Zao
The Well-intentioned Virus
In 1995 ZAO released their first album All Else Failed on Steadfast Records, 21 years later, after a series of highly influential records on Solid State and their biggest commercial/critical successes (The Funeral Of God [2004] and 2006s The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here) on Ferret Records. Zao returns with their 11th full-length album The Well-Intentioned Virus. Having ceased extensive touring in 2007 the band reconvened in 2009 for the album Awake?. After a non-existent press push and unhappy with the availability of the album to fans, the band decided to rebuild its operations and began planting the seeds of starting their own label Observed/Observer Recordings. Never a band to repeat a past success and always searching for new boundaries to push within their own music, The Well-Intentioned Virus finds Zao utilizing just as many familiar touchstones from their catalog as introducing new ones. Dense and claustrophobic one moment, beautiful and spacious the next. The completion of the record also saw Zao make its return to the stage in 2016 with appearances at Texas So What? Festival, Amnesia Rockfest in Montebello QC, New England Metal Fest, This Is Hardcore in Philadelphia, The Chain Reaction anniversary festival in Santa Ana CA as well as headlining dates throughout the northeast with many more to come in 2017.