In the 5 years since Zozobra, find the side-project of Cave-In bassist Caleb Scofield, order last released a record, the metal landscape in America has changed drastically. The sludgy, prog-imbued sound that Zozobra and bands like Kylesa, Baroness, and Mastodononce embraced has all but disappeared, with most of those bands becoming arena-touring, Metallica-supporting hard-rock acts. After a long hibernation, Scofield resurrected Zozobra and recorded a new EP, Savage Masters. The resulting songs represent a more stripped down, focused, and aggressive sound than anything previously heard from the band. To celebrate this release Zozobra hit the east coast for its first tour in years, making its final stop in Allston last Saturday, playing to a small, but passionate crowd at Great Scott.
Cambridge-based The Proselyte christened the evening with a somewhat disjointed set that ran the gamut from groove metal to sludge to crushing doom, peppered with punk energy and lots of humor. The band’s dual vocals (shared between the guitarist and drummer) and high amounts of energy were its highlights, but the stylistic inconsistency between each song made for a set that didn’t flow very well. Still, it was easy to see The Proselyte had a blast and I’ll take these guys over another shitty grindcore opener any day.
Bay Area quartet Kowloon Walled City came up next and played a tight set consisting almost entirely of songs from their excellent 2012 release Container Ships. Slow burning opener “The Pressure Keeps Me Alive” began with a mournful, echoed chord before exploding into mid-paced, fuzzed out sludgy doom. Heavy and punishing, but not suffocating or crushing, Kowloon is frequently labeled as “post-metal,” a lazy and overarching term. But really they’re a punk band playing like a metal band, with each song possessing a sense of economy that would be lost on most sludge or doom bands. Less disciplined acts would simply riff into infinity, but Kowloon’s songs dropped off suddenly and without warning, keeping the audience engaged and aware of the show in front of them. Their set, while never pummeling, was a slow moving and constant barrage that lurched to a close with the ten-minute finale “You Don’t Have Cancer,” by far the longest song of the night. For a band playing on borrowed equipment, these dudes slayed.
Finishing the bill was Zozobra, playing as a trio of members from Boston’s Cave-In. Out of the gate Zozobra was aggressive and intense, playing with a hardcore band’s sense of fury and concision. Except an extended instrumental played mid-set, no song was over three minutes. The new songs are terse, violent, explosive sprints punctuated by stop-on-a-dime drumming and lots of bass. Zozobra ran older material through this vicious filter resulting is a set that, unlike Kowloon’s, was a constant barrage with each song feeling like an attack on the audience. Songs came one after another, interrupted only occasionally by Scofield’s stage banter and lots of reverb. The most sonically interesting moments were when the band would jam mid-song, creating the sorts of chaotic, disjointed tones and rhythms that bands like Daughters and Converge are so good at. But the band was never boring as Scofield played an intimidating front man spitting and screaming. He commanded a powerful presence onstage, while his cohorts destroyed their respective instruments, playing with absolute focus and intensity.
Zozobra’s set ended as quickly as it began, running barely 30 minutes. With a quick “Thank you” from Scofield, the band unplugged and hopped off stage.
