ZEROZONIC – God Damn, Better, Best
- Posted on 14-06-2011
BloodRedThrone guitarist Daniel Olaisen felt the need to form his own groove metal band Zerozonic in 2004 – and the four piece arrive with album number two. “God Damn, Better, Best” contains 9 songs that embody the American modern metal blueprint first brought about with Pantera, and now continuing with Chimaira. Large staccato oriented grooves, obvious pit moving drum parts and a vocalist in Leo Moracchioli who loves Phil Anselmo as much as Dez Fafara in terms of his aggressive and occasionally bizarre patterns.
Pluses include the choppy, off time guitar/drum riff structure throughout “Humane”, the brooding “Drag The Waters” nature of “Live Today” and the solid musical skills taking over “Instrumentalcase” which is more of a conventional early Metallica meets Iced Earth instrumental number. Negatives start with the wild underwater/ pitch bending effects placed on Leo’s voice and end with the party closer “Alcoholic Mayhem” as the speedy Korn-like vocals made me want to hurl this disc into the deepest ocean.
So how does this effect the overall picture of this sophomore release? Looking objectively, Zerozonic’s good to great songwriting ratio in terms of their groove metal style probably rates at a third on my rating scale. In today’s tighter economical market, Zerozonic would have been better off expanding their horizons and not focus so much on influences who are better at molding all the elements together and keeping things interesting.
I know there will be an audience for Zerozonic. I’m uncertain as to their longevity if “God Damn, Better, Best” is the blueprint for the band’s future.