Reviewed by Greg Sammons

With my dad being a fan of old school progressive rock, I am often reminded of a better time when "real" music was the norm and every other album released being a concept album, telling a story from beginning to end. This noble art, we had thought, died out a while ago but may well be making a small renaissance. The debut albums by Mewithoutyou and Brave St Saturn (both on Tooth & Nail) were both concept albums and now former label-mates Zao have taken on perhaps the greatest concept of all. the funeral of God! The album unsurprisingly follows the story of the end of the world, as we know it, with obvious references to Revelation throughout. It's best not to mention too much more of the story, so not to spoil it but there is a great quote on the back of the sleevenotes! The music is what any Zao fan would expect, hardcore with elements of deathcore; in fact they are perhaps too often a little too formulaic. But even still the quality remains pretty high (two tracks making the Rock And Hard Place play list) and the concept is brilliantly dealt with. It simply feels that with Zao moving into the musical premier league (Ferret Records and European distribution through Roadrunner) a lot was expected and maybe they simply did not meet that expectation. It's both hard to find fault or to find much originality.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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