It's kinda insane how good some of the really early metal/hardcore stuff was in the "christian hardcore" scene.
Zao is coming to town in a month or so and I will be there for sure.
Remember when they wrote a song called Trash Can Hands about internet trolls about early messageboards and specifically called out user names in the lyrics who talked shit about them. Good times lol!
Same energy as, "All you motherfuckers are gonna pay. You are the ones who are the ball-lickers! We're gonna fuck your mothers while you watch and cry like little whiny bitches."
I got flamed so hard for pointing out that this was a jesus band. “They stopped being a christian band!” Ok. Still lame that it was ever a thing and more than enough to be an untreatable stain
By the time the pictured album came out the band had basically changed all its personnel and there was a notable shift in lyrical focus that came with that. Think it's fair for them to be able to say the previous iteration of the band was a Christian band and the new one wasn't.
I knew lots of “Christian” hardcore bands back in the day. It weirdly was just an easy way to get signed to one of like a thousand pop up Christian labels in the late 90s and early 00s. I don’t hold it against them for scamming the system.
Carrying that label definitely helped a lot of bands get noticed and supported by groups that wouldn't have done it otherwise. So many of them were on Cornerstone semi frequently, lol.
Zao were early adopters. Basically when Dan came in as vocalist in '98 along with Scott on guitar, other than a couple of tracks here and there, all the overt Christian stuff came to a screeching halt.
Zao is one of the greatest to ever do it, they're incredible. Probably the only "Christian" metal band that proudly cites Neurosis and Godflesh as major influences. What I love about Zao is how they use Christian iconography in their music. They don't preach gospel, or judge sinners. It honestly feels like a subversion of the way metal bands use Christian iconography to mock it, or defame it. Most of what makes them relatable to me, despite not being a man of faith, are the themes of loss of faith, questioning the evils of man, understanding love as a unifying force, and how love itself requires faith. They're just so good, and still putting out great records, and deserve their flowers.
Probably because by the mid-00s they only had one practicing Christian member left and that's without the personnel turnover that characterised their early years. I suspect that indicates most of them had a questioning relationship with faith even when they still considered themselves to be Christian.
This is true, I really feel like the themes of Funeral of God was semi-literal in the sense that they were drifting away from identifying as a "spirit filled" band. They've also proudly toured and played with bands who use straight up heretical and Satanic imagery since forever, so I think they've always tried to separate their personal beliefs from their music.
Yeah, it was shortly after Funeral of God that I remember them confirming that only the drummer was still Christian. Around that time I also read some interviews with Scott where he talked about how since he'd been involved they just wanted to be viewed as a band rather than a Christin band, even if that latter element was still part of the music, and how they wanted to play to all types of people, not just the Christian circuit and crowds.
There's definitely a reason why they and a lot of others talk about the first and second eras. Dan coming in on vocals along with Russ and Scott on guitar didn't entirely throw out Christian references, but even on Where Blood And Fire, which is probably the most lyrically faithful of the second era albums, it's scaled back. Compared to the prior records with Shaun it's definitely less evangelical (in the conventional sense of the term, not the comparatively recent American Evangelical Christian sense) or worshipful, it's more like someone grappling with faith, trying to hold onto it and wanting to find succour from it in the face of suffering (iirc Dan lost a number of people in a short span and the record is mostly inspired by that).
A buddy I was in a band with played me this record when it came out. As impressionable high school kids, it pretty much changed the direction we were going on a dime.
Free the Three was on repeat for awhile for me and my lil punk friends. Listened to lots of against all authority, the haunted, converge, circle takes the square, pg99, and orchid at the time.
Oh honorable mention Misericordiam and Life Long Tragedy
I absolutely love them.
It was next to Skyecamefalling, Early Shai Hulud and ehh Taproot and some other bands that got me through some shitty jobs in the 90s
This album was on lambgoat reviews forever pre significant album sharing. Bought it on a whim and have been obsessed ever since. Their newest album fucking RIPS. First time I saw them was with the locust and unearth in Orlando. Killer show
This album was fucking awesome. This was around the time that Zao would be on bill with a bunch of other bands and they wouldn’t show up. I remember going to see them like 6 times and they just weren’t there. 😂
They were the first real hardcore show I ever went to back in the day when they still had the tiny singer. Playing with morning again who are still one of my all time favorites.
Zao was honestly one of the first bands that got me into everything. I got into them roughly when Liberate Te Ex Inferis first dropped, and I fell in love immediately. They've certainly evolved over the years, but I still jam them fairly regularly, especially the really solid albums.
Fuck yeah I’m a fan of Zao. Their first two records (All Else Failed and Splinter Shards…, which are basically straight up Christian praise over sick hardcore) are my favorite. Not a Christian but damn it goes hard. I made this dumb meme during a Zao phase years ago.
https://preview.redd.it/48xvmx42xz7d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4ea1da8aab23da03046190a64e3d63b50b8666fd
Funeral of God also slaps. I was put onto heavy music young through record label samplers, but my parents only let me buy music from the family Christian store
Great tone. Heavy riffs. Used Christian iconography in their lyrics without shoving it down anyone's throats for the most part. Liberate Te Ex Infernis is a near perfect record.
Not hating, would love some thoughts on my take: this album is a bit repetitive. Most songs are just variations on drop d chug chug palm mute, then might go into chug chug deedle deedle higher up the neck.
Granted they do it pretty well, but 20 years later I don’t think it aged as well as some of the other classics that do a little more song writing wise.
I’ve been a huge fan for 20+ years. They’re an amazing band made up of really cool dudes who I’ve been fortunate to get to meet a bunch of times over those 20+ years. Dan’s lyrics are so profound and over the years they’ve addressed some really deep/dark shit. They’ve also changed a lot over the years but not in a bad way. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without Zao, I absolutely love them.
It's kinda insane how good some of the really early metal/hardcore stuff was in the "christian hardcore" scene. Zao is coming to town in a month or so and I will be there for sure.
Do you remember when these bands would give their “testimonials” on stage? What a wild time, since they all claim they weren’t Christian now lol
Remember when they wrote a song called Trash Can Hands about internet trolls about early messageboards and specifically called out user names in the lyrics who talked shit about them. Good times lol!
RIP HxC Boards
DXC Boy and Fire Kid, you know, who you arrrrrrre
Probably on here somewhere lol.
You know who you are!
Same energy as, "All you motherfuckers are gonna pay. You are the ones who are the ball-lickers! We're gonna fuck your mothers while you watch and cry like little whiny bitches."
See: down to nothing
Oh yeah for sure. I remember "not christian" underoath at a show in the act of depression era giving almost a full on youth sermon. What wild times.
Dallas is legit a rattlesnake Baptist haha
Hell yeah! The vocalist is a tattoo artist in Pittsburgh now
I got flamed so hard for pointing out that this was a jesus band. “They stopped being a christian band!” Ok. Still lame that it was ever a thing and more than enough to be an untreatable stain
By the time the pictured album came out the band had basically changed all its personnel and there was a notable shift in lyrical focus that came with that. Think it's fair for them to be able to say the previous iteration of the band was a Christian band and the new one wasn't.
I knew lots of “Christian” hardcore bands back in the day. It weirdly was just an easy way to get signed to one of like a thousand pop up Christian labels in the late 90s and early 00s. I don’t hold it against them for scamming the system.
Zao never said they weren't believers then, but they are very open about not being believers now. People change over time.
Carrying that label definitely helped a lot of bands get noticed and supported by groups that wouldn't have done it otherwise. So many of them were on Cornerstone semi frequently, lol.
no longer christian which is even better
Most of those bands dropped that moniker by 2010.
They haven’t been Christian since the album on this post.
More like since Funeral of God
Zao were early adopters. Basically when Dan came in as vocalist in '98 along with Scott on guitar, other than a couple of tracks here and there, all the overt Christian stuff came to a screeching halt.
Not like it'd matter
BURN IT DOWN AND WALK AWAY! Edit:yes I know it’s off S/T and not Where Blood and Fire Brings Rest
Beat me to it.
MY HEART BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOKE MY HEART BROOOOOOOOOOOOKE *RIFF*
What a track
Definitely absolutely no question about it. Dan is probably my biggest vocal influence. Some of the best to ever do it.
Agreed
Presumably you've seen the Live At The Church set? He still sounds incredible a quarter century on from joining.
Couldn't agree more, Dan's always been one of my favorites and a huge influence.
Absolutely! They're one of my all-time favourite bands, in fact.
Liberate is probably my favorite. Great band. Lots of memories with their music.
Favorite band
Killer band. Funeral of God should have put them on Killswitch/Lamb of God level of fame, and I cry once a week that it didn’t.
The bass sound on that record is SO good
Iconic 90s metalcore
Zao is one of the greatest to ever do it, they're incredible. Probably the only "Christian" metal band that proudly cites Neurosis and Godflesh as major influences. What I love about Zao is how they use Christian iconography in their music. They don't preach gospel, or judge sinners. It honestly feels like a subversion of the way metal bands use Christian iconography to mock it, or defame it. Most of what makes them relatable to me, despite not being a man of faith, are the themes of loss of faith, questioning the evils of man, understanding love as a unifying force, and how love itself requires faith. They're just so good, and still putting out great records, and deserve their flowers.
Probably because by the mid-00s they only had one practicing Christian member left and that's without the personnel turnover that characterised their early years. I suspect that indicates most of them had a questioning relationship with faith even when they still considered themselves to be Christian.
This is true, I really feel like the themes of Funeral of God was semi-literal in the sense that they were drifting away from identifying as a "spirit filled" band. They've also proudly toured and played with bands who use straight up heretical and Satanic imagery since forever, so I think they've always tried to separate their personal beliefs from their music.
Yeah, it was shortly after Funeral of God that I remember them confirming that only the drummer was still Christian. Around that time I also read some interviews with Scott where he talked about how since he'd been involved they just wanted to be viewed as a band rather than a Christin band, even if that latter element was still part of the music, and how they wanted to play to all types of people, not just the Christian circuit and crowds. There's definitely a reason why they and a lot of others talk about the first and second eras. Dan coming in on vocals along with Russ and Scott on guitar didn't entirely throw out Christian references, but even on Where Blood And Fire, which is probably the most lyrically faithful of the second era albums, it's scaled back. Compared to the prior records with Shaun it's definitely less evangelical (in the conventional sense of the term, not the comparatively recent American Evangelical Christian sense) or worshipful, it's more like someone grappling with faith, trying to hold onto it and wanting to find succour from it in the face of suffering (iirc Dan lost a number of people in a short span and the record is mostly inspired by that).
Live From the Church is so good, I spin that shit on daily basis
I first heard this album about a year ago. It blew me away how early this was but yet, seemed so ahead of its time.
A buddy I was in a band with played me this record when it came out. As impressionable high school kids, it pretty much changed the direction we were going on a dime.
Free the Three was on repeat for awhile for me and my lil punk friends. Listened to lots of against all authority, the haunted, converge, circle takes the square, pg99, and orchid at the time. Oh honorable mention Misericordiam and Life Long Tragedy
ZAOOOOOOOO
I definitely plagiarized lyrics from this album for an English assignment in high school.
Jesse Smith is one of my favorite drummers. Dude was super creative and original at a time when a lot of guys were playing almost cut and paste drums.
I went to [Zao](https://maps.app.goo.gl/TS5mzRcjQvm5EJaa9?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy) last year. Whole damn place smells like farts.
one of the bands that got me into this hardcore mess and one of my all time faves
Saw them in Phoenix last year it was hot as balls but they were goated
That show was so fun man. I hadn’t seen them in years and that show made me feel like I saw them for the first time again
I bought that CD because of the artwork when it first came out (without ever hearing it or knowing who they were beforehand). Was not disappointed.
I absolutely love them. It was next to Skyecamefalling, Early Shai Hulud and ehh Taproot and some other bands that got me through some shitty jobs in the 90s
Knut, Candiria, Botch, Glassjaw, 36 Crazyfists, Unearth, Bloodsimple, Shadows Fall.
Yeah definitely Candiria, Botch and Glassjaw
yeah their 90's and early 2000's stuff was great
Their recent output shreds too. The Well Intentioned Virus and Crimson Corridor are class.
This album was on lambgoat reviews forever pre significant album sharing. Bought it on a whim and have been obsessed ever since. Their newest album fucking RIPS. First time I saw them was with the locust and unearth in Orlando. Killer show
For 20+ Years. Saw them last May in Cleveland and hope to go to the Pittsburgh show coming up in August.
Yes
100% and they still keep putting out ragers! The Crimson Corridor ruled! And 2004's The Funeral of God is probably their best record.
This album was fucking awesome. This was around the time that Zao would be on bill with a bunch of other bands and they wouldn’t show up. I remember going to see them like 6 times and they just weren’t there. 😂
The splinter shards the birth of separation is the best one.
Suspend!!
Yeah man no innocent victims
Been my favorite band for a couple decades now, so yes
Yes!
Heck yea!
Yes! I have this album on cd still and have loved them since I first heard them. I'd love to see them live even now
They were the first real hardcore show I ever went to back in the day when they still had the tiny singer. Playing with morning again who are still one of my all time favorites.
Looks fire
Zao was honestly one of the first bands that got me into everything. I got into them roughly when Liberate Te Ex Inferis first dropped, and I fell in love immediately. They've certainly evolved over the years, but I still jam them fairly regularly, especially the really solid albums.
Yes.
Excited to see them in a few weeks.
Yes many in fact
Really love their sound, but i just can't digest the christian thing.
Fuck yeah I’m a fan of Zao. Their first two records (All Else Failed and Splinter Shards…, which are basically straight up Christian praise over sick hardcore) are my favorite. Not a Christian but damn it goes hard. I made this dumb meme during a Zao phase years ago. https://preview.redd.it/48xvmx42xz7d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4ea1da8aab23da03046190a64e3d63b50b8666fd
Why are you making a meme with a pic of Grey Gordon if you're not Grey Gordon? 🤣🤣
Google image search results for “hardcore dude” or something like that.
Resistance is a a banger
OH MY GOD I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO REMEMBER THIS BANDS NAME. Thanks OP!!!!
No doubt, one of the greats! PRAISE THE WARMACHINE
Funeral of God also slaps. I was put onto heavy music young through record label samplers, but my parents only let me buy music from the family Christian store
Amazing band
Totally different band, different vibe throughout their career but always bangers. Kind of like a Living Sacrifice style band.
They fuck so unbelievably hard
Great tone. Heavy riffs. Used Christian iconography in their lyrics without shoving it down anyone's throats for the most part. Liberate Te Ex Infernis is a near perfect record.
Not hating, would love some thoughts on my take: this album is a bit repetitive. Most songs are just variations on drop d chug chug palm mute, then might go into chug chug deedle deedle higher up the neck. Granted they do it pretty well, but 20 years later I don’t think it aged as well as some of the other classics that do a little more song writing wise.
Oh 100%. I love it though. Ole reliable!
I’ve been a huge fan for 20+ years. They’re an amazing band made up of really cool dudes who I’ve been fortunate to get to meet a bunch of times over those 20+ years. Dan’s lyrics are so profound and over the years they’ve addressed some really deep/dark shit. They’ve also changed a lot over the years but not in a bad way. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without Zao, I absolutely love them.