This is the first proper US release for The Obsessed’s landmark second album, originally released on a German label in…1991, I think. In case you’ve been somewhere other than planet Rock for the past 20 years, The Obsessed were early Sabbath revivalists from DC who charmed the bikers AND the punks with their wicked-riffing tales of woe, but their reign was cut short when main man Scott “Wino” Weinrich split for the west coast to sing for St. Vitus, another gang of hairy Sabbath-heads. A year or so later, he returned to the Obsessed. Many years later he formed the Hidden Hand, but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. After this one, the Obsessed got signed to Columbia records, a move which, of course, sank them. But this was recorded when the band was mean, hungry, and on full-tilt boogie. The title track is probably the best example of their aesthetic, a spicy bowl of space-face doom with a side order of woozy, boozy 70’s thunder rock, and the rest of ‘em are pretty much somewhere in that rubbery orbit, sometimes faster (the blustery “Spew”) or harder (the crunching “Brother Blue Steel”), but always with Wino’s liquid-doom stun gun guitar at the forefront.

As far as the CD package, it’s got a haunting Goya cover, plus a swank booklet with vintage photos, lyrics, and liner notes by Joe Carducci. Nice. While I am not a loyal Wino disciple myself, I can definitely see how this release would moisten the loins of hardcore doomheads.
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-Sleazegrinder