Zhakiah, new Melodic Death Metal Project by Jani Stefanovic

The record label Melodic Passion releases the new single and video ”Spirit’s Perfection” by Zhakiah - a band led by Jani
Stefanovic (Solution 45, The Waymaker, ex. Divinefire).

Today, Melodic Passion proudly presents Zhakiah - a metal band from Finland and Sweden, led by Jani Stefanovic (Solution
45, The Waymaker, Miseration).

Zhakiah is for fans of At The Gates, Darkane, early days of In Flames, Nevermore and Arch Enemy and of course fans of The
Waymaker, Divinefire, Miseration.

The debut album Where The Light Will Thread will be released in September, and is produced and mixed by Jani Stefanovic
– The Mastermind in Metal, with over 30 albums experience since early 2000 with bands like Solution 45, Divinefire,
Miseration, Crimson Moonlight, Mehida, Essence of Sorrow, to name a few.

Harder and more extreme elements of metal, but still with majestic guitar-melodies.

Zhakiah’s album is produced and mixed by Jani Stefanovic, the drums are performed by Alfred Fridhagen – also involved in
the new metal band The Waymaker, mastered by Multi Grammy, Gold & Platinum Award winning Thomas Plec Johansson
at Panic Room Studios, Sweden (Soilwork, Nocturnal Rites, Gathering Of Kings, Divinefire, Narnia, Solution 45 and many
more) and distributed by Sound Pollution.

Sounds really good!

I discovered them this morning on You Tube actually but since they say they are not a Christian band (they are "some Christians in a band," some not) I would probably have put this in the non-Christian section.

Well... it's a "one man band" (the drummer is a special guest) and Jani is a real christian..

Zhakiah came from hebrew and was "Sakiah" but spelled with Z and means "pure"

"Well Zhakiah was born because I had not done any death metal or melodic death in many years. Miseration last album was 2012 so i started to have ideas of something heavy again. Actually i got so many songs but 2 slightly different styles. One of them became the new Miseration which hopefully will be released in 2021 and the other half became Zhakiah.

My original idea was to go back to my roots. The swedish melodic deathmetal like old In Flames, At the gates, old Arch Enemy and those styles with my own touch but more importantly I wanted to fo this on my own. Just be alone do that I can say/write what I want and I wanted that the texts also is completely me and alot of the texts are direct bible and about that he our Lord is preparing his Army for the last days. Like the prophecies in the book of Jeremiah etc" (Jani told me when I was preparing the brazilian press release of the project)

^Thank you for that extra information and for doing the due diligence. Your information is obviously from a better source. I thought I'd seen an interview but when I went back to look, what I really saw was an entry in a site called the Christian Metal Library (www.xmlibrary.com). For the band Zhakiah it says:

"Note:This band doesn't consider themselves as a christian band, but some or all members are christian.

Christianity:
There is currently no "proof" of Christianity. If you know about Lyrics, an Interview or a Post from the band that back up their Christianity, let me know."

Also I looked at the lyrics for the song and they were a bit ambiguous.

But maybe one of us can send the site owner the info you just gave.

I really love Jani's style in general. I'll be buying this.

Finally picked this up. It's way better than I was thinking after listening to the early tracks! Everything is better in context. Nothing about the sound he came up with is unique and I knew that. However, its expertly done and memorable. There are fantastic grooves, amazing clean melodic vocals and solos and yet it's filled with tight and pummeling riffing at all other times. 

Drawbacks: it's awfully short, only 28 minutes and really only 7 songs (1 is an intro and the other an interlude). I still think it's worth it. Finding a decent price would be nice. I ended up picking it up from Amazon but still paid more than I normally would want to. Same reason I held off on The Waymaker album. Tough for me to resist Jani's work though.

If you're looking to buy it for a more reasonable price, I'd suggest to check ebay regularly. That's how I got my fairly priced Waymaker album.

This sound actually reminds me a lot of the last 4 or so Testament albums.

Temple of Blood wrote:This sound actually reminds me a lot of the last 4 or so Testament albums.

Minus the vocals, drums, guitar work, and hooks.

average joe wrote:

Temple of Blood wrote:This sound actually reminds me a lot of the last 4 or so Testament albums.

Minus the vocals, drums, guitar work, and hooks.

Truth be told some of it isn't really that far off. No one is Alex Skolnick. No one is Chuck Billy. Testament is certainly a legendary band. It's not comparable in quality but if you throw a song like this on The Gathering I'm not sure how out of place it would be sound wise.

I think it would sound very out of place, the guitar on this is so bland it's hardly noticeable.

This is a very good album, one of the better in ones in recent years in the christian scene