The Obsessed is an American heavy metal band from

Potomac, Maryland Potomac () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, named after the nearby Potomac River. Potomac is the seventh most educated small town in America, based on percentage of residents with postsecondary deg ...

, led by

Scott "Wino" Weinrich Robert Scott Weinrich (born 1961), better known as Wino, is an American singer and guitarist. He has been highly influential in helping develop and codify doom metal's trademark sound, and is also considered an influential figure in the stoner r ...

. The band combines elements of

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

stoner rock Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sleep. ...

, and punk rock. Formed in 1980, they recorded a few demos and played a handful of live shows until they first split up in 1986 when Weinrich joined as lead vocalist for

Saint Vitus Vitus (), whose name is sometimes rendered Guy or Guido, was a Christian martyr from Sicily. His surviving hagiography is pure legend. The dates of his actual life are unknown.Basil Watkins, ''The Book of Saints: A Comprehensive Biographical D ...

, but reformed four years later. After releasing three albums (including their self-titled that was originally recorded in 1985), the Obsessed broke up for a second time in 1995. After briefly reuniting for some shows in 2012 and 2013, the Obsessed announced their third reunion in March 2016.

Biography

Early career (1976–1985)

The band formed originally under the name "Warhorse" in 1976 in Potomac, Maryland, led by Wino. In the late 1970s, Wino's band became known as the Leather Nunz. The band played original punk tunes with singer Billy Beam, Jeff Urban on drums, Robert Krug on rhythm guitar and Mark Laue on bass. Later on, a new more focused and improved group moved into a band house in

Rockville, Maryland Rockville is a city that serves as the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, and is part of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fifth-largest community in ...

and renamed the Obsessed, where some of their most creative and hardest music was written. Before this move, however, original guitar player John Reese and Davey WIlliams on drums departed from the band. The band became a trio and remained that way until 1982 when Vance Bockis and later Norman Lawson joined the band. During this time they released the ''Sodden Jackal'' EP (spring 1983) and had one track ("Concrete Cancer") featured on

Metal Blade Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...

's ''

Metal Massacre VI ''Metal Massacre'' is a series of compilation albums released through Metal Blade Records. It is famous for "shedding light" on bands such as The Obsessed, Trouble, Overkill, Metal Church, Metallica, Slayer, Virgin Steele, Hellhammer, Voivo ...

''. The Obsessed also managed to record their debut album in 1985 for Metal Blade, but it never officially surfaced.

Splits, first reunion and aftermath (1986–2010)

The band broke up in the late 1980s and Wino went west to California to join up with

. Wino recorded three albums, an EP, and a live album with Saint Vitus.

Hellhound Records Hellhound Records was a German record label during the late 1980s and 1990s, self-described as "the heaviest label on earth". They became known for putting out doom metal, with artists such as Saint Vitus and The Obsessed. In the early 1990s He ...

(Vitus's then current label) released ''

The Obsessed The Obsessed is an American heavy metal band from Potomac, Maryland, led by Scott "Wino" Weinrich. The band combines elements of doom metal, stoner rock, and punk rock. Formed in 1980, they recorded a few demos and played a handful of liv ...

'', an album that the Obsessed had recorded in 1985, which prompted Wino to leave Vitus and reform the Obsessed with a new rhythm section consisting of Scott Reeder and Greg Rogers. The band was quickly signed to

and soon released ''

Lunar Womb ''Lunar Womb'' is the second studio album by American heavy metal band The Obsessed. It was released in 1991 by Hellhound Records and reissued in 2006 by MeteorCity. The painting on the cover is entitled ''Saturn Devouring His Son'' by Francisco ...

''. Scott Reeder later left to join

Kyuss Kyuss ( ) was an American rock band, formed in Palm Desert, California, in 1987. The band disbanded in 1995, and since then, members of Kyuss have gone on to form or play in several notable bands including Queens of the Stone Age, Fu Manchu, D ...

, whereupon he was replaced by Guy Pinhas. After the addition of Pinhas, the Obsessed signed with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

, through which they released their third album ''

The Church Within ''The Church Within'' is the third studio album by American metal band The Obsessed. It was released in 1994 by Columbia Records and Hellhound Records, and was their final album before their 16-year breakup from 1995 to 2011. Columbia Records r ...

'' to strong critical reviews. To promote ''The Church Within'', the band toured as an opening act for Entombed and

Unsane ''Unsane'' is a 2018 American psychological horror film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Jonathan Bernstein and James Greer. The film stars Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard, Jay Pharoah, Matt Damon, Juno Temple, Aimee Mullins, and Amy I ...

during the first part of 1994. Despite the tour, as well as a large amount of promotion on behalf of Columbia Records (including a 25-minute documentary on the history of the Obsessed), the album did not sell as well as expected. After the demise of the Obsessed, Wino went on to form Shine which changed name to

Spirit Caravan Spirit Caravan was an American doom metal / stoner rock band featuring guitarist and vocalist Scott "Wino" Weinrich. Biography Scott "Wino" Weinrich formed Spirit Caravan after the breakup of The Obsessed. The remainder of the band consisted ...

and more projects before reuniting with Saint Vitus in 2003 (and again in 2008), while the Obsessed's rhythm section became the basis for

Goatsnake Goatsnake is an American stoner/doom metal band from Los Angeles, California. They have released three studio albums, the first being 1999's '' Goatsnake Vol. 1''. Biography Goatsnake was formed in 1996 after the disbanding of The Obsesse ...

Reunions (2011–present)

In September 2011, the Roadburn Festival announced that ''The Church Within'' lineup (featuring Wino, Greg Rogers and Guy Pinhas) would be reuniting to play their next edition on April 14, 2012. The band later confirmed they would be performing at the Hellfest Open Air 2012. The band performed yet another reunion show at Maryland Death fest XI in May 2013 featuring Wino, Greg Rogers and Reid Raley. TKO Records re-released the self-titled 7" on November 23, 2012. Wino announced the full-time return of the Obsessed in March 2016 and the band's official signing to Relapse Records to record the follow up to ''The Church Within''. The new lineup originally consisted of Spirit Caravan bassist Dave Sherman and Wino's longtime friend and former road crew member Brian Costantino (drums). On October 31, 2016, Wino announced that The Obsessed would test the waters for the remainder of 2016 by adding Bruce Falkinburg on bass and Seraphim on guitar, making this the first time in over 35 years that the Obsessed have been a four piece band. In April 2017, the band released ''Sacred'', their first studio album in 23 years.

Members

Current *

– lead guitar, lead vocals (1980–present) *Brian Costantino – drums, backing vocals (2016–present) *Chris Angleberger – bass (2022–present) *Jason Taylor – rhythm guitar (2022–present) Former *John Reese – rhythm guitar (1980–1982) *Vance Bockis – vocals (1980–1983) *Dave Williams – drums (1980–1983) *Mark Laue – bass (1980–1986) *Ed Gulli – drums (1984–1986) * Scott Reeder – bass (1990–1992) *Greg Rogers – drums (1990–1995) *Guy Pinhas – bass (1992–1995) *Reid Raley – bass (2013–2015, 2017–2019) *Dave Sherman – bass, backing vocals (2016); died 2022 *

Bruce Falkinburg The Hidden Hand was an American stoner/doom band from Maryland, formed in 2002. Biography The Hidden Hand was a trio formed by Scott "Wino" Weinrich (guitar and vocals) and Bruce Falkinburg (bass and vocals) and included 3 different drumme ...

– bass, backing vocals (2016) *Brian "Wendy" White – bass (2019–2022)

Timeline

Discography

Demos

*''Demo'' 1980 *''Demo'' 1982 *''Promo Demo'' 1985

Albums

*''

'' (

, 1990) *''

'' (Hellhound Records, 1991) *''

'' (Hellhound Records/

, 1994) *''Sacred'' (

Relapse Records Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features many grindcore, death metal, metalcore and sludge metal artists. History The label was ...

, 2017)

EPs and singles

*''Sodden Jackal'' 7" (Invictus Records, 1983) *"Streetside" 7"/CD (

, 1994) *"To Protect and to Serve" 7"/CD (Columbia Records, 1994) *''Altamont Nation'' 7" (

Bong Load Records Bong Load Records is an independent record label originally based in Los Angeles which was founded by producers Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf and partner Bradshaw Lambert. Much of the Bong Load Records catalog is released in small quantities. Sev ...

, 1995) *''Instrumental'' 7" (Doom Records, 1996) *''Sodden Jackal'' 7" (with different mixes) (Doom Records, 1996) *Split 7" with Mystick Krewe of Clearlight (both sides

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd ( ) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Ju ...

covers) (

Southern Lord Records Southern Lord is an American heavy metal record label that was founded in 1998 by Greg Anderson. It specialized in experimental metal: particularly doom metal, stoner rock, and drone metal. The label later expanded its line-up to include arti ...

, 2001) *''Sodden Jackal'' 7" (TKO Records, 2012)

Compilation and live albums

*''History of The Obsessed'' (Doom Records, 1997) *''Live at the Wax Museum'' (Doom Records, 1997) *''

Incarnate Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It refers to the conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or the appearance of a god as a human. If capitalized, it is the union of divinit ...

'' (

, 1999) *''

'' reissue w/live '84 CD (

Tolotta Records Tolotta Records was a record label run by Joe Lally of Fugazi. It was based in Arlington, Virginia and distributed through Dischord Records. The label has released bands from Washington, D.C. and the surrounding area, such as Dead Meadow and Spirit ...

, 2000) *''History of The Obsessed Volume II'' (Doom Records, 2002)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obsessed, The 1976 establishments in Maryland American doom metal musical groups Heavy metal musical groups from Maryland Heavy metal musical groups from Washington, D.C. Hellhound Records artists Musical groups established in 1976 Musical groups disestablished in 1986 Musical groups reestablished in 1990 Musical groups disestablished in 1995 Musical groups reestablished in 2016 American musical trios American stoner rock musical groups