There’s a fair amount of The Obsessed demo material floating around the limitless disorganization of the internet, but this version of “Fear’s Machine,” said to be taken from a 1992 rehearsal, is something I hadn’t yet encountered. “Fear’s Machine” was never on a The Obsessed studio album, though it was included on the 2004 reissue of 1999’s Southern Lord CD/2LP compilation, Incarnate, along with “Field of Hours,” “Climate of Despair” and “Decimation,” but it wouldn’t make a proper appearance on a studio album until Spirit Caravan recorded it for 1999’s Jug Fulla Sun debut. Seven years isn’t the longest a song has ever waited to come out, but it’s a considerable stretch anyway, and the demo proves to be much different than the finished product.

Part of that has to be due to the lineup. It’s certainly Scott “Wino” Weinrich on guitar and vocals and Greg Rogers on drums, who was with The Obsessed from the reunion in 1991 until they again disbanded in ’95, but I’m not sure who’s on bass. If this track is indeed from 1992, then it could either be Guy Pinhas or Scott Reeder. Granted, Reeder went on to join Kyuss that year shortly after the seminal desert rockers released Blues for the Red Sun, but he played in 1991’s Lunar Womb and I guess what’s not clear is if “Fear’s Machine” was recorded before or after he left and Pinhas joined [the Incarnate liner notes might be able to clear this up, but my CD is in a box from last year’s move]. The info for the video cites it as the “new lineup at the time.” Well, The Obsessed had only been kicking around again for a year or so. Wasn’t it a new lineup either way?

Whichever player it is — I have my suspicions — the bass sounds right on, and Wino‘s solo late into the track kicks into this psychedelic multi-layer swirl that’s not to be missed. Of course, Spirit Caravan‘s version was killer as well, but the demo is naturally rawer and thus also a little bit darker sounding.

Enjoy and have a happy Wino Wednesday:

The Obsessed, “Fear’s Machine” (1992 Demo)

Word came down this week of the passing of former The Obsessed vocalist Vance Bockis, who died Sept. 1 of a blood clot following rotator-cuff surgery. Bockis, 50, was a member of Pentagram, 9353, Overlord and The Factory in addition to contributing to The Obsessed, and had a long history of drug abuse, but had reportedly been clean for more than half a decade.

To honor Bockis, this week’s Wino Wednesday turns to the early days of The Obsessed. I don’t know the date of when the clip below was recorded, or much else about it than it exists, but Bockis was only in The Obsessed for a few years (1980-’83), so it’s got to be from around that time. The song “Feelings” was put to tape for the album The Obsessed recorded for Metal Blade in 1985 that was never issued, but unlike many of the tracks, never surfaced on any official subsequent releases.

Condolences to Bockis‘ family and anyone who may have known him either personally or through his work. You’ll find “Feelings” on the player below.

Please enjoy:

Very subtly, it’s been a while since we last had a track by The Obsessed for a Wino Wednesday. I guess I didn’t want to overdo it after seeing them in April, but anyway, time to rectify the issue. I could find no better way to do so than this version of “Endless Circles” taken from the band’s full-length 1982 demo. I don’t know who was in the band at this point, but that certainly sounds like Wino on vocals — as opposed to former Pentagram bassist Vance Bockis, who was singing with them in this era — and even in the rawer demo quality, he’s pretty distinct. Good enough for me.

“Endless Circles” would later show up toward the end of 1991’s sophomore album, Lunar Womb — by then the band was Wino on guitar/vocals, Scott Reeder on bass and Greg Rogers on drums (they’d both later go on to join Goatsnake, and in the case of Reeder, more immediately Kyuss) — and it seems to have come later on the demo as well. While that might lead one to think it’s a deeper cut not necessarily something the band really cared about, having buried it twice, consider the nine years between the demo and Lunar Womb and that the 2012 incarnation of The Obsessed played it at this year’s Roadburn. Sometimes a song just works better toward the end of a record.

As we start to close in on a full year of this feature, enjoy this obscure gem from the still-vast catalog, and as always, have a happy Wino Wednesday: