Zao/Training for Utopia Split

7/10

NOTE: I just discovered this review in the draft folder--didn't realize I forgot to post it when I was working on the series. Glad it will now see the light of day. It feels like a pleasant epilogue to me.

This is a fun little EP. I picked it up on sale for a couple of dollars in the Tooth & Nail store at some point in 2002, but really, this is a great snapshot of these two heavy bands in 1998. Zao is working on new material for their then upcoming Liberate Te Ex Inferis, and an early version of a song from that appears here, with Training for Utopia's vocalist, Ryan Clark, tagging along. Zao also provide this four song EP's closer, the short and sweet (but also heavy and vicious) "Walk On By, Walk On Me." Meanwhile, when Clark isn't popping up in a Zao song, he's fronting his own band, Training for Utopia, who provide the EP's first and third tracks. Opener, "Modus Operandi" is quite fun, but the real EP standout here is the nearly eight-minute third track, "Police John, Police Red." No song from TFU's two late 90's full-lengths really approaches this song in either musical content or length. "Police John, Police Red" begins with a beautiful, reverbed guitar arpeggio and angelic vocals, which I used to joke with my brother, sounds like a happy man walking through the forest. Throughout the rest of the song, that man becomes less and less happy and more and more scared, eventually terrified and running, as the sun sets, and the song shifts into heavier after heavier section, showcasing the chaos this band was known for on an epic scale, until a thunderous climax features Clark repeatedly shouting "COME ARMAGEDDON!"
That summer, after seeing Zao at Cornerstone, I met Ryan Clark and now ex-Zao drummer, Jesse Smith, while they were hanging out behind the tent after the show. Clark, having just disbanded TFU and in the process of starting up Demon Hunter, had guested on one of Zao's songs during the performance. I had no idea who Clark was, until Smith introduced me. The two were extremely kind, and Smith was particularly engaging. That was the best show I've ever seen, those were great times, and this EP is an excellent view into that window in metal history. Hooray.

1998 Solid State/Tooth & Nail Record

1. Training For Utopia -- "Modus Operandi" 4:31
2. ZAO -- "Skin Like Winter" (Featuring Maven (aka, Ryan Clark) of Training for Utopia) 2:25
3. Training For Utopia -- "Police John, Police Red" 7:43
4. ZAO -- "Walk On By, Walk On Me (The Pianist's Prophecy)" 3:01