ZEROZONIC – Dead On Arrival

Zerozonic is a relatively fresh band from Norway. They were formed in 2004 by guitarist Daniel “Peisy” Olaisen (Blood Red Throne, Scariot, ex-Satyricon) and the band soon got a complete line-up with drummer Tommy Jackson and bass player Ole Vistnes (both ex-Green Carnation), and finally vocalist Leo Moracchioli (Lowdown).

Dead On Arrival is an album filled with excellent Groove Metal, and it’s no big surprise that the band’s biggest inspiration is Groove Metal legends Pantera. That being said, it should be stated that Zerozonic is no Pantera-copy. They definitely have their own style, and when four talented musicians with more than a few years of experience in the business get together like this to make music, the result is great.

The music on this album is hard, raw, and uncompromising. At times they go on hard and fast with pounding bass and double bass drums, while other times they get really intense and slow when they half the pace of the drums in raw breakdowns. There’s some great interaction between the bass and the drums, and this allows “Peisy” to add the extreme extras to the riffing with his guitar.

From the first moment you put on this record you are aware of Leo Moracchioli’s great voice. He could easily remind you of Phil Anselmo from back in the days, but still he has a distinct feel to his voice that really singles him out as unique. Just listen to the great way he handles the raw and merciless vocals on “Temptation.”

Moracchioli also gets to use his voice in another way on the song “Zero.” This is the only ballad on the record. It’s a fine song, though it’s maybe a bit too long, counting almost eight minutes. Almost as an answer to that criticism, Zerozonic has included a radio version of the song at the end of the album that’s shortened down to only four minutes. The song has some great moments and it even sounds like they’ve used a keyboard to add string sounds to the chorus. It’s actually a fresh breath of air on the record. It’s also a smart move to place this song in the middle of the album so it breaks up the heaviness a bit.

What’s really great about the production is that they’ve captured the rawness that’s needed for this type of Metal in a great way. There is nothing polished about this record and the band has definitely benefited from that. Another great thing is that they haven’t doubled the bass tracks with rhythm guitar on all the solos. A great example on this is the guitar solo on “Back To Me.” The song goes from a really Heavy Groove to a much stripped down bass line with an incredibly cool guitar solo on top. Sometimes less actually is more!

Dead On Arrival is an album that all Pantera fans will embrace. In fact, it’s an album for all Groove Metal fans. Zerozonic is a band that consists of talented musicians that have created nothing short of a great record, and Dead On Arrival really deserves to be picked up and listened to closely. The band also claims that they’re almost finished writing their second album, so it seems this is a band fans will hear a lot from in the not too distant future.

Metal Express Radio recently caught up with guitarist Daniel “Peisy” Olaisen and talked a bit about Zerozonic.
Read the interview here