By far one of the most alternately stark, gripping, and emotional offerings ever produced by the heavy music genre, this album is considered by most fans to be the definitive Zao work.
After the dissolution of the band's prior incarnation, original member, drummer, and songwriter Jesse Smith assembled a new lineup that included guitarists Russ Cogdell and Brett Detar (who would later play for the Juliana Theory) and poetically inclined, screechingly devastating vocalist Daniel Weyandt.
Lyrically, this album addresses the death of loved ones, religious issues, and in-depth personal examination with forthright honesty and daring emotional bravery, all backed by walloping walls of heavy metallic sounds and mournful guitar lines.
Smith's drumming is impeccable and the songs are all driving, heart-tugging anthems that sound pained and devastatingly cathartic all at once.
It features sharp, hissed, Carcass-like vocals that have been imitated by countless bands in the wake of this album's release.
A definitive album from what has proven to be one of the most important bands in the metalcore genre.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lies of Serpents, a River of TearsZao | Zao | Play | 02:39 | 6 MB | 18 MB |
| 2 | To Think of You Is to Treasure an Absent MemoryZao | Zao | Play | 04:27 | 10 MB | 28 MB |
| 3 | A Fall FarewellZao | Zao | Play | 02:56 | 6 MB | 20 MB |
| 4 | MarchZao | Zao | Play | 03:51 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 5 | EmberZao | Zao | Play | 02:26 | 5 MB | 17 MB |
| 6 | Ravage RitualZao | Zao | Play | 03:15 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 7 | Fifteen RhemaZao | Zao | Play | 03:33 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 8 | For a Fair DesireZao | Zao | Play | 03:03 | 6 MB | 22 MB |
| 9 | The Latter RainZao | Zao | Play | 06:28 | 14 MB | 42 MB |
| 10 | VioletZao | Zao | Play | 07:18 | 16 MB | 31 MB |
| 40 mins | 91 MB | |||||
| 39 mins | 256 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Don Clark | Concept, Design, Layout Design |
| 2 | Brett Detar | Guitar |
| 3 | Brandon Ebel | Executive Producer |
| 4 | Bruce Fitzhugh | Producer |
| 5 | Brian Gardner | Mastering |
| 6 | Jason Magnusson | Assistant Producer |
| 7 | Tim Owen | Photography |
| 8 | Barry Poynter | Engineer, Mixing |
| 9 | Jesse Smith | Drums |
| 10 | Zao | Composer, Performer, Primary Artist |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |