They've been through a slew of breakups, reunions and lineup changes, but by Jove — Zao have still got it. Last year, the West Virginia hardcore mainstays returned with The Well-Intentioned Virus, a criminally underrated album featuring the their most ambitious output to date. While the band still excels at delivering crushing breakdowns, Zao's current incarnation — which comprises vocalist Daniel Weyandt, guitarists Scott Mellinger and Russ Cogdell, bassist Martin Lunn and drummer Jeff Gretz – proves a crafty, unpredictable beast, churning out earworm choruses one moment and pit-starting mosh parts the next.
On the heels of that triumphant LP, Zao are set to drop yet another new release, the Pyrrhic Victory EP, on November 3rd, via the band's own Observed/Observer records. Today, they've linked up with Revolver to premiere "Clawing, Clawing, Never Cutting Through," an incendiary (not to mention insidiously catchy) anthem inspired by contemporary political chaos.
"The song lyrically started by messing with phrases and visuals," Weyandt explained. "It's a vague, loose approach at expressing my thoughts on the current political climate as a whole, while at the same time addressing the obsession with the past, romanticizing it, trying to relive it and bring it back to the present: the desperate last gasp of a dying animal."
Pyrrhic Victory is available for pre-order here.
