they are often considered one of the [[TropeCodifier Trope Codifiers]] of the genre.

Zao now has no original members remaining, after the departure of Jesse Smith in 2004. Longtime members Dan Weyandt (vocals), Scott Mellinger (guitars), and Russ Cogdell (guitars) are often seen as the "core" of the band's current incarnation.

* Russ Cogdell (guitars, 1997-2000, 2002-2008, 2010-)
* Scott Mellinger (guitars, clean vocals, 1999-)

* Dan Weyandt (vocals)
* Russ Cogdell (guitars)
* Scott Mellinger (guitars, clean vocals)
* Marty Lunn (bass)
* Jeff Gretz (drums)

* ''All Else Failed''
* ''The Splinter Shards the Birth of Separation''
* ''[[NewSoundAlbum Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest]]''
* ''[[DarkerAndEdgier Liberate Te Ex Infernis]]''
* ''(Self Titled)''
* ''Parade of Chaos''
* ''All Else Failed'' (re-recording)
* ''The Funeral of God''
* ''The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here''
* ''Awake?''

* ArtisticLicense: The title ''Liberate Te Ex Infernis'' supposed to mean "Free yourself from Hell", but the Latin is grammatically incorrect. It should be either "Libera Te Ex Infernis" or "Liberate Vos Ex Infernis".

* DarkerAndEdgier: Liberate Te Ex Infernis featured more minimalistic production, more brutal and creepy riffs, and Dan's Music/{{Carcass}}-influenced shrieks, which can at times be genuinely unsettling. The band has later said that the album's sound was heavily inspired by Neurosis.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Liberate Te Ex Infernis featured more minimalistic production, more brutal and creepy riffs, and Dan's trademark shrieks. The band has later said that the album's sound was heavily influenced by Neurosis.

* SopranoAndGravel: Starting with ''The Funeral of God'', Scott Mellinger has begun to compliment Dan's MetalGrowl with clean vocals, mostly on the choruses.

* ProtestSong: "Free the Three" protests the imprisonment of the West Memphis Three, three men who were convicted (many believe falsely) of murder in 1993. After their release from prison in 2011, the song was retired from Zao's life set.

As it stands, Zao now has no original members remaining, after the departure of Jesse Smith in 2004. Longtime members Dan Weyandt (vocals), Scott Mellinger (guitars), and Russ Cogdell (guitars) are often seen as the "core" of the band's current incarnation.

* NotChristianRock: They began their career as an explicitly Christian band. Defining their sound as "Christ-centered hardcore", the majority of their lyrics focused on God and spirituality. After the departure of most of the original roster and the addition of mainstays Dan Weyandt and Russ Cogdell, Zao began moving in a different direction, both musically and lyrically. While many of their lyrics were still noticeably Christian, it was in a darker, more introspective way, and they also focused on other topics such as personal struggles, broken relationships, and social commentary. Since the current incarnation of the band includes both Christian (Dan, Russ, and Marty) and non-Christian (Scott and Jeff) members, they prefer to think of themselves as a group of open-minded artists. Despite this, fans still debate on whether they could or should still be considered a Christian band.

* Scott Mellinger (guitars)

* NewSoundAlbum: ''Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest'' is the most prominent example, marking their shift from hardcore from metalcore. Most of their albums since then have featured tweaks and changes to their sound, though never crossing over into a different genre.

* ChristianMetal: Kind of. It's complex. See below.

As it stands, Zao now has no original members remaining, after the departure of Jesse Smith in 2004. Longtime members Dan Weyandt (vocals), Scott Mellinger (guitars), and Russ Cogdell (guitars) are often seen as the "core" of the band's current incarnation.

* ''All Else Failed''

Zao is an American MetalCore band formed in 1993. They started off playing hardcore punk, but the original lineup was almost completely disbanded after their second album, except for drummer Jesse Smith, who kept the name and recruited a new roster. With the new members came new musical influences. While other bands before them had fused elements of hardcore and metal, Zao's music (particularly from the late-90's to early-2000's) has been tremendously influential on modern metalcore, to the point where they are often considered one of the [[TropeCodifier Trope Codifiers]] of the genre.