Isis/Jesu/Zozobra @ The Middle East Downstairs

Before the mega-awesome Mastodon tour was announced, I was convinced that this was the must-see metal extravaganza of the year. Despite some initial worries whether Jesu would even make it into the state, my feelings were most definitely confirmed.

Apparently this was the first show ever for Zozobra, but you never would have known. Before the show, my friend overheard the merch guy for Zozobra saying that everyone should be prepared "for a clusterfuck", but I must say they pulled it off pretty well. The band features ex-members of Cave In and Old Man Gloom and well honestly, the band sounds pretty much like....Cave In and Old Man Gloom (without the weird experimental stuff), with lots of crushing vocals and heavy guitars. Impressive set and if that was considered a "clusterfuck", I can only imagine what they will be like live once they get a few more shows under their belt.

Thank God that Jesu were able to enter the country, that is all I can say. The latest project from ex-Godflesh frontman Justin K. Broadrick departs from his past musical work, yet still maintains its overall heaviness. Broadrick sings in an airy, detached voice while drums pound away in the background and shoegaze-esque guitars swirl. The whole set Broadrick seemed extremely grateful to be playing the show and you could tell that he truly did not want to be anywhere else in the world except on that stage. If you somehow missed them on this tour, they will be doing another full U.S. tour in the coming months. Make sure to catch it.

Jesu set list taken from the bridge9 board:
We All Faulter (opener), Silver, Conqueror, Friends Are Evil , Transfigure

The guy right next to me at the show worked for Brainwashed and put up what I can only imagine is a very sweet interview with Justin Broadrick up on his site. I have yet to watch it but I am sure it rules. He also filmed the whole Jesu set, so maybe that is in that video/will be up soon. Check it out here.

Although I am not the biggest fan of the new Isis album, the old stuff still absolutely rules. They definitely were better than what I had expected live, but I didn't stick around for the whole set. The band sounded absolutely great and their drummer is simply put, a freakin' beast. I left after 5 or 6 songs but was pretty impressed with their live sound.

As always, more photos up on the flickr page

Isis






Jesu