The Obsessed "Live at Koln"

I don't think it is hyperbole to call The Obsessed, and Wino in particular, "legendary".  A lot of people use that word and others, such as "epic", fairly loosely and with little justification.  The Obsessed, however, can rightly be seen in that light.  There have been thousands of bands that have followed the floor plans drawn up by Black Sabbath with varying degrees of success.  Much of this success (or lack of it) depends on how many other elements these Sabbath acolytes bring to the table.  It simply is not enough to ape Sabbath and worse still, to ape a Sabbath clone.  Some bands drench themselves in a haze of smoke and are content to jam out quasi-blues riffs endlessly.  Others take the sound to it's logical conclusion and drag the tempo through the mud until the sound barely resembles music.  Still, others rely on gothic overtures and self indulgent passages that lead nowhere fast. 

 I am painting with broad strokes.  There are some bands who could neatly fit into one or more of those stereotypes that are amazing in spite of the cliches. But that may be due to the fact that they were adding these elements before they became cliches.  In other words, they took the Sabbath sound, innovated and created their own style.  Bands like Eyehategod, Grief, Electric Wizard, Buzzov*en, Sleep (and a handful of others) are good examples.

The Obsessed have often been lumped in with other doom, sludge, stoner (insert adjective here) metal/rock bands, but really have little in common with any of them.  The Obsessed, in spite of being incredibly heavy, having some bluesy riffs and some slower tempos, are nowhere near being a mere Sabbath acolyte, except in that they are definitely a metal band.  That glaring fact aside, The Obsessed (like Pentagram and Saint Vitus) are a whole other beast altogether.  Unlike many of the bands that are using the same road map, much of what The Obsessed did sounds like the streets and Wino's world -weary vocal captures that perfectly. 

Don't get me wrong, the music of Sabbath sounded like it was made by working class guys from Birmingham.  But, all of the occult and hoodoo lyrics leaves one a bit underwhelmed as time passes.  Sabbath no longer carries the same atmosphere of danger that once permeated their music.  It hasn't for a long time.  But, comparing The Obsessed to Sabbath is unfair as well as misleading.  However, the problem is, how does one put The Obsessed in the proper context without mentioning Black Sabbath?  Yes, they are heavy, have amazing blues-influenced guitar work and unconventional, yet iconic vocals...  I guess you can't.  It most likely does not matter since many of you reading this have probably already heard of or listened to  The Obsessed at some point, anyway.

If you are unfortunate enough to have never listened to The Obsessed before, this album is a good a place to start as any.  The set list is pretty comprehensive containing tracks from their first self-titled Lp, "Lunar Womb" as well as "The Church Within".  The quality of the live recording is pretty good and true to form this Lp is heavy - heavier sounding than the aforementioned studio albums - and I don't just mean that in terms of sound.  The band is tight, but play with more of a sullen swagger than on aforementioned the studio albums.  "Live in Koln" has all the hallmarks of a great metal band - a great band of ANY kind - with a world of talent, life experience and soul. THAT is what I mean by heavy.

In short.  Get this.

Here is The Obsessed live.
Here is the song "Field of Hours"  from their album "The Church Within".
Enjoy.

Thanks for checking in.