the Obsessed : "Sacred"

While I am more of a St. Vitus fan, the Obsessed is just as much Wino's show. For me there was always more of a rock n roll feel to this band which I hear as being more upbeat than St. Vitus. So if you are trying to find the liens between doom and stoner rock. I would say that St. Vitus is doom where these guys are more stoner rock or more often in the case of this current incarnation of the band stoner metal. It opens with a more uptempo song, but I am more impressed with the double bass drive to  "Punk Crusher" that finds Wino's voice sounding better than it has in recent memory. The title track has a good groove to it , more on the rock n roll side of what they do, The vocals have plenty of room to fall in with the riffs. I like this better than the rock n roll side they show after this one on "Haywire" which makes it apparent that Wino is the next in line for Lemmy's throne , because even though "Haywire" is not really what I want to hear from Wino, he is making that kind of timeless rock n roll that Lemmy did with Motorhead.

"Perseverance" has more of a Deep Purple groove to it. The drums even have a Zeppelin like swing to them in places. The production is really dialed in and while Wino's vocals are high in the mix it works for the more mainstream feel of these songs. There is almost a ZZ-Top feel to the call and response nature of the interplay between the vocals and the guitar on "It's Only Money". "Cold Blood" is an instrumental that's decent for what it is , but I perfer the darker turn the verses to "Stranger Things " takes . The more Led Zeppelin blues boogie side with a tinge of metal on " Razor Wire" which has a somewhat silly chorus, but it's all in good fun I suppose. "My Daughter My Son" finds me checking out a little and not holding my attention.

They drive straight ahead with the more meat and potatoes rock of "Be the Night".  The darker more doom oriented tone to "On So Long" is more of what I have been looking for. "Cross Roader Blues" really indulges his need for slide guitar. I will give this album an 8. I think he sounds great here and production wise this is pretty solid. This is more fun drinking music than the more introspective depressive side of St. Vitus, they are obviously two different projects and this new direction makes that clear with out polarizing old fans.





"like" us on Facebook... https://www.facebook.com/abysmalhymns/

Goatsnake: "Black Age Blues"

Goatsnake is back for their first full length in 15 years. Featuring Greg Anderson from Sunn O ))) and members of the Obsessed you know it's going to be classic doom drenched  blues rock. The first song is heavier than expected, not that these guys were ever slouches. The guitar sound is thick as all hell. "Elevated Man" has a very Sabbath chug. Peter Stahl's vocals have a soulful croon that this go around is similar to Ian Astbury. Tonally the harmonica doesn't work with the low end wavelengths these guys are sailing and sounds like it was over dubbed as an after thought.

"Coffee & Whiskey" reminds me of the Badlands album when cock rock collided with grunge. There is a dirtier fuzz to this one and it rips up out of a tempo that boogies much faster than anything doomish. Leaving no question these guys are good at what they do the song writing on the title track doesn't break any new ground. They do however hit a sweet spot on "House of the Moon" the gospel tinged backing vocals help with this. The signer's lead vocals sound like he is just improvising for the most part through out the album. "Jimi's Gone" sounds like a heavy version of a Cult song mixed with Coverdale era Whitesnake.  The gospel backing vocals return to save the day when the song slows down into a sludge ridden pace.

I like the vocal melody on "Graves" , though I can't help but think the vocals are way too forward in the might and might have benefitted if  this was mixed more like a Kyuss record with the vocals pushed back some. the sheer fact that they not capable of passing through.  The lurching mammoth wall of Sabbath crunch crunches powerfully into "Grandpa Jones". The blues lays heavy on the backing vocals that are really making this album.There is even a lower vocal that sounds like Mark Lanegan. The "gonna wash my soul to the ground" chant in "Killing Blues" is the song's strongest moment. This album sounds great and the gospel vibe they inject into the genre is original, the song writing is a little haphazard, but this still should be rounded up to an 8.5.