[5] Founded in March 1993, Zao has hosted several musicians and endured numerous roster changes to the point where no original members remain.

Former drummer Jesse Smith, vocalist Dan Weyandt, and guitarists Scott Mellinger and Russ Cogdell are seen by some fans as the "core" of Zao, with the current line up being the longest running in the band's history.

[6] To date, Zao has released 11 full-length albums, 9 EPs or splits, a two-disc DVD documentary and embarked on numerous concert tours, garnering a limited but global fan base and earning critical praise in the process.

The founding members of Zao, were vocalist Eric Reeder, guitarist Roy Goudy, bassist Mic Cox, and drummer Jesse Smith.

All of the band members, except for drummer Jesse Smith, quit Zao following the 1997 Cornerstone festival and a couple of shows they played on the way back home.

[10] Smith would drive several hours to Greensburg, where all these new members lived, to co-write and rehearse what would become the first (and in many ways, defining) album from the new Zao, Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest.

[11] The band set stages ablaze with their raw emotion and Weyandt's personal storytelling, which detailed the hardships that informed their songs.

With a rockabilly look and Smith's oddly engaging habit of setting up his drums facing away from the audience, their live reputation grew large in the underground.

Not long after recording their half of a split EP with labelmates Training for Utopia in California, Detar left the group in 1999 to focus his energy on his rock side-project The Juliana Theory, who would sign to Sony and have a successful career before disbanding in 2006.

[10] Following Detar's departure, Smith expressed interest in putting the band on a brief hiatus, which led to Weyandt and Cogdell forming a new project called Eight Stars for Elijah in the vein of Sunny Day Real Estate.

[11] Once the band returned from tour, they traveled to the studio to record Zao's fifth album titled Self-Titled, with Weyandt coming by for a few days to contribute his lyrics and vocals.

[11] Corey Darst replaced Weyandt for the majority of the touring in support of the album, with Horner returning, and second guitarist Matt Auxier joining up.

The group talked about signing with either Sanctuary or Century Media Records, but Zao "broke up" on stage at a December 2001 show in Pittsburgh (later documented on their DVD).

They were to embark on a tour with The Juliana Theory and Weyandt had joined Darst onstage as a special guest, but an incapacitated Jesse Smith could not make it through the show and long-brewing tensions boiled over.

In the documentary The Lesser Lights of Heaven, the band disavowed the re-recording, admitting they did it because they were broke and needed to fulfill their record contract with Solid State.

After the 2002 tour, the group's members focused on other projects, most notably Cogdell and Mellinger's more rock-oriented Jade Meridian and Horner's two-year stint with the Wheeling, West Virginia sci-fi metal band The Minus Tide.

Living Sacrifice drummer Lance Garvin filled in for Smith when the rest of the guys could not find him for a couple of 2003 festival dates.

With Weyandt back on board, the remaining three "core" members recruited the rhythm section from Jade Meridian (bass player Shawn Koschick, drummer Stephen Peck) to round-out the Zao lineup.

In 2005, the band released their DVD, The Lesser Lights of Heaven, mapping their history up till that point, having members from different bands, including: Don and Ryan Clark (Demon Hunter, Training for Utopia), Bruce Fitzhugh (Living Sacrifice), Chris McLane (Stretch Arm Strong), Jimmy Ryan (Haste the Day, Trenches), and CJ Anderson (Sinai Beach), as well as Ferrett Music's staff and Roy Culver of Solid State Records.

[citation needed] Following this, they began recording their new album, Awake?, with Scott Mellinger, Daniel Castleman and As I Lay Dying singer Tim Lambesis co-producing.

[22] The band finished vocal recording in November 2008 with engineer Dave Hidek at Treelady Studios, located in Pittsburgh, PA.[23] According to Gretz, Lambesis was not highly involved in the production, with Daniel Castleman being very hands-on.

Among other things in the recent update, the band said they were extremely surprised at how well their last album, Awake?, did in the market considering it had no tour support by them and that it was thrown onto Ferret's label in the 11th hour.

According to social media reports, on July 11, 2014, Zao went into the studio, after a five-year unofficial hiatus and working on side projects like Lonely Ghost Parade and Young Fox, is currently, tracking and recording their 11th album.

Former drummer Jesse Smith slowly changed the band's vision with citing wanting to be able to play to more secular music scenes and providing less emphasis on religion because he felt the original line-up would "force it down peoples throats.

"[11] Upon vocalist Daniel Weyandt joining the band; the lyrics shifted to more personal content albeit initially still retaining an occasional Christian message which became less prevalent with every album.