It may have taken them 20 years but
Obsession is back and with a brand new album full of sizzling metal tunes. They truly have not skipped a beat since "Methods of Madness", as the new
"Carnival of Lies" dishes up the same kind of screaming vocals and twin axe attack that made their 80s albums such cult favorites among the headbanging crowd. This is metal the way we used to love it back then before it became all orchestrated and buried in epic complexity. Straightforward and like a swift kick to the head,
"Carnival" delivers the old school music with nostalgic class and fist pumping power.
Obsession never really made it big enough to land on the cover of Metal Edge or Parade, but their underground status beat with a strong pulse during the early to mid 80s. Rocketing off of the buzz from a track included on one of the many Metal Massacre compilations, they released the "Marshall Law" EP and followed that up with "Scarred For Life". "Methods of Madness" came to pass a year after "Scarred" and really upped the ante for classic styled metal with a heavy hitting edge. Of course the poppier metal had taken hold of the mainstream by then.
Poison and
Europe were showcased on Headbanger's Ball instead of Priest and Maiden and the like, and
Obsession threw in the towel and parted ways.
Even now there does not seem to be a big market for the classic feel of six string flaming steel, drums charging full speed ahead and vocals that can peel paint off the walls. Or as some would put it - a bunch of virtuosos with stuffed packages. A big draw for the band, besides the awesome and extensive use of the electric guitar is vocalist Mike Vescera. He broke into the industry with this outfit and now has returned to the fold. He has fronted several bands that can be compared to
Obsession such as Loudness, his own MVP project, and fronting for shredders
Yngwie Malmsteen and Roland Grapow. He rips and roars and makes my throat sore just listening to him. This is a no holds barred performance for Vescera. Nothing is held back and thus his vocals are front and center, only moving aside for when the guitars come screaming into play, which is quite often. They split the center stage and share it with equal force and ability.
Everything you need to know about the style and sound of
"Carnival" is wrapped up right from the first song,
"Smoking Gun".
"Gun" is shot out of a smoking barrel with lots of fret blazing guitar, screeching vocals and double drums that attempt to pound their way to the other side of the earth...through your skull! Fast and powerful, its a thumping example of pure 80s styled metal. Second there is the equally metallic title track that focuses in more on the vocals and a mid pacing that lets the music speak for itself. The guitar work here is amazing once again. Riffs and solos are flung about with wild abandon and all the over-the-top playing that dominated metal music a few short decades ago.
"In For the Kill" is like Vescera fronted Yngwie crossed with Judas Priest. Killer stuff with a darker vibe. Listen to those guitars and overall atmosphere... very much in the "Marching Out" Yngwie style and drenched in that sound that made metal from that time period so different from what we get spoonfed now.
The thick and heavy riffing of
"Imagining" with soaring vocals over the top and a catchy as hell melody... the searing electric and early
Fates Warning gloss of
"The Offering"...the crunch and gritty burn of
"Pure Evil"...the thumping hard rock and headbanging chorus (with a quirky snarl on the word "blood" making it sound like "BLAAAAAUUUDDDDDD!!!!") of
"Written In Blood"... the slower paced but power packed balladesque haunter
"Guilty as Charged"...every song has something worthwhile to contribute. Thus creating an awesome package of metal greatness in a form that is not often gambled on these days. And if the remake of
"Marshall Law" for 2006 doesn't put a stupid grin all over your face from the first thrashy notes... consider a change of musical genres.
This album is like a flashback to 1987 all over again.
"Carnival of Lies" easily stacks up against the classic "Methods of Madness" and in some ways - and this may seem like blasphemy to some - even one ups it. Yes,
Obsession is back and definitely worthy of obsessing over...all over again. This one is for the old schoolers that just can't give up that sound, and if it turns out this good in the 2000s, I can see why they keep clinging onto it for dear life. Leatherwolf, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, etc. fans rejoice. Your saviours are here.
Written by
Alanna Tuesday, August 15, 2006
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