Customer Reviews

The Funeral of God

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What if God got sick of us not listening to him and decided to leave? What would happen? Would Armageddon finally come? Well, that's the question posed from "The Funeral Of God", The newest release from Zao, a band coming at you for ages it seems. Zao shows us the terrors of a life without God and with evil humans ruling. I believe that this is one of the best albums I've heard in a while. "And when the end she comes, rains down on everyone, fire from the sky" is a great line from "The Rising End (The First Prophecy)", but my favorite line has to be from the exact same song "Bombs rain down like heaven's tear, the earth shall die and dissapear." This fortells a story of death and mayhem. I urge anyone that is a Christian to pick this up. Now for the musical side of it. Zao is great. The guitar work of Scott Mellinger and Russ Codgell is absolutely insane. Stephen Peck and Shawn Koschik round out the rhythm section with Dan Weyandt doing vocals. On "Psalm Of the City Of The Dead", Josh Momper plays a chaotic piano rhythm, adding to the beautiful mayhem and destructive feeling of the whole piece. Songs like "Breath of the Black Muse" and "Truly, Truly, This is The End" tell the story wonderfully. Please, any metalhead that appriciates good music should have this in their collection.

Favorite Song: "Psalm Of The City Of The Dead"

Reason Why: The song gives off a feeling of letdown and pain as the people of earth finally realize what they have done and regret it and beg for forgiveness. The piano line from Josh Momper and the multi-layered vocals of Sara George give the song a haunting, lilting feeling. Simplicity is the key in this song with the only lyrics being "As we wait for a sign we are greeted by the end of time, these streets aren't paved with gold, you're my everything, my soul is growing cold."

I know, I know. My parents keep telling me, "Stop listening to that devil music!" then I'm like, "IT'S NOT DEVIL MUSIC. THESE GUYS ARE CHRISTIANS!" Of course, they don't believe me, but anyway...This is an awesome album full of "make you think" lyrics (if you can understand them. I know I can't) and good, classic metal. Since I'm a drummer, I love the drumming for this. The double bass is not used too much or too little, which is great. The guitars are excellent and the bass is especially slappy, which is something you don't hear very often any more. Here are the ratings song by song:

1) Breathing of the Black Muse - 9/10. Good overall music. I especially like the part at the end.

2) The Rising End (The First Prophecy) - 10/10. This is one of my favorite songs on the CD for its quick double bass and interesting guitar riffs.

3) The Last Revelation (The Last Prophecy) - 9/10. A little repetive, but overall good.

4) The Last Song From Zion - 9/10. Good guitar riffs make this one a good one.

5) Live...From the Funeral of God - 7/10. Probably my least favorite on the CD. It's still decent though.

6) The Lesser Lights of Heaven - 8/10. Meh...

7) In Times Gone Past - 9/10. Very fast double bass make this a winner (for me). Good, freaky quality in the middle too.

8) Praise the War Machine - 10/10. Another one of my favorites. I especially like the 666 part (not for that reason).

9) Truly Truly This is the End - 10/10. Another favorite. I love the part where it's just the drums and the guy whispering in the background...it's cool.

10) I Lay Sleepless in my Grave - 9/10. Short, but good.

11) Psalm of the City of the Dead - 10/10. Definitely my favorite song on the CD. I absolutely love this song, ESPECIALLY the part with the choir in the middle. It's very peaceful and comforting.

this album falls in between everything Zao has done, in my opinion. the music is not as brutally heavy or intense as, say, a fall farewell...there is more attention paid to the melody of the guitars. There is also a lot of dynamic fluctuation drum-wise, and this is a *very* good thing.

The biggest surprise for me was the bass playing on the album. It's raw, it's heavy, it's melodic....it's perfect. It was a *huge* surprise.

This is a very strong album, but I'm very stingy with 5 star ratings and I don't believe this album is perfect or a classic.

It is, however, worth the price to anyone looking for the most brutal vocalist in the business and very solid, very intense hardcore.

(note: there's a mild juliana theory feel to some of the tracks...I count it as a positive, but some of you may not)

From the band's myspace profile.



"Q: Are you a Christian band?
A: Not in the sense that you are probably thinking. If the term "Christian Band" to you means we sing about Jesus all the time and preach in between songs at concerts then no, we're not. Some of the members ARE Christian but some are not. We're open minded about it with each other... you should be too. The lyrics are usually about whatever Dan is in the mood to write about which could be anything from horror films, to political issues, to personal issues, you name it. There is no ministry, there is no unified message. We do not have, or pretend to have any answers."

O and by the way, this is one hell of an album. Highly recommended.

Bands like Extol, Living Sacrifice, and most of all, Zao put Slipknot to rest. Besides being harder, more talented, and have better over all songs musically, they rock for the glory of God. DON'T LET THAT TURN YOU OFF!!!! "Brainwashed religious freaks" right? Well, could the brainwashed make such hard core, thought provoking music? I think not my friends.

In order to fully get this CD, you have to see that this is a story. Zao explores what would happen if God just went to sleep. FOR EVER! Saying his creation has just been way to troublesome, and that he doesn't care. The world is suddenly without a God. Interesting, no?

The only thing is they have a new drummer. Now, we all know that Jesse Smith is the best drummer in the world, but this new guy, Stephen Peck, is pretty good too. But they brought back Dan Weyandt (vocals), and Russ Cogdell (guitar). These guys rock. So even if you're not a Christian, just a hard-core fan, check these guys out.

As far as I know, I have listened to every song published by Zao, whether it was from an album I physically own or from an MP3. I have never been disappointed. This album is great. The guitar playing is amazing and more complex than ever before with a more raw sound instead of using weird background effects like they have done in previous albums. Dan Weyandt's vocals are unique and no one can physically recreate his distorted growl/scream.

I saw them in concert a few months ago in Houston with Rhinosaurus, Misery Signals, Dillinger Escape Plan, and Every Time I Die. The show was awesome and they stood out more than any other band there. Yes, the members of Zao are Christian, and no, they don't use nasty language in their songs. At the same time, if you are prone to calling Christians "brainwashed" like one reviewer of this album, please note that they don't preach at you. They merely state what might occur if God turned his back on mankind and left earth. Anyway, buy this album. If you don't like it, than definitely check out Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest or Save Yourself from Hell (Liberate te Inexferis-or something like that). Otherwise, see them in concert. You would not be disappointed.

First I want to say flat out, Mind Your Own Business, to those dork faces who think ,metal needs to be satanic. Satanism is not a religion, it's nothing but exploitation. If you want to make a religion, don't just steal the beliefs of others and then invert them. I do listen to some satanic bands like MErcyful Fate and Dimmu Borgir and you can tell that its really just a front, even comical (especially with MErcyful Fate). What i'm sort of saying is, the band can play music about whatever they want and people should respect them for that. If you don't like it, don't listen to it and keep your mouth shut if you can't say anything non-derogatory about it!

On to the album then! Liberate te Ex Inferis/Save Yourself From Hell is my favourite Zao album, but this one is moving up on it pretty fast. I love it! It's a semi-conceptual album about what would happen if God turned his back on humanity. It's a really interesting story and a lot of really good songs. I don't think Zao is "selling out" by using clean vocals. Seriously, how many times I have you heard their songs on MTV or a car commercial, or the radio (excluding college of course). Never! But they should! This agressive hardcore metal is filled with lots of melencholic sorrow. If you like something hard and heavy that may make you think, get this. IF not, go listen to something else and not complain about what you don't understand.

This is without a doubt Zao's Best Album to date. It is also, for me, tied with the best Concept Album of all time, Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime, though the music is much heavier, and the vocals shred your throat.
Never mind reviewers that say Jesus has no place in metal since metal is all about rebellion etc... Current death metal/metalcore stuff is full of sheep spouting satanism, Zao is rebelling against the tired old anti-God clap trap of bitter metalheads including an uplifting Christian message while sounding as good as anything else out there.

Zao, one of the legends of hardcore, just released this one, and I have to say, I like it so much more than the others. His voice is piercing when he screams, which adds to the awsomness. This cd is more melidoc than the others and is their best. They stay true to themselfs, and their beliefs. Zao is one awsome band that shouldnt be taken lightly. Classic band and album.

I have been listening to Zao for about 2 years and this is the first cd I've bought from them. The music is very well down and creative. the Lyrics are dark and brutal and well thought out. Dan has if not, one of the best screaming vocals ever. Its filled emotion and you can tell he is trying to get something across with it. Some of my favorite songs are Last Song from Zion, The Rising End, Breah of the Black Muse, Praise the War Machine, and Truly, Truly, This is the End. All the songs are really sweet though. Definitly for fans of Demon Hunter, Living Sacrifice,and As I Lay Dying. Check out their cds as well. Keep up the good work Zao!

A note to Heidi Cakes. Unless you play a musical instrument and you are in a band yourself, don't put out negative reviews for awesome bands because they DO have talent and they put the time and effort in to produce a cd. Also because I'm sure they've made sacrifices in order to get to where they are now. Even if you are in the music area, its very igonorant to say those things anyway. (since most of your reviews are very negative)

God Bless