Liberate Te Ex Inferis

Liberate Te Ex Inferis
Studio album by Zao
Released August 10, 1999
Genre Metalcore
Length 40:13
Label Solid State/Tooth & Nail
Producer Barry Poynter
Zao chronology

Training for Utopia / Zao
(1998)		 Liberate Te Ex Inferis (Save Yourself from Hell)
(1999)		 (Self-Titled)
(2000)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
HM (not rated)[1]
Exit Zine [2]

Liberate Te Ex Inferis is the fourth full-length album by metalcore band Zao. It is considered to be their most experimental and darkest album. It was released on Solid State/Tooth & Nail. With the album came the addition of bassist Rob Horner. Liberate is the first Zao album to feature Scott Mellinger, who replaced Brett Detar after his decision to pursue The Juliana Theory full-time.

The album's title is grammatically incorrect. The sentence is Latin, and a rough English translation is "Free / yourself / from / Hell". However, the imperative "Liberate" is in the plural form, and its direct object "Te" is in the singular. The distinction isn't found in English (e.g. "you" can refer to one person or more than one person), which is why the rough translation shows no apparent problem. The Latin should read either (1) "Libera Te Ex Inferis", if it's meant to be about one person; or (2) "Liberate Vos Ex Inferis" if it's meant to be about more than one person. (It's possible there was an error when the sentence was transcribed wherein "Libera Te" was written as "Liberate", i.e. with no word division).

The theme of the album art is based on Dante's inferno, as the songs are grouped in pairs named after the rings in hell.[3] Because of this arrangement, the album is often mistakenly labeled as a concept album. The band members themselves, however, had nothing to do with the idea and very little input on the artwork and layout.[4]

The album contains several samples from the science fiction horror movie Event Horizon. The title of the album is also a quote from Event Horizon. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119081/quotes

Drummer Jesse Smith has stated that Liberate is his favorite Zao album. The staff of Ferret Music also favor this record.

Both drummer Jesse Smith and vocalist Daniel Weyandt have stated during interviews that the music of post-metal band Neurosis had a heavy influence on this album's overall sound.

The album received the vinyl treatment in May 2011 from Broken Circles Records. The album features new cover art, designed by Brent Lakes.

Track listing

  1. "Intro" – 3:38
  2. "Savannah" – 2:46
  3. "Autopsy" – 2:12
  4. "If These Scars Could Speak" – 4:43
  5. "The Ghost Psalm" – 5:42
  6. "Desire the End" – 4:58
  7. "Dark Cold Sound" – 3:10
  8. "Skin Like Winter" – 2:23
  9. "Kathleen Barbra" – 3:35
  10. "Man in Cage Jack Wilson" – 7:00

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ Bixler, David (September–October 1999). "Album Reviews: Zao liberate te ex inferis". HM Magazine (79). ISSN 1066-6923.
  2. ↑ Exit Zine review
  3. ↑ Liberate Te Ex Inferis at Allmusic
  4. ↑ Interview with Dan Weyandt (2001), Bandoppler. Retrieved July 22, 2007