Posted in Whathaveyou on December 2nd, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Who’s up for a potentially-life-changing weekend in the desert? Well, me, for one. Barring a magic invite, I don’t imagine I’ll be there to see the inaugural Mojave Experience Festival when it takes place over two days next March, but looking at the lineup I fail to see how you wouldn’t want to. Look at that Friday bill. They call it a pre-party. Look at that Saturday bill! How many nights in your life are you going to be treated to a succession of acts like that?
It was pretty clear out of the gate — Dead Meadow and Earthless were the first two bands announced — that Mojave Experience meant business this first time out. I don’t know if this is a one-time thing or if there are intentions toward an annual happening, but either way, the assembled lineup crosses generations and stylistic borders, fostering an immediate sense of identity that’s tied to the history of the Californian desert underground with the likes of Mario Lalli, John Garcia, Gary Arce, Nick Oliveri and The Freeks involved, but that is already looking to reach beyond those geographic and aesthetic confines as well, whether that’s the doom of L.A.’s Early Moods or the acidblasting psych of Philly’s Ecstatic Vision. SoftSun and Borracho. Acid King and Hippie Death Cult. I could just go on saying names until I’ve said them all. None of them suck.
The dust has settled… and the full lineup is here. Two days !
FRIDAY • Mojave Gold (Pre-Party) Rubber Snake Charmers feat. Sean Wheeler The Freeks Arthur Seay & The RiffKillers Borracho Insomniac SoftSun
SATURDAY • Joshua Tree Lake (Main Event) Earthless Dead Meadow John Garcia Acid King Yawning Man Hippie Death Cult Nick Oliveri’s Death Acoustic Ecstatic Vision Howling Giant Early Moods
Single-day Riff Rider Passes drop Dec 5 — Friday or Saturday, your choice. Two-day bundles already gone.
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 3rd, 2025 by JJ Koczan
I’m not sure if this is everybody playing next year’s Legalize Lex, or just Legalize, at Al’s Bar in Lexington, Kentucky. This year had 17, and this is 14 bands, so if they’ve pared it down a bit, fair enough, but it’s also next April, so if they’re allowing for a couple others to get on board or for plans to chance, also fair enough. Note that Hashtronaut, Crop, Swamp Hawk, Shi and Veilcaste played this year’s Legalize, and a couple repeats year to year, friends and associated acts, is part of building a festival culture as well.
One assumes Spotlights will headline, and Hashtronaut and Crop would seem to have moved up the bill as well. Crystal Spiders will surely be awesome, and Fairie Ring and Doomsday Profit and Insomniac and well basically I’m just listing names at this point because I think the bands are cool and somehow you’re just supposed to get that reading. Come on, man. You were at that Insomniac gig in Brooklyn, right? Talking to myself and Gavin Zollo because I don’t think Ron actually reads. Ha. I don’t think anybody reads.
I digress. Driving untold hours to stand around a place to see bands? Sounds right up my alley. Not even joking:
Legalize Lex 2026
Hello everyone, we had a couple of errors on the initial release post and we want to make sure we represent all our bands the best we can, so we’re reposting this bad boi! We definitely appreciated all of your likes and comments the first time around, your support means the world to us. If you feel so inclined, please share this post so we can keep spreading the word! Year 3 is gonna be a banger! Excited to see you all!
Lineup: Spotlights Hashtronaut Crop Crystal Spiders Swamp Hawk Faerie Ring Uga Buga Insomniac Doomsday Profit Veilcaste Dead Vibes Ensemble Shi Acromancer Blonde Cauldron
Posted in Reviews on October 20th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Before show
I will tell you in all sincerity that prior to making the drive into the city — I’m still not sure which borough TV Eye is in; it’s Queens or Brooklyn; either way it’s far enough from where I live that it might as well be Connecticut — I spent months feeling anxious about it. How many, you ask? Well, the tour got announced in June, so a little over four I guess.
That’s probably not something everyone will understand. Or anybody who wasn’t raised by my mother. I couldn’t even tell you what it was about, the worry. The traffic will suck, I’ll get home too late and then still have to get up in the morning like I was home and in bed by 10, I don’t want to have to talk to people and be like, “oh yeah I’m really enjoying holding a basic human conversation, because that is for sure something I ever have been able to do for pleasure,” meantime all I can think of is the traffic home and I’m itching to go before the first band is even on. I damn near got off at Fort Lee, before the George Washington Bridge, to turn around and stay in Jersey. Tomorrow is my birthday. I’ll be 44. Apparently writing in back of the car before the show was how I decided to celebrate. What the hell is wrong with me.
The music will be good. Those magic words, spoken by The Patient Mrs. because she knows. The music will be good. I’m glad. Because for sure my photos won’t be. And getting here already wasn’t. And getting home won’t be. And waking up tomorrow won’t be. And because I’m in my 40s, like the next three days won’t be. So what the fuckhell am I doing here?
I’m here because I need to be. I came from Jersey, but Kal-El came from Norway (god I wish I was in Norway; would also have gladly trekked to Belgium this weekend), and Insomniac are up from Atlanta, and I’ve known a couple of the dudes in For Fuck’s Sake for the better part of 20 years, so maybe even though I spent four months with this trip to TV Eye — which I acknowledge is not at the ass-end of the universe for everybody but is about as far as I want to drive to any show, ever, ever, as I learned last December my first time here (a pleasurable experience, ultimately) — hanging over my head, I’m here. I don’t know how much sense it makes. Any of it.
It’s a while till the show starts, because somehow getting here hours in advance is practical. I brought homework to do and Zelda to play, so I’ll keep busy until it’s time to go in.
Here’s how the night will go, is going, will have gone:
For Fuck’s Sake
As alluded above, I know a couple of these guys. The bassist I’ve known the better part of two decades, and the singer was a couple years behind me at WSOU. Both nice guys, and I was glad to see them onstage when I walked in. By that time I’d already spilled the contents of my camera bag, save the camera, which I was holding, and asked if they took a card at the door only to be directed to the ATM right behind me, lit up and thoroughly visible. I fucked up getting cash too, so needless to say as I stood in front of the stage I was ready for the skin peel For Fuck’s Sake were providing. The foursome are definitely hardcore-rooted, and they sort of skirt the line with sludge, so what you get is an aggressive misery thrown at you. Expressive, to say the least. I was up front for it and in addition to the ‘derp, I know humans’ factor, they probably weren’t what I’d put on in the car on the way to gradeschool morning dropoff, but I’d call them relatable even if I wasn’t actually three humiliating children in a bigboy-sized hoodie, and being in the mindset I was at the time, they did just right by the simmer in my blood. I liked their recent single too.
Insomniac
Touring behind their debut album, Om Moksha Ritam (review here), Atlanta’s Insomniac were a curiosity on my part, as to how the material on the record would come across live. Their sound, meditative and psychedelic but delivered with a post-metallic force, is so rich that I was concerned it would be too easy to get lost, but volume and a ready succession of grounding builds helped. They are learning how to be a touring band while at the same time learning to be a band as a four-piece with the passing of guitarist Mike Morris earlier this year, and I’d imagine this tour is how they’ll figure a lot of those things out. Accordingly, it’s a special time to see them, not only since whatever they do going forward it will have a different dynamic, but because whatever the future brings, it’s now they’ll have learned from. They played before projections and were plenty immersive as they dug into parts or let out a bit of gallop, but it’s the transient sense of their sound, the taking-shape that felt palpable from in front of the stage, that was most resonant. I mean, that and the reverb. That was pretty resonant too.
Kal-El
However you prefer your riffs — big, small, hard-hitting, nodding, rolling, angular or fluid — Kal-El have you covered with groove to spare. Often cosmic in theme, their Norwegian double-guitar five-piece’s sound would work just as well emanating from some imaginary desert (perhaps that too could be in space?) and it was the whole package that carried it. All five of then. They didn’t play “Juggernaut,” which premiered here the other day, but they did “Moon People,” and that was a hoot and while the room wasn’t as capped as when I saw them for the first time about three years ago (review here), I felt lucky to be able to watch them in what seemed very much to be their element, headlining a club night with a succession of rad as hell heavy tunes. Their recent confirmation for Ripplefest Texas 2026 says to me they’ll be back touring in the States around that, so if you’re somewhere they’re not hitting on this run, start your social media nagging campaign promptly, I would say. They finished out with “B.T.D.S.C.” and “Astral Voyager” from this year’s Astral Voyager Vol. 1 (review here), and once again I felt lucky to have caught them while I could. Dear America, I know our house is all out of order and things generally are a shitshow right now. Try to treat these five dudes from Norway alright, huh? Nobody gets robbed, maybe? Fingers crossed the rest of the run goes as well as the first couple nights seemed to have.
—
Well now it’s after the show, isn’t it? Ride home was fine once I was in Manhattan. My fastest through the Holland in years. I know you don’t care about my traffic stories, but if I don’t put them here, how will I ever remember to complain about them later?
This was a good show, and I’m glad I went. Considering where my head was at on the way in — clearly up my ass; you get to a show like three hours early and when you walk in the first band’s already on; clearly you play too much Nintendo, old man — for me to say I don’t regret having gone can perhaps carry a little more weight than usual. I was healed by riffs. Not the first time.
Posted in Reviews on October 1st, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Insomniac are barely a minute into opening track “Meditation” — by then the ceremonial chime has been struck, so they’re officially underway — before their debut album, Om Moksha Ritam has revealed the creation of texture as a core facet of its purpose. The Atlanta-based then-five-piece of guitarist/vocalist Mike Morris — who played for a time in Zoroaster and whose death this past July changes the context of this release entirely — vocalist Van Bassman, guitarist Alex Avedissian, bassist Juan Garcia and drummer/vocalist Amos Rifkin present their first full-length through Blues Funeral Recordings as seven songs across a heady, immersive 47 minutes.
They use this time to reveal a nuance of approach that is as much post-metal as it is meditative doom as it is progressive heavy in its construction, bolstered by themes of journeying as given through the geologic features and biomes of (most of) the tracks themselves, as “Meditation” unfurls a density that’s more about the wash resulting from layering elements rather than simple tonal heft. Semi-spoken, whisper-screamed and clean-sung parts are interwoven, and the sense of communion with the ethereal is prominent almost immediately. This is not a straight-ahead party band. It’s a mystical-doom crashing exploration-type band. I guess that’s still kind of a party.
“Meditation” bookends with pointedly proggy album finale “Awakening” to give a sense of the result of all this astral-projection-via-riffs, a kind of enlightenment won through the undertakings of “Mountain,” “Forest,” “Sea,” and so on. There’s a chime in “Mountain” as well, but the song is not misnamed for its largesse, and as its initial chug opens to a crash-punctuated roll, one is reminded some of Forming the Void‘s airier moments, or the likes of Rezn for the fog that seems to rest between the sound and the listener’s ears.
A gallop emerges, which is sort of a hook in itself, but Insomniac aren’t looking to toss out catchy numbers so much as convey depth (or height, in this case), and “Mountain” somewhat ironically to its title carries a sense of movement in its later twists of guitar and grooving push. The vocal arrangement once again displays a thoughtful creativity, and when they hit into the slowdown toward the finish (classic), the affect is as consuming as would seem to have been intended.
The subsequent “Snow and Ice” is the longest inclusion at 9:53, and comes to offer a more direct and — this isn’t the right word, but it’s the closest I’ve got — stark payoff in its ending, but the hypnotic, aughts-era-Mastodon-derived shimmer of guitar that makes up much of the track is the real highlight. Getting there, in other words. “Snow and Ice” soothes early coming off the finish of “Mountain,” and gradually solidifies around a low groove kept by Rifkin, whose fills grow increasingly intense as the build progresses.
The third cut might be the answer to how heavy Insomniac get on this first record, but if it hasn’t been clear from the first sentence above, I’ll say outright that Om Moksha Ritam is about more than just being heavy. A later example of this is the sense of float that persists in the penultimate “Desert,” which is not ungrounded (it has drums, for example) but lets its acoustic/electric resonance answer the lushness of melody in the earlier centerpiece “Forest,” which answers back to much of what “Mountain” and “Snow and Ice” accomplish in terms of build, but is distilled in the doing across an album-shortest 4:23 runtime; toying with efficiency and structure, letting parts dwell when it feels right; all of this is dug-in in a positive sense.
As given to creating a wash as Insomniac are — and this should be considered something different from ‘crushing,’ which in my stoner headcanon is more definitively about tone — it’s easy to get lost in the proceedings as a listener and sort of snap back with the next change. “Forest” sees this become part of the dynamic of the band in a different way, broadening their reach even as it seems to rein in impulses toward longer-form expression. It’s fluid either way, and almost can’t help but be with its echoing vocals and cave-reverb, and so on.
These also become part of the persona of the release, and as “Forest” starts a mini-trilogy of three shorter tracks, with “Sea” and “Desert” behind, each one offers something distinct from the others — “Sea” starts out like drunken-regret QOTSA in a slog, builds suitable waves of distortion before the tide rolls out, while desert is clearer-eyed in its course toward the concluding payoff, with layers of vocals, sitar-esque guitar, and the full brunt of volume brought to a head before it’s done.
It’s unsurprising that “Awakening” should pick up from this moment, since it’s not the first time the band has by then employed finishing big and starting subdued going from one track to the next (see “dynamic,” above), but the closer has a sense of patience in its rollout and brings the vocal melody forward, finding Alice in Chainsy resolution after the three-minute mark en route to a resurgent gallop and a solo-topped onslaught finish. Somewhere in there a chime is hit again and it rings out to cap, which is fair for ending the meditation that began with — wait for it — “Meditation.” Although they don’t lack for impact really anywhere on the record, one of the chief accomplishments of Om Moksha Ritam is aesthetic.
The depth of production/mix become an essential piece of the songs’ character, and define a feeling of reaching into the unknown that’s all the more impressive as it seems to be a willfully honed aspect of their sound. It is somewhat inevitable that the band will be changed from here on. They not only have dealt with the trauma of losing Morris in the time leading up to a release that may well define their trajectory going forward, but on a practical level, even if they find another guitarist/vocalist to take up the role, the dynamic as presented across this material will shift as a simple matter of it involving somebody different. Knowing that, and in consideration of Om Moksha Ritam among the most cohesive and engagingly plotted debuts of the year — while at the same time fostering a mystique on a sheer sonic level — the record feels even more special.
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 8th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
As they reel from the passing of guitarist Mike Morris — pictured second from the right in the photo below; backwards cap, sunglasses, beard — just weeks ago, Atlanta’s Insomniac are pushing forward with the ramp-up to the release of their debut album, Om Moksha Ritam, on Blues Funeral Recordings. The record is out Sept. 5 and “Awakening” finds the band paying homage to Morris in a touching and heartfelt manner at the end. This means the clip must be recent, so no doubt it would have been an emotional shoot for the remaining members of the band — vocalist Van Bassman, guitarist Alex Avedissian, bassist Juan Garcia and drummer/backing vocalist Amos Rifkin — and the realization is accordingly bittersweet.
Note they’ll be out with Kal-El following Om Moksha Ritam‘s Sept. 5 release. The PR wire brings the new video and reminds of doings:
Transcendent post-doom unit INSOMNIAC shares new single off upcoming debut album on Blues Funeral Recordings; fall US tour announced!
Atlanta-based transcendent post-doom architects INSOMNIAC (with members of Zoroaster, Deceased and Avedissian Pickups) present their new single “Awakening”, in memory of their recently departed guitarist and vocalist Mike Morris. Their debut album “Om Moksha Ritam” will be issued on September 5th via Blues Funeral Recordings.
“Om Moksha Ritam” (or “Liberation through merging with the Universal Rhythm”) is a concept album that guides the listener through an aural and spiritual journey across multiple extreme environments, testing their resolve, principles, and commitment to adhering to the path.
“‘Awakening’ is the synthesis of this trip and the climax of both our collective spiritual journey and the record. After enduring and ultimately triumphing over the trials and environments traversed across the seven songs, we find ourselves with the time, space, safety, and gained experience to finally connect, with all our focus and intention, to the universe itself,” says the band.
INSOMNIAC’s resolve has certainly been tested lately. After announcing their album, an upcoming US tour with fellow Blues Funeral Recordings artist Kal-El, and being added to this year’s RippleFest lineup, the band experienced the sudden passing of Mike Morris, guitarist and a founding member of Insomniac.
“Mike was one of a kind – a sweet and generous soul that was always there to spread his good vibes and help lift you up to the higher plane that he existed on. A beach bum at heart – never without a cigarette, Tecate, or guitar in hand. We were so incredibly thrilled to have him as a bandmate and a friend. The mark he made on the music we made together is impossible to quantify. The song, this video, and the record are all dedicated to the memory of Mike Morris.”
As is their way, Insomniac has decided to stick to the path and to continue sharing their music with the world, adding another batch of dates around Ripplefest Texas. “This music was so important to him, and to us, that we knew it was exactly what he would have wanted. The path, we must keep on.”
Upcoming fall shows: 9/16 – Birmingham, AL @ Firehouse 9/17 – Memphis, TN @ The Hi-Tone 9/18 – Dallas, TX @ Armoury DE 9/19 – Austin, TX @ Ripplefest 9/20 – Houston, TX @ 19th Hole 9/21 – Pensacola, FL – The Handlebar* 10/16 – Asheville, NC @ The Odd* 10/17 – Raleigh, NC @ The Pour House* 10/18 – Brooklyn, NY @ TV Eye* 10/19 – Cambridge, MA @ Sonia* 10/21 – Philadelphia, PA @ Milk Boy* 10/22 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery* 10/23 – Youngstown, OH @ Westside Bowl* 10/24 – Detroit, MI @ Sanctuary* 10/25 – Chicago, IL @ Reggies Music Joint* 10/26 – Milwaukee, WI @ X-Ray Arcade* 10/28 – Lawrence, KS @ Bottleneck* 10/29 – Tulsa, OK @ The Vanguard* 10/30 – Austin, TX @ The Lost Well* 11/31 – New Orleans, LA @ Holy Diver* 11/1 – Panama City, FL @ Mosey’s* 11/2 – Atlanta, GA @ Boggs Social* * with Kal-El
On their debut record “Om Moksha Ritam”, to be released September 2025 via Blues Funeral Recordings, Insomniac delivers a brooding, heavy, and psychedelic journey, both physical and abstract. The duality of the experience is for you to experience. Every trip is different. Every spin reveals another layer. Here exists something new, unique, and incomparable. A band that made the music they wanted to hear because it needed to exist. What you choose to do with this information is your choice alone – but don’t sleep on it.
INSOMNIAC is Alex Avedissian – Guitar Van Bassman – Vocals Juan Garcia – Bass Mike Morris – Guitar, Vocals Amos Rifkin – Percussion, Vocals
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 6th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
There’s some namedrop-connection to defunct aughts-era psych-sludge hopefuls Zoroaster here, but I’m more curious about Insomniac on their own level, to be honest. Listening to “Mountain,” which is the first single from their upcoming debut album, Om Moksha Ritam, the sound is expansive in the way of modern heavy, a style fostered by Blues Funeral Recordings and a thread connecting many of the bands on the label, and melodic to suit the proggier takeoff as the song moves into its second half.
Those twists of guitar — what are those leading to? What about the galloping groove that takes hold, almost at a wash? The backing vocals? The song’s seven and a half minutes long, so there’s plenty of chance for it to edge up to the line on metal then hit a doomly slowdown that’s both bigger and broader than the shove that brought the band to that point. This is track two (the opener might be an intro; you never know) of seven. I’m ready for more.
And just as a side-note, if you saw the news of Kal-El‘s forthcoming US tour the other day, Insomniac will support for that run. Dates are included below, along with all other info courtesy of the PR wire:
INSOMNIAC: new album + single announced on Blues Funeral Recordings
Atlanta, Georgia’s transcendent post-doom architects INSOMNIAC (with members of Zoroaster, Deceased and Avedissian Pickups) have signed to Blues Funeral Recordings for the release of their debut album “Om Moksha Ritam” on September 5th and reveal entrancing first single “Mountain”. The band also announce an extensive fall tour in support of Scandinavian cosmic doom unit Kal-El on their first official US run.
Insomniac coalesce onto our plane like a third eye opening into the beyond. A bouncing ball on the rhythm of the universe. An aural guide past the edges of perception. The band took form in Atlanta, Georgia, like-minded explorers of sound and mind writing songs in the frequency of the earth. Featuring members of Zoroaster, Deceased, and Avedissian Pickups, the quintet’s transcendent, mind-expanding psychedelic heaviness casts light on the magic and strange beauty balanced between unconsciousness and dreams.
Debut record “Om Moksha Ritam” takes its name from a Buddhist mantra, in which Om is the universal heartbeat, Moksha is freedom, and Ritam is the rhythm of the universe. It’s a brooding and enlightening journey, physical and abstract, towering and transcendent. Insomniac drift between this world and the next, hovering at the periphery of consciousness. REZN, King Buffalo and Dead Meadow are names that arise if trying to fit them into familiar confines, though it’s clear that fitting within confines isn’t really what they do.
“Om Moksha Ritam” is an album which needed to exist, made by a band formed through trust in cosmic harmony. Every trip is different. Every spin reveals another layer. Something new, unique, and incomparable resides here, and Insomniac, calibrated to the rhythm of the universe, release themselves into the ether, spilling back transportingly heavy brilliance in their wake.
Insomniac US tour 2025 with Kal-El: 10/16 Thu – Asheville, NC @ The Odd 10/17 Fri – Raleigh, NC @ The Pour House 10/18 Sat – Brooklyn, NY @ TV Eye 10/19 Sun – Cambridge, MA @ Sonia 10/21 Tue – Philadelphia, PA @ Milk Boy 10/22 Wed – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery 10/23 Thu – Youngstown, OH @ Westside Bowl 10/24 Fri – Detroit, MI @ Sanctuary 10/25 Sat – Chicago, IL @ Reggies Music Joint 10/26 Sun – Milwaukee, WI @ X-Ray Arcade 10/28 Tue – Lawrence, KS @ Bottleneck 10/29 Wed – Tulsa, OK @ The Vanguard 10/30 Thu – Austin, TX @ The Lost Well 10/31 Fri – New Orleans, LA @ Holy Diver 11/1 Sat – Panama City, FL @ Mosey’s 11/2 Sun – Atlanta, GA @ Boggs Social
INSOMNIAC is Alex Avedissian – Guitar Van Bassman – Vocals Juan Garcia – Bass Mike Morris – Guitar, Vocals Amos Rifkin – Percussion, Vocals
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 25th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
There’s no audio on their website or Bandcamp — the latter has shirts if you find yourself digging the logo — but I managed to find a snippet of Insomniac music on their Instagram, included in a Reel plugging their tour with Dead Register that ended last week. It’s just a few seconds, teaser of a teaser, but better than nothing. And even from that, I think you can get a sense that space is important in their sound, and that there’s a melody/heft collusion happening in that open-feeling expanse. I’m not gonna tag them with a genre or anything based on eight-to-10 seconds of hearing them, but that post is below, or a link to it is below, or whatever I can’t embed shit anymore the internet is broken if I could abandon ship and jump off the planet I’d already be gone.
Of course, the reason I spent upwards of seven earth minutes actually looking for a thing — in this case an Insomniac song — was because the band’s newly signed to Blues Funeral Recordings and Jadd‘s on a roll for the post-pandemic 2020s. Will be looking forward to hearing this one when the time comes.
From social media, which, sadly, is where these kinds of things are still posted:
We rarely get the chance to sign bands in person, so our founder was immensely grateful to meet and witness the extraordinary INSOMNIAC perform here in the desert last week, and we’re tremendously stoked to welcome them to the label! 🗿🌙🌵
Atlanta’s INSOMNIAC blend mind-expanding psychedelia with cosmic atmospherics and drony post-metal in a way that’s utterly transporting. Featuring members of Zoroaster, Hank III and Deceased, INSOMNIAC will guide you on an aural trip through your mind’s peaks and valleys toward enlightenment. Fans of REZN, Dead Meadow, King Buffalo and Russian Circles, prepare to journey within and ascend toward enlightenment when Blues Funeral presents INSOMNIAC’s debut LP this year! 🤘
Insomniac: Juan Garcia – Bass Guitar Mike Morris – Guitar, Vocals Van Bassman – Vocals Amos Rifkin – Percussion, Vocals Alex Avedissian – Guitar
