Zao is back in the studio working on a follow up to their 2006 Steve Albini produced full length The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here. The band is recording with As I Lay Dying frontman Tim Lambesis and Daniel Castleman, with Zao's Scott Mellinger rounding out the producion team. The lineup for the record will feature Mellinger on guitars, frontman Dan Weyandt, bassist Martin Lunn and drummer Jeff Gretz (From Autumn to Ashes). Scott commented:

We simply can not wait for everyone to hear these new songs. We have not been on the road since the Demon Hunter and Throwdown tours in 2006, which has given us plenty of time to get our wits about us and to really concentrate on creating the best batch of material we possibly can.

The album will be released by Ferret Music in 2009.