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.

TRACKLIST:
1. Meditation
2. Mountain
3. Snow and Ice
4. Forest
5. Sea
6. Desert
7. Awakening

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

https://www.insomniacvibes.com/
https://insomniacvibes.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/insomniac_atl/
https://www.facebook.com/insomniacATL/

bluesfuneral.com
https://bluesfuneralrecordings.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/blues.funeral/
https://www.facebook.com/bluesfuneral/

Insomniac, “Mountain” official video