As we approach the first half of the year, many within the stoner/doom community has been raving about the full-time return of The Obsessed in March, when founding member Wino inked a deal with Relapse Records.. The new album ‘Sacred’ is the first album in 20 years. And while The Obsessed debut album is considered a classic , the newest opus is the heaviest record. So when Wino set out a tour for the new album it not only showed a promising tour but a promising future for the genre.
As I walked to Saint Vitus bar, to my amazement Wino was walking about in a casual manner. I couldn’t help but laugh and admire his non rock star attitude. The Bob Dylan of stoner music not showing but also walking the walk.
Slowly the place was filled and Wino walked on the stage and just went straight into the song ‘Sacred’ , the opening track from the new record. As the wall of sound came out of his rustic looking amp, the tone that came out of that man could have peeled the paint off the walls. Not since Black Sabbath have I heard this sound.
With little talk he went into a deep cut song ‘Blind Lightling’ from the album The Church Within. As Wino stood onstage with gear that looks like from the 1970’s he was just standing and swaggering like a Shaman in a trance. Most of the night we heard material from “The Church Within” and “Sacred”. However, we were treated with one song from Lunar Womb album, ‘Hiding Mask’.
The two songs from the debut album was still refreshing today despite being 20 years old. Tracks like ‘The Way She Fly’ and ‘River of Soul’ reminds the audience the evolution of Wino.
