Wino Wednesday: The Obsessed, The Obsessed in Full
Aside from being the album that gave us the tagline, “If it ain’t heavy, it ain’t shit,” which Wino put right on back for all to see, the self-titled debut from The Obsessed has wound up as one of the most pivotal releases from the man’s many-storied career. It was put to tape in 1985 with the lineup of Scott “Wino” Weinrich on guitar/vocals, bassist Mark Laue and drummer Ed Gulli, but not issued until some five years later in 1990. That same year, Saint Vitus released V, which would be their last album with Wino on vocals until 2012’s Lillie: F-65, and of course when The Obsessed released the follow-up to the self-titled, Lunar Womb, in 1991, it was with the formidable rhythm section of Scott Reeder on bass and Greg Rogers on drums.
That makes The Obsessed‘s The Obsessed something of a standout. Originally put out on Hellhound Records, it was reissued on Tolotta in 2000, a time when Wino had already moved on past the Obsessed reunion of the ’90s that resulted in Lunar Womb and 1994’s The Church Within and onto the trio Spirit Caravan, who released their first album, the classic Jug Fulla Sun, on Tolotta in 1999. It’s a long, winding history, but what it rounds out to is that The Obsessed‘s self-titled, even when it was new, wasn’t, and when it came out the second time around, it was already an artifact from a defunct band.
I know I’ve said in the past that I think The Obsessed could stand a reissue, but I think if you take a listen to it below, you’re probably likely to agree. The album isn’t flawless by any means, it has its moments of drag, but as well as kicking ass, it stands as a testament of the underappreciated nature of traditional doom as a whole. At very least, it’s worth putting on in celebration of another Wino Wednesday, and I hope you’ll do just that.
Enjoy:
