The Obsessed
Sacred
(Relapse Records)
The Obsessed have been carrying a legacy through the doom metal no man’s land for more than three decades now; it’s a pretty big feat, for a band that hasn’t released an album in over twenty years. The band barely survived some reunion gigs, and founder Scott Weinrich finally pitched a tent with Relapse Records to create a fourth album with a whole new shebang of people.
The last time it was kosher to call a The Obsessed album new, the year was 1994. Yeah, it’s hard to imagine that 1994 was even a year, and for some of you it probably wasn’t – outside of some Wikipedia accounts and cool records.
Speaking of cool records, Sacred is a pretty bitchin’ album.
Sacred is a twelve-track slayer in all categories; it’s thrown together like some sad man’s journey in a psychedelic down tuned wonderland. All of the requisites of classic Sabbath inspired jams are here, and there’s certainly a lot of fresh energy provided through the newly restructured band. Typically, Wino’s lyrics and songwriting barrels around themes of neurotic melancholy, charged by some good ol’ fashion proto punk and classic rock styles, and of course the affects of substance abuse. Wino’s meaty hooks and wavering rocket ship melodies — lead somewhere, but I’m not sure too often that I understand the place; however, the destination is not nearly as important as the riffs that get us there.
Sacred is good shit.
