Show Review

Zozobra Date: March 17th 2007 Venue: The Middle East (Cambridge, MA) It’s the night of St. Patrick’s Day at the Middle East club in Cambridge, and Zozobra are about to take the stage for the first time ever. While the vast majority of attendees are clearly here to see the headlining performers ISIS and/or Jesu, many have heard about Zozobra through the bands’ common label, Hydra Head Records. There’s an impressive amount of chatter circulating the room, and it’s clear that beyond the well-apparent fact that the band contains Hydra Head veterans from Cave-In and Old Man Gloom, most people really have no idea what to expect. The band’s mastermind and former Cave-In bassist Caleb Scofield emerges from the shadows just after 9:30, as the club is still filling up with droves of fans eager to see the impressive line-up of artists performing tonight. Upon entering the stage, Caleb picks up a six-string, turns on his amps and begins to play “Silver Ghost,” a solo-performance track from Harmonic Tremors featuring him only. The sharp, distorted notes ring out through the room from his guitar as he slowly chants solemn vocals into the microphone. This grabs the attention of everyone in the club, many of whom have never heard this band before and are probably wondering where the hell the rest of the group is. Sure enough, though, as the song winds down and the notes slip away, Caleb trades his six strings for four and is joined by the rest of the group on stage. From the time the entire group begins to play, Zozobra spits forth menacing heavy rock that has the crowd’s heads spinning. Tracks like “Kill and Crush” and “Soon to Follow” run a plow through the audience with their pummeling riffs, which are carried out amazing well by fill-in guitarists Adam McGrath (Cave-In) and Jim Carroll (Clouds). Some impressive (and partially improvised) soloing adds a great new level of rock n’ roll flavor to the atmosphere that the crowd probably wasn’t expecting but definitely enjoyed. Unfortunately, while the guitarists are clearly the stars of the show, they greatly overpower the rest of the group. Caleb’s clean singing and harsh roars are virtually non-existent, just barely emerging from the barrage of distortion only when assisted by both guitarists. Guitarist Jim Carroll also shakes things up a bit more with some clumsy pedal work, accidentally unleashing piercing shrieks from his amp at some very inopportune moments. Furthermore, Santos’s drumming struggles to make a presence over the abrasive guitars, which drown him out to some extent and leave the songs sounding incomplete. The result of this unbalanced instrumentation is a well-apparent air of mixed feelings within the crowd towards the newly unveiled Zozobra—some are applauding wildly, and others just seem to stare into the distance quite un-amused. While the performance is undoubtedly somewhat of a let-down for spectators, those who have heard the beast that is Harmonic Tremors can’t help but pray that the un-familiars give Zozobra a second chance. Enough can be said about the severe anxiety that most certainly haunts every first-time performer, and it would be a huge mistake to not take this into consideration on the band’s behalf (take a look at our interview with Caleb and you’ll see what I mean). Zozobra has vividly demonstrated through their debut album that they are capable of unleashing creative heavy music at a monstrous level, and it would be a shame indeed for them to be judged solely on their first performance. There is no doubt in my mind that once this band gets a full tour under their belt, they’ll be rising to success and rocking the faces off of every one of us in no time. Author: Sean Butze Photography: Jim Pearse [ Back to Shows Index ]