I discovered The Obsessed back in the 1990’s when Kyuss was the big thing in stoner rock. It was bassist Scott Reeder who was on Kyuss’s very last album “…And The Circus Leaves Town” that led me to The Obsessed who at the time I thought were a new band but later discovered had been around on and off since the early 1980’s. While the band were never a full fledged stoner rock band, mostly combining doom elements with classic rock and a little punk, it was those fuzzy riffs with that Sabbath melody and a mighty groove that really stuck with me over the years and finally in 2017 they return with a new album titled “Sacred” which turned out to be a bit of a surprising mixed bag full of classic rock riffs on top of their trademark sound.
Led Zeppelin kind of comes to mind when thinking of, at the very least the first half of the album. The title track as well as “Razor Wire”, “Haywire”, “Preserverence Of Futility” and the swinging “It’s Only Money” all have that classic rock sound, oozing 70’s bliss that’s choc full of real warm guitar sounds with moments of fuzziness but with a catchy groove that takes you back to those originals. But while the album starts off that way, it does eventually veer off into other avenues that incorporate some 80’s punk like in “Punk Crusher” and the fuzzy doomer “Sodden Jackal”. At this point it becomes apparent that the more doom laden stoner rock vibes are worn off to get something a bit more accessible but real at the same time.
However things change by the time “Cold Blood” comes around, an instrumental rocker that borrows some nice Black Sabbath riffs and melodies without being too obvious. We start to see some stoner rock vibes in tracks like “Stranger Things”, the melancholic tone that balances dynamics between soft and heavy real nicely. “My Daughter My Sons” follows along the same line but maybe a little more laidback and rockier while “Be The Night” brings back some high energy even if it’s only for a short while. It’s been too long since we heard new music from The Obsessed and with this album, we sure are glad to have them back!
TRACKLIST
Sodden Jackal
Punk Crusher
Sacred
Haywire
Perseverance of Futility
It’s Only Money
Cold Blood
Stranger Things
Razor Wire
My Daughter My Son
Be the Night
Interlude
