The Obsessed: Back on the Road After a 10 year hiatus.

After a ten-year break, The Obsessed is back on the road, giving that heavy sound of doom metal original fans, and attracting younger listeners. Scott “Wino” Weinrich has put the band together with the addition of Dave Sherman (Spirit Caravan, Weed is Weed) adding to their line up Spirit Caravan’s drum tech Brian Constantino. You can ask your self what does a band do after a decade of inactivity? Well The Obsessed were not dormant, they were playing in a band named Spirit Caravan, heard it? If you haven’t get up and get their music. We had a chat with bassist Dave Sherman, as The Obsessed wraps up their 24-date tour; prior to their Texas Performance he gave us some vital information. Yes there will be a new album; they talk about the fans, the tour, and of course the future of The Obsessed. Here is what Dave Sherman filled us in with:

Hostile Jo: “Having taken a ten year break, what did you guys do prior to reforming the band?

Dave Sherman: “We did a tour with Spirit Caravan, we worked on other music for that band and worked with Eddie (Ex-Spirit Caravan Drummer), however things didn’t work out and we hired Brian who was too young back in the days with The Obsessed to play with us. It all just played out great because we wanted to get back on playing and with Brian knowing all the old The Obsessed tracks it was quick to get back in the groove.”

gHJ: “ Now, you have worked with Scott before, how is it different working with him in Spirit Caravan compared to The Obsessed?”

DS: “In terms of playing we started playing in Spirit Caravan and have some stuff written for The Obsessed up coming album but the chemistry started ever since Spirit Caravan so you can expect a great set on stage.”

On the matter of playing in this tour:

DS: “We did a set with songs from The Obsessed and Spirit Caravan trying to keep our fans happy, as you know we are pretty much Spirit Caravan minus Eddie, the name changed but its similar doom psychedelic sound. We played “LSD”, “Two Fears” songs which will be accessible on the new record.”

On the upcoming new record matter:

DS:” We have a title we will wait on it to be released, but it’s a sacred album for us, a bit trendy and will still have that doom metal sound with heavy bass and guitar riffs.”

On matter of the new album release date:

DS: “We are aiming for February of 2017, we have a few dates on the tour left and once that is done we will be headed home to the studio.”

On the album expectations:

DS: “ There will definitely be a lot of the old The Obsessed sound like the a mixture of punk and more upbeat songs, but still we will incorporate the doom metal in it. We are giving it a bit more psychedelic feels lyrically and some of the songs we wrote with Spirit Caravan will be featured in this albums just with a better sound quality due to the new technology.”

HJ: “How does touring compare now to the old days?”

DS: “The stages are better a bit more modern, you will encounter your old school stage here and there, but we will have our top notch tech guys, and equipment and of course the PAs are always what makes the experience better for the fans. We have close to 16 Tyrant amps pretty sick gear.”

HJ: “How will you keep up with modern metal, or the evolution of metal noticing how younger kids are missing out on the classic bands like Saxon, Pentagram and of course The Obsessed, how are you going to attract those younger fans?”

DS: “Well we have noticed a few younger fans, but its mostly the older crowd that grew up listening to us, a friend of ours was at the Pentagram show, and he saw a kid wearing a Saint Vitus shirt, he went and asked him, “oh have you hear of The Obsessed?” The kid had no idea who we were; it just shows kids forget where modern metal gets their inspiration. Without bands from our time there would be no Pentagram, no modern metal but we have a long way to play and provide killer music.”

HJ: “What enables a band to attract that crowd besides the music?”

DS: “We signed with Relapse Records, it is closer to home, and they have a lot of genres of metal, a huge variation from doom to death metal. We are also going to be making a video, which is vital now, that’s the way younger kids find out about bands by watching videos. I mean, Relapse Records recorded the Deceased first album, they are such a cool band among others but I do feel the record label will give us a bigger boost.”

HJ: “That is it, the record labels bring you that momentum with the visual arts, and all I am glad I got the scope on the coming album and the tour you guys are finishing up and fucking stoked to hear it.”

DS: “Thank you, we will definitely bring in the metal and we are excited.”

There you have it, Dave Sherman bassist of The Obsessed get into details about the tour and new album coming out in February 2017. The title for that album will be “Sacred” as the band it self is a sacred project that continues to revive in the mist of line up changes and bands disintegration. Be ready for this upcoming album filled with punk influences, doom metal and trippy lyrics, as The Obsessed transports their sound a decade in the making to the 21^st century giving their new line up a reason to play harder, faster and heavier.