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THE OBSESSED
Gilded Sorrow

Ripple Music (2024)
Rating: 8.5/10

It’s criminal when so called critics compile their lists of their favourite doom metal bands and so often exclude Maryland’s The Obsessed. These guys have been treading the boards longer than most having started back in the mid-70s under the name Warhorse before changing their name to The Obsessed in 1980. Fronted by guitarist Scott “Wino” Weinrich (ex-Saint Vitus / ex-Spirit Caravan), the band has returned after a lengthy silence of seven years with only their fifth full-length opus.

When one considers just how many bands get their kicks from aping Black Sabbath it’s worth noting that The Obsessed were one of the first bands to be influenced by Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward, and unsurprisingly those traits remain. The Obsessed have that knack of carving out understated heavy rock that just can’t help but coat itself in a primal gloom and leathery grit. Every time Wino releases an album, with whichever project, I feel the need to watch a cult movie like 1973’s Psychomania whereby crazed bikers are on the rampage.

The Obsessed occupy that sleazy alleyway of the doom metal scene; the riffs and groans emerge from dive bars sticky with alcohol and rank with cigarette smoke. This is raw rock n’ roll for the yellow stained fingered and sweaty leather waistcoat brigade. The riffs are oaken slabs of creaking menace, the bass moans like a yawning coffin lid shifted to release dormant fumes and the drums are ugly slaps and primeval thuds.

Opening track ‘Daughter Of An Echo’ chugs with an organic fluidity before the melancholic leads weave their magic. Wino boasts that weather beaten yet tough as old boots snarl that brings both a comfort and a dread as the cool groove of ‘It’s Not Ok’ strikes with an interesting beat while maintaining a stark, brooding rumble.

The Obsessed are far more varied in their sound than given credit for; take for instance the deliciously melodious ‘Realize A Dream’ and the upbeat rocker ‘Jailine’. But don’t for a second think Wino and co. have sacrificed any weight because Gilded Sorrow is arguably the heaviest slab The Obsessed has ever released. Even with the snotty punk rock escapades and bluesy boogie segments this is a record that stamps and stomps hard, particularly on ‘Wellspring – Dark Sunshine’, and ‘Stoned Back To The Bomb Age’ is a monstrous heap of doom that billows the thickest black smoke.

There is no shortage of colossal plodding on this opus; barroom doom as earthy as the mud you drunkenly stumble upon. As I said before, there are a lot of bands who have been inspired by Black Sabbath but only a handful sound so authentic in their thunderous grooves, and The Obsessed is one of them.

Neil Arnold

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