North American band Zao have been around for over ten years in various incarnations. They seem to be a band with an unstable history, and have emerged with no original members, although Daniel Weyandt (vocals) has been with the band since 1998 and Scott Mellinger (guitar/vocals) since 2001.

Their first album, 'All Else Failed' was released in 1995 following a couple of demos and split releases. 'The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here' is the sixth album of this metal/hardcore band.

'Cancer Eater' kicks the album off with a pretty guitar melody. It is good but not particularly out of the ordinary and it leaves the listener guessing what the rest of the album will sound like. The track moves on to a more brutal section which failed to impress me and I was pleased it was quite short.

The second track, 'Physician Heal Thyself' is a continuation of the first track so my happiness was short-lived. The second track, and indeed some of the other tracks on the album, has an almost industrial undertone to it, with a fuzzy guitar sound and death metal vocals.

To paint a picture of what the band sound like, imagine a less chaotic sounding Slipknot, or a less controlled High On Fire - it sort of sits between the two. What is odd about Zao is that 'The Fear'' brings to my mind bands of three completely diverse genres - High On Fire (stoner), Slipknot (nu-metal) and Satyricon (black metal).

They also remind me of bands such as Trivium, although admittedly I am not very familiar with their work.

'The Fear' is not an album that impressed me very much at all. It has one or two good points however, such as some of the riffs. The absurdly titled 'Purdy Young Blondes With Lobotomy Eyes' is probably the best track on the album, and one of the riffs later in the track reminds me of Satyricon’s 'Fuel For Hatred' from their album 'Volcano'. The album ending with the build is quite unusual, and there is not a great deal of cliché on the album overall.

Zao’s 'The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here' reminds me of other bands but this actually works against them since I would prefer to be listening to High On Fire or Satyricon (I’m not a Slipknot fan).

As above, they are quite hard to pigeon-hole and I wouldn’t classify them as hardcore as such. I think the most apt description is simply 'metal'. It is fast and furious and not badly played, but the composition is too messy for my taste - it sounds like thrash in some ways and I’d pick Slayer over this any day.

**

Review by Amanda Hyne

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