Metalcore pioneers Zao reinvent "Xenophobe" in preparation for new album—listen

[Photo credit: Allix Johnson]

After announcing their eleventh studio album The Well-Intentioned Virus, Zao are re-releasing the track “Xenophobe” in anticipation of the new record, which is set to drop Dec. 9 via their own Observed/Observer Recordings.

Originally released in mid-2015 on a 7-inch, it was re-recorded and remixed to fit the ambiance of the new album.

Read more: 11 songs to get you into metalcore

“This version of Xenophobe is a little bit different than the single version that came out in 2015. Once we started mixing the rest of the record it made sense to fit it into the sonic framework everything else was taking,” says drummer Jeff Gretz. “The guitars and bass were redone to match what was happening across the rest of the record, a other few tiny details were changed here and there and we gave it a totally new mix.”

The band recently made our list of 10 metalcore bands that shaped the scene, introducing a generation of emo kids to the stormy sounds of metalcore.

The Well-Intentioned Virus follows-up 2009's Ferret Records release Awake? and was recorded over a span of two years just outside of the band’s hometown of Greensburg, PA at Treelady Studios.

Give the song a listen below, and preorder their new album here.