Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway

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Riff Relevant has partnered with Italy’s Argonauta Records to bring you an exclusive premiere of the new ‘Nebulos‘ album from ZOM. The Pittsburgh-based trio is sure to make a respectable mark with this fantastic full-length, which we’re proudly presenting to you today ahead of its January 19th release tomorrow.

If this is your first ZOM listening experience then let me say now, prepare to be thrilled with this stellar offering. The follow-up to the band’s limited-run, self-titled EP from 2014 and to the point, this thing is built for comfort. That enjoyment arrives from the varying constructs used to craft this effort, all added on to its limber, pliable, stoner/desert rock base.

That solid foundation allows ZOM – guitarist/ vocalist Gero von Dehn and drummer Ben Zerbe (both also of Monolith Wielder), along with bassist Andrew D’Cagna (Brimstone Coven) – to incorporate myriad components to it. From blues and psychedelia to metal, doom and so much more, ZOM repeatedly renders music that will cause your jaw to drop in amazement.

From the chunkier, locomotive-push of the introductory cut, “Nebulos – Alien“, with its driving tempo and rhythms, this music goes for the throat. Aggressive vocals ride the waves of undisputed groove swirling beneath them. This is a most definite hard rock start to this heavy-handed throttler of an album.

Things don’t relent all that much as equally gut-wrenched wonders like “Burning” and “Gifters” soon follow suit. The first real breather comes up to the surface with the phenomenal “Solitary“, a laid back, in-the-pocket tune with those damned fine grooves giving it some heft. It’s airy yet molten, epic, and sweltering all the same.

Other selections “The Greedy Few” and “There’s Only Me” seem to gradually ramp up in their heaviness, right up to the crushing “Bird On A Wire“. The track’s Iommi-esque riffs rumble and resonate, while the drumming itself seems able to drive nails. With this song comes a point where this record goes off the rails with outright sonic badassery.

There’s still a pair of songs bringing the album to a close, the swagger-laden, remarkably rocking “Final Breath” and “New Trip“. The former is one bad-ass track and last breath or not, whatta way to die! The latter is nothing but pure rock fury being unleashed… heavy and hard-hitting with its incendiary guitars, as this trio of songs end ZOM‘s ‘Nebulos‘ on one killer high.

Indeed. This album is available for pre-order / purchase NOW via Argonauta Records at this location.

2018, Album Review, Argonauta Records, Doom, Heavy Rock, Music Premiere, Pennsylvania, SoundCloud, Stoner Metal, ZOM