The only thing I was disappointed with was the fact that there are only four songs. The two Training for Utopia tracks are in my opinion, the band's best material to this date. This sounds nothing like the full length Plastic Soul Impalement. I interviewed Don and he said that the band was not pleased with the vocals on the full length and that they were going back to their original vocal style (it is distorted and sounds like two guys are both screaming at the same time). They do this here, and I like it better than the ones on the full length. It gives their songs more of a hardcore feel than ever.
I do not exactly prefer the Zao songs to Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest. They are short and Dan's vocals are less black and higher pitched. Maven (of TFU) does a guest appearance in one song and I think Bruce Fitzhugh also pitched in (like he did on the Embodyment CD). The guitar work is simply amazing though, and is what makes this so killer, and as always Jesse is still killing with his drumsticks. I like these songs a lot, but they are just not filled with the ZAO magic ya know? These are your basic TFU lyrics and the Zao lyrics talk about deception and the use of the tongue as a weapon. The mix is perfect and the layout is very nice as well. This is definitely worth your money unless you hate both TFU and Zao for some strange reason.
9/10
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #74Reviewed by Doug Van PeltA short and sweet ride through modern metal is what you get here with four songs (two each by both bands). Training For Utopia pounds away with a dynamic mix of instrumental jamming with distorted hardcore screaming and melodic vocal phrasing. Zao is not too far off on the musical side, but their vocals marry the shrill screaming/shrieking of black metal. These two bands, which call themselves…Dead Zine 1998Reviewed by FetusI think this 4 song split was done more for fun than anything and fun they had. I would have to say that the TFU sounds almost exactly like stuff on their last release Plastic Soul Impalement. Zao on the other hand has further escaped into the metal realm than even on Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest. Operand and Police John Police Red are characteristic TFU songs, very emotional vocals with…More from Training for Utopia
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