Eyehategod

More rain, or at least mist, but it’s Spring and somehow it’s reassuring that water still falls from the sky without seering your flesh when it touches you, so whatever. My back by the end of the night before had been movement-preventative, which I’ll just say was not encouraging on multiple levels, and I did not manage to get the Doan’s I’d hoped to. I bought a new vape though, and realized in the process that somewhere in the previous 48 hours, I had lost my debit card.

So it had been a mixed-bag morning, I guess. I saw my family, briefly, and that was a positive. They were going to the movies early and I think crashing out the rest of the day, or at least that’s what the weather warranted. The Patient Mrs. was very purposefully giving me space this weekend to do this. It was and is appreciated.

There was a late change to the evening’s schedule. Here’s what Kaleb Riser from Black Moon Cult posted:

SUN May 24
COSMIC STAGE – Brooklyn Monarch
11:25 Pentagram 60min+
10:00 Eyehategod 60min
8:30 Legions of Doom 60min+
7:05 The Obsessed 60min
5:45 Sacri Monti 60min
4:45 Dave Hill

SONIC STAGE – The Woodshop
45min sets
12:10 Mick’s Jaguar
11:10 Magick Potion
10:15 Carousel
9:40 Sphaèros Possession
8:40 Ike’s Wasted World
7:30 Black Moon Cult
6:30 Cats Eye
5:30 Sabbath Warlock

It would be a different kind of night than the one prior, with not none but less of the rush from one spot to the other. The change was that the night was at The Monarch and The Woodshop, instead of The Meadows and The Woodshop. The Monarch is a bigger space, and the lineup booked for it made that make sense. In the meantime, the Carousel reunion and Magick Potion were probably how my night was going to end given how I was feeling, and neither was a thing to complain about.

Spit Shine

I was stoked that, like night one, there were a few bands that I’d never seen before, and that started with Spit Shine, who weren’t on that schedule but I think were originally going to play outside in the courtyard between Monarch and Woodshop, but for the weather. Very classic heavy rock, like ’70s but not necessarily boogie, as interchangeable as those two ideas have become. USDA beefier in tone and more of a roll-groove than a shuffle, though some of that too, they pulled an early crowd that was already more peopled than the day before had been, and so it would go. They covered Robert Trower and that was a lot of fun early in the day. Their singer was at the merch table even before the rest of the band was done playing. Working.

I was able to catch the start of Sabbath Warlock, whose doom rocking cult vibe was a turn, aesthetic-wise, from Spit Shine, despite the continuity of leather. I had Sacri Monti on the schedule next, so made my way toward the big stage for that; through the corridor, as it were. Turned out I was early, but there were friends in the room and I didn’t die. It was after 6PM when they went on, and the classic warmth of their prog-heavy rock, organ and all, would’ve been welcome anytime. Underrated for the soul, for sure, but I mean, those cats can play. I knew I wouldn’t be seeing all of it, so I took a few minutes to enjoy and watch, just to kind of put myself in the moment with that groove, and I didn’t regret that.

Sabbath Warlock

Sacri Monti

They were a similar joy last summer at Freak Valley (review here) with the songs from 2024’s Retrieval (review here) landing particularly hard, and with a bit of magic too them. They’ve toured enough that the chemistry shouldn’t be a surprise, but they know, each of them, where the other is at every point in every song while also being individually dug-in to playing, and I guess the professionalism underlying that hit me.

I had wanted to see Cat’s Eye, but stuck it out as long as I could. I’d ultimately spend more time in The Woodshop, but that was just how the night went. Fucking Eyehategod were gonna play. There was a kind of tension in the room, or at least in me. Some Dozer came on, and then the band went on too, and that was good. As I understood it, Cats Eye is made in part of former members of Carousel who were not participating in the reunion later that night — part of me feels like I should be able to keep track of these things by now, but shit, it’s hard — and so I was curious to see what they would sound like. Unsurprisingly, there was a lot of classic riffing in there, and it was super-nice to see Jake Leger (ex-Bang, among others) on drums, and I dug it that Gero von Dehn’s vocal lent a grunge edge, which was cool and distinctive. Ron looked pleased. You know Ron.

Cats Eye

The Obsessed

My timing for getting to the front of the stage for The Obsessed worked, which was a nice first. Scott “Wino” Weinrich and Jason Taylor on guitar and Chris Angleberger on bass, Bob Pantella, who had destroyed the night before with The Atomic Bitchwax, locking in a much different, less frenetic groove for the most part — not that The Obsessed don’t have their motor riffs — to suit Angleberger’s bass punching through, Taylor and Wino holding down the utmost of doom rock riffing. They also came through Jersey last year, and, well, they probably didn’t need to do that as a career choice, so it was appreciated.

Black Moon Cult were my must for the day, and I hope when you look at the lineup that tells you something. It was my first time seeing the Ohio heavy psych rockers fronted by the slick guitar and vocals of Kaleb Riser, and yeah, I’ll bite on the cliché that it probably won’t be the last, because, uh, it most likely won’t. Their 2025 album, Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) (review here) was a favorite from last year, and the songs were recognizable live, which especially in this case was great. “Stoned Ape” was a hit, and closing with “At the Realms of Madness,” that chug, was the right call. I could see and hear quickly why I’ve heard so many excellent things about Black Moon Cult live, and they were all justified. I watched the whole set. Only my second full set of the weekend at that point. And they might’ve been band of the weekend.

So yeah, if I have anything to say about it, I’ll see them again. Potential out the wazoo.

Black Moon Cult

I was indeed able to get over to The Monarch to get up front door Legions of Doom, whom I saw earlier this Spring as The Skull with Acid Bath (review here). Okay, so I’m not sure where one band ends and the other starts these days, but I think that’s something that gets hashed out over time, and Legions of Doom — with Karl Agell having maybe the best time on vocals — where a doomly follow-up to The Obsessed, sort of a supergroup but really just a band with a pedigree. They’d be the last ones I’d try to take pictures of in The Monarch (did I see Monster Magnet here? no.), but there was still plenty of night left when I watched Legions of Doom’s full set. They do really well on a big stage.

Legions of Doom played a Desertfest New York pre-party in 2024 (review here) and that night they opened with C.O.C.’s “Dance of the Dead,” and had Scott Reagers swapping in on vocals. This was much more of a working-band, been-on-the-road-a-few-nights kind of show. The Skull’s “For Those Which Are Asleep” and “Send Judas Down” and Holzner shouted out the memory of Dave Sweetapple of Tee Pee Records, not to mention several of its bands, and it was clear he wasn’t the only one remembering him, and of course that’s sad in a way, but nice too. Then they went back to dooming the fark out. They seemed set to end again with “Psychotic Reaction” (Trouble), and set about making it their own, but asked if they had time for one more, Agell dedicated it to Reed Mullin and they finished with “Dance of the Dead.” I didn’t run up front, but for sure made my way with some urgency once I realized what was coming.

Legion of Doom w/ Earl Lundy from Shadow Witch

I hadn’t yet had my dose of dark-acid ritualizing, and Sphaèros Possession had played night one and the pre-show as well. Sphaèros came out of French heavy psych weirdos Aqua Nebula Oscillator, but this was a different kind of trip, with emphasis on the ceremony that brought dancers out of the crowd, and while there were a only couple drums handled by someone in what looked to be a cloak of elvish make, it was enough to go with all that cosmic swirl. Next door, Eyehategod were about to Eyehategod the big room to pieces, and I decided to take the short walk over and get a bit of that in my brain. No regrets. It was just a few minutes, but it had been a couple years and they’re Eyehategod, so, you know, show up. Sludge would probably exist without them, but it wouldn’t be nearly as disaffected. They remain more punk than punk.

It was a headliner set for Eyehategod even with Pentagram on the bill after, and that was cool, but I’d been waiting all day for Carousel and was stoked to see Dave Wheeler back at it with Justin Sherrell (Somnuri; I forgot he was in this band for a while), founding bassist Jim Wilson and guitarist Jason Sichi [thanks Gero –ed.] from Wheeler’s other band, Limousine Beach. They took all of 30 seconds to remind me why I was so excited to see them play. Wheeler noted it was their first show in 10 years, and I noted before they went on that the setlist had a song called “New Jam” on it. Cool to think they might really get back at it. I’m all for the reunion. They sounded great. Bluesy, heavy, with Wheeler’s vocals on point for the classic style. They called it a day in 2016. I hope this isn’t the last show they do for a decade.

Sphaèros Possession

It was coming on 11PM, and I was pleased to feel like I was in better condition than I had been the evening before. I got to talk to a lot of people — I even signed one dude’s jacket and he had had Tim Bugbee sign the other side; talk about company I’m not worthy to keep. Eyehategod had finished, but I was in The Woodshop anyhow, Wheeler pointing out before they played “2113” that two of the members who played on it were here with Cats Eye earlier in the day. I’m assuming one of them is guitarist John Dziuban? In any case, Carousel coming back felt like probably as much as it could for a band from Pittsburgh playing NYC, and I was glad to see them again after so long. I had some good times watching them play and was glad to add another one to that list.

Magick Potion were my end to the night. I knew better than to try to get up front to shoot Pentagram, but that stage was running basically on time, so I did get to watch a bit of it; Tony Reed forever, man. And Henry Vasquez drumming. Some day I’ll tell you about my non-toxic/subservient lyrical headcannon rewrite of “Forever My Queen.” Don’t hold your breath.

Carousel

I was ready to go when Carousel were done, existentially and otherwise, but I wanted to see Magick Potion. The Baltimorean boogie outfit — how many times this weekend have I used the word boogie? so many — like The Obsessed, and in the company of Electric Citizen, played my hometown last year, and again, forever-points. I could stick around for a little longer to see them.

Knowing on some level what was coming was not a detriment to the experience of seeing them again. Carousel had laid waste, so Magick Potion had a bit of a rebuild, and even with the holiday Monday, the crowd had begun to thin out. Fair enough. Not that I wasn’t feeling it too. But a bit of Magick Potion’s softshoe was a salve. You could hear Pentagram through the open door between songs, but once they were playing it didn’t matter. Once the music started, everything was fine. They easily made it worth it to have stuck around, and their chops-heavy take was as sweet a finale as I could’ve hoped for.

Magick Potion

Way there was Solace and The Claypool Lennon Delirium. Way home was Ealdor Bealu and Buzzard.

Thanks for reading. Thanks to Kenny and all at Tee Pee Records. Thanks to everybody who said hi and/or hung out. Thanks to Andy Goldstein and Erik Larson. Thanks to The Patient Mrs. for the weekend time.

Real quick before you go if you’re still here. You may have noticed I used photo captions on these two reviews. I’ve never done that before and if you have a second to let me know in the comments if that’s cool for you or you don’t care or it looks stupid, really any and all opinions valid. I don’t think I’d do it for every review, but something like this where the subject and image aren’t broken up each into their own section, it sort of made sense to me. I’d very much appreciate any feedback you have.

This post is it for today. Maybe also for tomorrow, we’ll see.

Barring some disaster or marital ultimatum, I’ll be at Tee Pee Records‘ Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous in a couple weeks, and to be honest, part of posting the day splits here is so I have them, but one way or the other, dang that’s a good lineup. And Tee Pee, as both a label and the organizing principal behind the two-dayer (plus pre-show), didn’t even have to stray too far from its own roster to make it happen.

Each of the two days offers something different, and thinking about it as commuterfest, which is how I’d be doing it, is daunting, but I’ve done more for way less, so yeah. I’m curious to see how the schedule plays out and how brutal some of these overlaps are — that Saturday could very easily become a day filled with tears — but it looks like a lot of fun and I can’t wait to see how it all plays out. That’s the insight on this one. Go to a show.

From the PR wire:

COSMIC SONIC RENDEZVOUS from Legendary Label TEE PEE RECORDS Announce Day Splits and New Additions

Tee Pee Records and United Sounds NYC bring a two-day celebration of heavy rock and psychedelia to Brooklyn this May featuring a stacked lineup of underground icons and rising stars…

Get tickets here: https://kydlabs.com/e/EV82ea84e2-bf13-4440-8e36-6c724e58e041

More info at cosmicsonicfest.com

Brooklyn, New York – May 23rd–24th, 2026 – Tee Pee Records and United Sounds NYC proudly present Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous, a thunderous new festival set to ignite an industrial block in Brooklyn for one unforgettable weekend this May.

Celebrating the raw power and transcendence of guitar-driven music, Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous brings together a stacked lineup spanning heavy rock, doom, and psychedelia, uniting underground legends and rising acts for an immersive sonic experience.

Presented by Tee Pee Records – a label renowned for its one-of-a-kind boutique vinyl – the festival reflects decades of dedication to heavy and psychedelic music culture. From the dark, menacing riffs of Pentagram, Eyehategod, and Legions of Doom to the expansive, sky-gazing grooves of Dead Meadow, Electric Citizen, and Al-Qasar, the festival promises two days of rock and roll in its purest, loudest forms.

The festival is also thrilled to welcome Sphaèros Possession (Paris) and Spit Shine (Philadelphia) to the lineup. Recent additions include Electric Citizen (Cincinnati), Freedom Hawk (Richmond, VA), and Sabbath Warlock (NYC).

A pre-festival show will take place on Friday, May 22nd (7:00–10:00 PM) at Sleepwalk. Entry is $10, or free with a weekend pass. Space is extremely limited, and Sphaèros Possession will perform an intimate set, with an opener to be announced.

Be sure to check out the striking poster design by acclaimed artist Michael Fulcher.

SATURDAY

COSMIC STAGE:

Dead Meadow
Al-Qasar
The Atomic Bitchwax
Electric Citizen
Mirror Queen
Worshipper
Alreckque

SONIC STAGE:

Freedom Hawk
Satan’s Satyrs
Sun Voyager
Casket Rats
The Golden Grass
Dead Hits
River Cult

SUNDAY

COSMIC STAGE:

Pentagram
Eyehategod
Legions of Doom
The Obsessed
Sacri Monti

SONIC STAGE:

Sphaéros Possession
Carousel
Black Moon Cult
Magick Potion
Ike’s Wasted World
Sabbath Warlock
Spit Shine

BEER GARDEN:

Mick’s Jaguar
Cat’s Eye
Dave Hill

Shows will take place across three Brooklyn venues – The Brooklyn Monarch, The Meadows, and The Woodshop – transforming the neighbourhood into a hub of fuzz-drenched riffs, hypnotic rhythms, and communal energy.

Early-bird weekend passes and day passes are available now. Grab your tickets here: https://kydlabs.com/e/EV82ea84e2-bf13-4440-8e36-6c724e58e041

teepeerecords.com
https://teepeerecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/teepeerecords
https://www.facebook.com/teepeerecords/

Sphaèros, Possession (2020/2023)

Two nights out in a row — whoa-oa, look out for this guy. Okay fine, it was The Obsessed doing an early Sunday night, go-home-and-take-out-the-garbage-afterward gig at Autodidact Beer, which for me is as close to home as a venue could ever hope to be. It’s not a huge space, 100 people packs it, but every now and again something heavy stops through. Howling Giant were here last April. Electric Citizen came through in July, I think it was.

The Obsessed were two shows into an eight-date East Coast tour, going as far south as Maryland and as far inland as Ohio. The band are ostensibly still supporting their 2024 album, Gilded Sorrow (review here), but really they’re just kind of supporting the idea of being The Obsessed, and that means working, and that means touring. They were joined last year on drums by Bob Pantella of The Atomic Bitchwax, Monster Magnet, Raging Slab, etc. That’s a powerhouse hitter to punctuate the riffing of founding guitarist/vocalist Scott “Wino” Weinrich, and they’ve still got Jason Taylor on guitar and Chris Angleberger on bass, and they were plenty beastly last time I saw them at Freak Valley 2023 (review here), so slotting Monster Bob in there isn’t going to hurt anything other than your ears if you’re not the type to obsessively carry earplugs, which, yes, I definitely am.

But I’ll admit too part of what got me out of the house was the absolute lack of effort required to get there owing to fortunate geography. Parsippany doesn’t “get” shows, traditionally. It doesn’t have even a suburban ‘downtown’ where a venue might do well. So when a touring band — especially a heavy one — makes a stop in the former-wilds of North Jersey, it’s noteworthy. And if you live in a place where that kind of thing happens rarely, it’s all the more incumbent upon you to drag your ass off the couch and show up. Took five minutes to get here. Went the long way around.

Early meant a 6PM start for Revel at Dusk, who were opening. Not a band I knew, but they brought people out. Autodidact is a cool spot, nestled into a strip mall like it’s trying to keep itself a secret, Rt. 10 Eastbound whipping by about 15 feet from the door. I sat on a wall bench before the show, heard one of the Revel at Dusk guys tell a friend they were “a loud band,” so, knowing little about them either way, I was curious to find out. They wound up crossing genre lines readily between riff-metal, some punk, some proggier atmospheric parts, some Clutch, some Down, some Tool, tonal crunch and a bit of vocal harmony when called for. The grooves were modern and had a bounce, but somebody in there is metal, or at least plays like it. True enough, loudness was had.

The room was well packed by the time they were done, and they said their thanks and were out the back door stepping down from the drum riser to get outside, where actual dusk is still a ways off, The Obsessed correspondingly loading in through the same door; one out, one in. For a place that didn’t set itself up for shows from the outset — that is, they didn’t build Autodidact with a stage — they do pretty well here, and I’m sorry to harp on it, but every time I can see a band come through and play here is a gift. But the fact that people showed up gives me hope that more will happen in this space. I should be so lucky.

Some technical issue before they went on, and I had one of those is-this-all-going-too-well-to-be-true, but they worked on whichever amp it was until the final fuckit was issued and they started the set. It was a mix of classics and newer stuff — “Streetside” rolling hard alongside “Sacred” and “Stoned Back to the Bomb Age,” cabs piled so tight on the stage that part of Pantella’s kit was obscured depending on where you stood. The room was everybody-stands-still packed, and I got my pictures and moved back to allow people who take up less space to have a spot. Pantella has had plenty of time to settle in over the better part of the last year — again, this is a working band — and it wasn’t a surprise to find that he held that nod together, but it was killer anyhow.

I could go on about this band’s place in Wino’s legacy in doom blah blah blah, but you know all that, and I feel like it’s worth emphasizing how when they were tearing into the gallop of “Streamlined,” it wasn’t 30 or 40 years ago I was thinking about. The legacy wasn’t the thing. The volume was. That inimitable tone and the push of the rhythm section behind the riffs. Of course it’s doom, but it rocks too, and I guess maybe that still feels a little transgressive in the delivery of a song like “Neatz Brigade”; an individualist raising of a middle finger, the square universe recedes as the crowd moves closer.

It got dark. The energy level did not abate in the singular groove, and the two-guitar arrangements only make it sound meatier as a rhythm line can continue while the solo happens, riffs are effectively doubled and it’s one more dynamic to play out across the span of a set, which it did. “It’s Not Okay” landed with what felt like a warranted piling of low end, and duh Pantella was right there on the turns in the faster stuff, even if midtempo stuff is the band’s signature, which I guess is what I was talking about above. The Obsessed’s take, influential as it has been, hasn’t ever really been effectively copied. Not for lack of trying. But they’re enduringly distinct in persona and riffcraft, and it’s comforting in some ways to now feel like they’re going to keep going until they can’t.

Because Wino’s had bands, right? He just put out a record with Ritual Arcana, and he did a solo record last year, and maybe at some point he’ll decide he wants to do something entirely different, but this incarnation of The Obsessed, starting with The Obsessed reuniting in 2012, then Spirit Caravan getting back together, then that band becoming The Obsessed, doing the Sacred (review here) album and evolving into what it is today, over subsequent studio output and much, much touring, feels sustainable in a way that it’s easy to appreciate. Whatever they do, they’ll do it by their own prerogative.

They covered Spirit Caravan’s “Lost Sun Dance” to close the regular set and came back out for “Brother Blue Steel,” a summary handing-of-ass that went over well with the assembled population, and when it was done, same deal, right out the back door behind the stage. It was barely after 8PM. No shit, I got home in time to go upstairs and read The Two Towers for bedtime.

Thanks to Craig Cirinelli for putting on the show. Thanks to Ken Wohlrob for the lift and the company, thanks to Autodidact for existing, to The Obsessed for making it part of the trip, and The Patient Mrs. for everything all the time forever. Thank you for reading.

Couple more pics after the jump.

Read more »

Tee Pee Records, which is the organizing entity behind Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous, caught a heaping ration of shit on social media when they shared the AI poster below. Probably not a good look, or what they wanted from the rollout. I kind of wondered if stirring the pot and pissing people off wasn’t the intention in the first place — working on the ‘no such thing as bad press’ model — and get people talking to manipulate the algorithm. I don’t know.

The arguments against using AI span from the tepid ‘you should pay artists’ — sorry, someone is not entitled to my money if I can get a thing for free; I didn’t invent capitalism I’m just smothered by it — to more crucial concerns about environmental damage being done, water usage, warehouse-sized data centers disrupting when not outright destroying ecosystems, and the psychopathic corporate culture behind the companies that make it. Fuck OpenAI every single day from now until eternity. I believe there can be value to artificial intelligence. I also believe human beings are incapable of creating any kind of intelligence to be more than a slave and that will be a thing that needs to be reconciled. If the robots Terminator‘d us, we’d for sure have it coming.

The distraction was unfortunate, mostly because the lineup for Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous — it’s not the first; there was one in 2015 and Carousel, Worshipper and Mirror Queen played then as well — is right on. Set to take place May 23-24 at The Woodshop, Monarch and The Meadows, which are apparently on the same block, the event boasts the likes of Eyehategod, Dead Meadow, The Skull-offshoot Legions of Doom, Sacri Monti, Sun Voyager, Black Moon Cult, Al-Qasar (ex-Blaak Heat Shujaa), an apparently reuniting Carousel and others. I don’t know if what’s on the website so far is the complete bill or not, but with 13 acts over two days, you’d probably be able to see all of it, and that’s an appeal in itself.

I’ve included the poster here because it’s relevant to the story. If you want to come at me for proliferating, tell it to your AI therapist instead.

From the PR wire:

COSMIC SONIC RENDEZVOUS! – MAY 23-24, 2026

Prepare for an electrifying weekend of Rock & Roll in its purest, loudest forms! From the dark and menacing riffs of Pentagram to the sky-gazing grooves of Dead Meadow, guitar driven explorations of the best psych and heavy rock will take over an industrial Brooklyn block for one lovely weekend in May.

It’s a Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous.

Early-bird weekend passes info coming soon!

Lineup:
Pentagram
Eyehategod
Dead Meadow
Legions of Doom
Sacri Monti
The Obsessed
Al-Qasar
Satan’s Satyrs
Sun Voyager
Carousel
Worshipper
Black Moon Cult
Mirror Queen

Venues: The Meadows; The Brooklyn Monarch; The Woodshop
Website: cosmicsonicfest.com

Presented by Tee Pee Records

cosmicsonicfest.com

teepeerecords.com
https://teepeerecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/teepeerecords
https://www.facebook.com/teepeerecords/

Dead Meadow, Voyager to Voyager (2025)

I’m not sure what the occasion might be that has them headed out, but I’m also not sure The Obsessed need an occasion in the first place. The Wino-led doom legends have eight shows over the course of nine days lined up for this coming March, and I can’t help but notice one of them is local to me. Like, very local. I got to see Electric Citizen at Autodidact Beer this past summer, having missed Howling Giant there in April, and finally I understood why everyone online complains when tours aren’t hitting their town. Turns out it’s really nice to have a touring band come through a local spot. I didn’t know, because until Autodidact, it had never happened. I think Wishbone Ash played an office space near here one time, but beyond that you’re driving at least half an hour to get to anything.

But the dearth of venues throughout Morris County, New Jersey, isn’t your problem so much as mine. I’d be going to the show because, well, it exists and it’s right there and it’s heavy and duh, but I’ll note it’s been since Freak Valley 2023 (review here) that I last saw the band, which was prior to the release of their 2024 album, Gilded Sorrow (review here), and before they were joined by “Monster Bob” Pantella (The Atomic Bitchwax, Monster Magnet, ex-Raging Slab, etc.), so yeah, I’m probably due to be steamrolled by Wino riffs. I’ve already got it on my new Baby Goats 2026 calendar. That’s an early show, so eat your gummy before you leave the house. Or, you know, just have a beer or six when you get there. I don’t drink, but my wife likes Autodidact, and she’s about as discerning as any aficionado I’ve ever met.

If you’re not here, maybe you’re in one of the other spots. All the ticket links are below, because even though I’m not presenting the Jersey gig I remain a shill:

Hello everybody, The Obsessed are excited to announce our March 2026 USA show dates ! We are looking forward to getting out and playing some music for you – get yer tickets early!!

3/6 – Newmarket, NH
https://link.dice.fm/P351886a3f9d
3/7 – Providence, RI
https://link.dice.fm/U09540eb9f74
3/8 -Morris Plains, NJ
https://www.autodidactbeer.com/event-details/the-obsessed-w-revel-at-dusk-ticketed-event
3/10 – Philly, PA
https://www.ticketweb.com/event/the-obsessed-nikki-lopez-philly-tickets/14010534
3/11 -Baltimore, MD
https://link.dice.fm/L37a8c1a6383
3/12 – Cleveland Heights, OH
https://www.ticketweb.com/event/the-obsessed-grog-shop-tickets/14004434
3/13 – Rochester, NY
https://www.ticketweb.com/event/the-obsessed-orodruin-goat-farm-the-bug-jar-tickets/14012004
3/14 – Troy, NY
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1979120700291?aff=oddtdtcreator

https://theobsessed.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/theobsessedofficial
https://www.facebook.com/TheObsessedOfficial

http://www.ripple-music.com/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/ripplemusic/
https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/

The Obsessed, Gilded Sorrow (2024)

This news came in on Friday, and it’s worth marking that Bob Pantella — who currently holds the throne in Monster Magnet and The Atomic Bitchwax, but has had a career going back more than three decades to his time in Raging Slab, and he’s been in Riotgod, Cycle of Pain and sundry other bands around the New Jersey underground — has joined The Obsessed on drums. The Wino-fronted doom legends, with guitarist Jason Taylor (Sierra), who joined in 2022, and bassist Chris Angleberger, who came into the band replacing Reid Raley, also of Arkansas’ Rwake.

Like Pentagram and Trouble, both contemporaries and fellow stewards of US doom — missing off that list is another band in which Wino has taken part: Saint Vitus — The Obsessed have seen a host of players come and go over the decades, and as they continue to support last year’s Gilded Sorrow (review here) with a run of festivals and club dates this Fall in Europe, the fifth member of the band would seem to be momentum. Pantella comes into the four-piece in place of Brian Costantino — whose name at least I don’t have to continue to spell wrong when writing about the band — who had joined up with Wino circa 2014 and the Spirit Caravan reunion that led to The Obsessed‘s full-time comeback, continuing the singular winding path of Wino‘s career, obviously ongoing.

The PR wire made it official:

THE OBSESSED: Bob Pantella joins as new drummer!

Iconic architects of American doom metal THE OBSESSED announce a seismic shift behind the kit as drummer Brian Costantino steps away, passing the torch to none other than Bob Pantella—the powerhouse percussionist known for his crushing work with Monster Magnet and The Atomic Bitchwax. The band will embark on an extensive European tour including several festival appearances this fall.

As the band bids farewell to one brother in arms, they welcome heavy rock titan Bob Pantella, whose explosive energy and veteran prowess promise to ignite The Obsessed’s signature sound with fresh, primal fire. Says frontman Scott “Wino” Weinrich: “After The Obsessed drummer Brian Costantino recently stepped away from the band due to personal reasons, we are very happy to welcome Bob Pantella into The Obsessed. I have known Bob for many years and have always admired his skills behind the drums, and after our initial jam together, we are inspired and ready to rock. You may already know him from his other excellent bands The Atomic Bitchwax, Monster Magnet and Raging Slab. We are proud to welcome Bob into The Obsessed.“

The Obsessed returned last year after a seven-year absence with their acclaimed new album “Gilded Sorrow” on independent Californian label Ripple Music. “Gilded Sorrow” is a defiantly abrasive, crushing and straightforward album that has already left an indelible mark on the heavy music landscape. The newly forged lineup will storm Europe this fall to perform their 1994 cornerstone album “The Church Within” in its entirety, including appearances at Desertfest, Up In Smoke and Keep It Low festivals.

The Obsessed European tour 2025:
01.10.25 DE Wiesbaden – Schlachthof
02.10.25 DE Ulm – Roxy
03.10.25 DE Würzburg – Keep It True Festival
04.10.25 DE Karlsruhe – Stadtmitte
05.10.25 CH Pratteln – Up In Smoke Festival
06.10.25 IT Milano – Legend
08.10.25 AT Vienna – Arena
09.10.25 AT Innsbruck – P.M.K.
10.10.25 CRO Zagreb – Mochvara
11.10.25 DE Munich – Keep It Low Festival
12.10.25 DE Leipzig – Ut Connewitz
13.10.25 DE Berlin – Zukunft
15.10.25 DE Cologne – Volta
16.10.25 DE Bielefeld – Forum
17.10.25 BE Antwerpen – Desertfest Belgium
18.10.25 NL Deventer – Burgerweeshuis
20.10.25 UK Bradford – The Underground
21.10.25 UK Manchester – Star & Garter
22.10.25 UK Milton Keynes – The Craufurd Arms
23.10.25 UK London – The Dome
24.10.25 NL Rotterdam – Grounds
25.10.25 DE Hamburg – Lazy Bones Festival

https://theobsessed.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/theobsessedofficial
https://www.facebook.com/TheObsessedOfficial

http://www.ripple-music.com/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/ripplemusic/
https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/

The Obsessed, Gilded Sorrow (2024)

Perhaps some extra interest in seeing how the lineup for Desertfest Belgium 2025 takes shape over the next few months considering how heartwrenching the bill for 2024 was. They have not gone small to answer that question in this first reveal — you can see the names for yourself on the poster below — which covers a range of styles and has an according geographic reach. Note New Mexico’s Blue Heron taking part, supporting their rightfully-well-received 2024 LP, Everything Fades (review here), and note Lowrider because it’s notable anytime they play anywhere. Go them both, along with the rest, if you can.

As regards “the rest,” the names are their own best argument, I guess. Desertfest Belgium has become an integral part of the Fall underground touring circuit, a nexus point where various individual tours converge and split off again, so I’ll be interested to see, say, who The Obsessed will be out with, or how many times in your life you might be able to say you saw Colour Haze and Lowrider on a bill together in 2025. Just for examples.

So yeah, good start. Take their word for it in the “much more to be announced” part too. From socials:

FIRST NAMES! GRAVEYARD, BONGRIPPER, MASTERS OF REALITY & MORE!

Hi Desertfans,

Are you ready to rip it up? Here are the first names for Desertfest Antwerp 2025!

We’re very excited to welcome this divine & dangerous bunch to our stages:

Graveyard 🌑 BONGRIPPER 🌑 Masters Of Reality 🌑 Oranssi Pazuzu 🌑 The Obsessed 🌑 Bongzilla 🌑 monkey3 🌑 Lowrider 🌑 Colour Haze 🌑 Mars Red Sky 🌑 Psychlona 🌑 NEGATIVE BLAST 🌑 Alber Jupiter 🌑 Hedonist 🌑 Blue Heron

If you are as delighted as we are then head over to our ticket page below and grab a weekend pass for a guaranteed three days of sonic delirium 🪐

https://www.desertfest.be/antwerp/information/ticketing/

Hasta la vista!
The Desertfest Belgium team

http://www.desertfest.be/
https://www.facebook.com/desertfestbelgium/
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_belgium/

Bongripper, Empty (2024)

The Obsessed stand tall as the longest tenured band led by guitarist and vocalist Scott “Wino” Weinrich, and with Gilded Sorrow — their fifth full-length since 1990, first in seven years, first for Ripple Music, and first as a four-piece — they envision an update of a sound that can only be considered classic. Weinrich, who first brought The Obsessed back to appear at Roadburn 2012 (review here) after fronting a Saint Vitus reunion there in 2009. The path even just across the last 12 years has been winding, never mind that The Obsessed have been active intermittently since circa 1979 as Weinrich has evolved other projects and collaborations like Shine/Spirit Caravan, The Hidden Hand, Premonition 13, Shrinebuilder, Probot, and established himself as a solo performer. Weaving through an initial incarnation as Spirit Caravan, The Obsessed came into focus again in 2016, just in time to play Maryland Doom Fest, with drummer Brian Costantino holding position as one band rebranded as the other and The Obsessed set forth on a years-long course of touring around their comeback LP, Sacred (review here), issued by Relapse some 23 years after 1994’s The Church Within, which for a long time was their swansong.

It is in part with the memory of that, thinking of The Obsessed as a band who were gone, that Gilded Sorrow comes across as so vital. While it’s fair to say their sound has always been straightforward, punch-you-in-the-face, on-groove, riff-driven heavy, that pioneering doom rock feels fresh through its nine songs and 36 minutes, with Weinrich‘s riffing and soloing complemented by the guitar of Jason Taylor (Sierra), who joined in 2022 along with bassist Chris Angleberger — more trivia than anything, but Costantino joins Greg Rogers as the only drummer to feature on successive The Obsessed records — such that as the howling echoes of tone give over to the chugging riff of “Daughter of an Echo” that begins the record in earnest, there’s already a depth of atmosphere that is new to the band. In addition to this semi-revamped dynamic — if you’ve never seen him on stage, Taylor is no minor player, and the work he does here feels more substantial than a phrase like ‘second guitar’ or ‘rhythm guitar’ can really convey; his sound is part of the personality of these songs — “Daughter of an Echo” rolls with a rhythmic tension in its snare pops and twisting nod that emphasizes the seething sensibility that’s always been at the band’s core. That’s evident in a particularly up-front vocal from Weinrich as well, with the production of Frank Marchand capturing performances that feel raw and vital but want nothing for clarity.

“Daughter of an Echo” does crucial work in laying out the course of Gilded Sorrow, but it doesn’t necessarily encapsulate the entire album. “It’s Not OK,” which follows directly, does not shy away from physical threat in lyrics that make a hook of the chorus, “It’s not okay/To rip me off/Got your hand in my pocket on the sly/It’s not okay to say that you forgot/Stick a needle in your eye,” reserving the second verse for railing against journalists, “afraid to look me in the eye,” who nonetheless criticize Weinrich‘s outspoken political views; the line “you fucked up” is layered to underline the point. That initial salvo rounds out with uptempo redirect “Realize a Dream,” which offers due push, vocal reach, and a vibe in its open verse that touches on some of what was in Spirit Caravan‘s jug before “Gilded Sorrow” arrives to cap side A with a shift in focus toward atmosphere, a stately tempo and a structural course that feels purposeful in its contrast with its surroundings and justifies itself as the title-track in offering a new take on The Obsessed‘s genre-setting downer march. An effects treatment on Weinrich‘s voice gives a watery presence adjacent to psych but not really tipped over into it in the first half, while the last two minutes of the total 5:34 are dedicated to a slow, ambient instrumental devolution kept active around rumble, feedback, and distant shred, by Costantino‘s punctuating drums as it builds back in volume and foreboding one last time.

Positioned at the outset of side B, “Stoned Back to the Bomb Age” is the actual centerpiece, with an antiwar standpoint framed through governmental exploitation (fair enough) and a roll that meets “Gilded Sorrow” head on, leaving it to the first 36 seconds of “Wellspring/Dark Sunshine,” which follows, to reset the ambience before a snap of snare brings hard reality manifest in heavy riffs. Less verse/chorus than “It’s Not OK” or “Realize a Dream,” with bluesy swagger in its leads and a steamroller of churn that seems to want more volume no matter how much it’s given, “Wellspring/Dark Sunshine” supports the mood of the title-track without necessarily repeating it, pulling in a different direction than “Stoned Back to the Bomb Age” but not so much a contrast as to feel out of place. The subsequent “Jailene” tells a story of drugs, loss and, yes, imprisonment, with the speediest shove since “Realize a Dream,” and perhaps casts addiction as its titular character, feeling more tongue-in-cheek than melancholy or angry. In the end, “Jailene” rips him off, which the album already noted is not okay, but a Thin Lizzy-style verse seems to make everything alright in the end.

Longtime followers might recall “Yen Sleep” as the opener of the 1999 demos/rare tracks compilation Incarnate. Included here on side B before the outro “Lucky Free Nice Machine” wraps Gilded Sorrow with a last 60 seconds of lead-topped nod and march, it is a standout for its older-school crunch and solos that speak to the Lunar Womb era. I won’t claim to know what motivated the band to put “Yen Sleep” on Gilded Sorrow, but it’s a convenient reminder of where The Obsessed come from in terms of doom — i.e., the heart of it — and stripped down in a manner that “Gilded Sorrow,” “Wellspring/Dark Sunshine,” or even its own quick intro aren’t and show no sign of wanting to be. The Obsessed aren’t forgetting their past, but they’re not trying to relive it either, and that combined intent results in a sound that’s full, modern and dense when called for by the material, but able to convey spaciousness around that in new ways. As a generalization, some of it builds on places Sacred went, but with more years of touring ahead of its arrival and the solidification of the current lineup, Gilded Sorrow is a stronger statement of who The Obsessed are than the return-LP inherently could’ve been.

That is to say, if Sacred said The Obsessed were back, Gilded Sorrow is an expansion of who they are as a part of that. It admirably incorporates new ideas into the band’s signature approach and adds to one of American doom’s most essential legacies while refusing to compromise either in sound or the stands its takes lyrically in “It’s Not OK,” “Stoned Back to the Bomb Age,” and so on. I don’t agree with much of the album’s politics, though let’s-have-less-war is a decent common ground to start from, and in the spirit of the album itself I won’t shy away from mentioning it. If that kind of thing is a sticking point for you as a listener — the use of “snowflake” in “It’s Not OK,” or “young AI robots” in “Stoned Back to the Bomb Age,” etc. — then it matters. If not, it doesn’t. In either case, it’s a confrontationalism that’s part of who The Obsessed are at this stage in their career, and it’s been a part of Weinrich‘s persona for decades. What ultimately defines the record is the energy with which its songs, fast or slow, are wrought, and the clever and considered ways The Obsessed build on their history and recast their dynamic with an obvious goal to keep moving forward. If it even needs to be said, Gilded Sorrow is unquestionably among the most essential doom releases 2024 will bring.

The Obsessed, Gilded Sorrow (2024)

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