ZEN BLACK 1/21/08 Fletcher’s Baltimore, Maryland

On a Monday night in downtown Baltimore there really isn’t too much going on in all honesty, but if you’re into the local music scene, the ONLY option for seeing the best local bands in town is “Noise in the Basement” which is hosted by Matt Davis from 98 Rock every Monday at Fletcher’s in Fell's Point.

This particular “Noise in the Basement” on January 21, 2008, featured Zen Black on the bill, and this was actually the first time the band has played a live show in several months due to some personal problems. I’ve actually seen Zen Black several times over the past year or so and it’s interesting to see how the band has changed ... the first time I saw them, they were trying to be a melodic rock act that focused less on being “Metal”, BUT, I recall telling the bands singer, JR, that the first time I ever saw them, that they ARE Metal, there’s NO denying that, and I was really glad when I spoke to JR a few months later and he admitted to me that they definitely have Metal roots and a Metal sound and they are not going to deny that! Zen Black does have a melodic side, but to me, they lean more towards a hard, heavy, thick, chunky metal side, which is NOT a bad thing at all!

The band debuted a few new songs at this show, and the most notable difference on this night was that lead singer JR was sitting behind the drum kit. He sang the first couple of songs while playing drums, and then the band introduced another singer to the stage, and this was where things got REALLY heavy! The new material was more intense than ANYTHING I’ve ever seen Zen Black do....I commented to JR after the show that there are two options for the band at this point...JR is a really good drummer and he could stay behind the drum kit and allow the new guy to sing, because with the “other” singer, the ENTIRE dynamic of the band changed...I can’t explain it any better than this..the melodic side of things kinda went out the window and it became more like “power metal” with a totally different vocal style, OR, the other option is for JR to take back over the role as lead singer and get a new drummer...it’s really a tough call, because JR is a good drummer and added a lot to the bands sound, BUT, changing singers TOTALLY changed things, and I’m not gonna say one version of the band is better than the other, but wow, it was definitely a HUGE change!

This particular night, the band did something on stage I’d never seen them do..they brought out the “Zen Black Dancers” for the entire show and it was interesting eye candy, BUT, in all honesty, after a song or two on the small Fletcher’s stage, they could have gotten rid of the dancers because it really took away from watching the band rip it up on stage! You have to realize that most people have limited attention spans...if you overstimulate people with too many options, they get confused...in my mind, I was thinking that a better option might have been to have the girls dancing on the sides of the stage or in cages, rather than directly in the middle, simply because it took away from the performance and power of the band, plus you couldn’t see JR playing drums quite often, BUT, that’s just my opinion...the crowd seemed to love it!

I definitely give Zen Black kudos, because they really pulled things together, they’ve continued on, they keep writing new material that’s stronger than their previous stuff, and the band seems to get better and better each time I’ve seen them! For more info, show dates and music from Zen Black, go to: www.myspace.com/zenblack

Tags: 98 Rock, bob suehs, Fletcher's, Matt Davis, Noise in the Basement, Zen Black