Parade of Chaos marks Zao's fifth (and final) studio release. Dan is back on vocals for this one, and it's a rocker for sure.
The first thing I noticed about this record was the excellent design work. The concept was put together by Asterik Studio and it looks amazing. The cover (and entire booklet) has a 1.25" hole cut through the center (right where the figure's face should be). The whole booklet has a worn and burnt look that contributes to the theme. The lyrics are printed in a spiral around the (apparently) burnt-out holes, and seem to be swirling into a black hole. The cd itself appears to have blood splattered on it. This is what a metal cd should look like.
Overall, I think it's an excellent record. It's been in my cd player many hours since I picked it up. The first track, The Buzzing, starts out with a guitar riff that reminds me of back when Metallica used to rock it. When I hear this song, I can't help but get moving. The guitars are really strong throughout the whole track.
Suspend, Suspension is my favorite song on the record. It starts out with muted guitar and drum parts, and then comes in a little more, accompanied by some electronic noise until a nice chunky guitar breakdown, and then the slow grindcore that Zao does so well. This song has some great imagery in it, and is surprisingly melodic. The drums in it are very nice as well, I think it's the tempo and the vocals that do it for me. Excellent track. I'd buy the record just for this one. It finishes out with more heavy guitar chunks on top of surprisingly lucid vocals, then about a minute or so of electronic stuff. Nicely done.
The title track starts with a riff that you might expect to hear on a Fuel record. The vocals sound a little silly on top of it, and I'm not a big fan of the lyrics either. However, around the minute and 40 second mark, there is one of the sickest breakdowns I've ever heard. The vocals alternate between low- and high-pitched screams of, "Chaos..," "Kills Us." The track finishes out with the last syllable stretched out and processed in a very unsettling way. Love it. So, basically, the song starts off badly, but finishes in an amazing way.
Angel Without Wings shows a melodic side of Zao that I think works well. The vocals alternate between screams and straight up singing, and there is some really clean guitar work behind it all. It ends with fading refrains of "Without wings..." and acoustic guitars. A decent song.
Article comments
1 - travis lee
i'm not sure....i think the cd was quite lackluster. not zao at all, more like good rock and roll.
2 - Amber Nussbaum
Lackluster? Nah. I can see how you could say "not Zao at all," since it is vastly different from their previous releases, but it's still a strong album, and it's still Zao.
Good rock and roll? Definitely, at some points. But I don't really think fans of, say, Bruce Springsteen or Superdrag (also good rock and roll) would necessarily like Zao.
But that's just my take...
3 - Amber Nussbaum
Lackluster? Nah. I can see how you could say "not Zao at all," since it is vastly different from their previous releases, but it's still a strong album, and it's still Zao.
Good rock and roll? Definitely, at some points. But I don't really think fans of, say, Bruce Springsteen or Superdrag (also good rock and roll) would necessarily like Zao.
But that's just my take...
4 - Amber Nussbaum
Cool, I posted twice. I think that means my comment is twice as important. Er...something.
5 - mike
its different cause this is the only album scott fully played and written. And dan changed his singing to teh way he waanted it instead of how jesse wanted it. And jesse slowed down cause hes more into rock and roll now. its still zao and its a great cd.
6 - mike
its different cause this is the only album scott fully played and written. And dan changed his singing to teh way he waanted it instead of how jesse wanted it. And jesse slowed down cause hes more into rock and roll now. its still zao and its a great cd.
7 - tad
All in all, a really good, tight album. My only negative comment is that the drum tracks are toned down - I like'm up front, fast and crazy - but maybe they wouldnt fit in - who knows