The Obsessed: Brother Blue Steel

Wino is the only way to go...the superbly heavy first track from The Obsessed's 1991 album "Lunar Womb." Nothing better. Enjoy.

Spirit Caravan: Fang

Motorhead meets Black Sabbath...here's a dose of Spirit Caravan. Can't go wrong with Wino.

Wino: Secret Realm Devotion

A little Wino for your Friday evening. From his solo album PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIUM. One of the best songs from there...SECRET REALM DEVOTION.

The Obsessed: Back To Zero

An excellent Obsessed song from LUNAR WOMB. Long live Wino.

SAINT VITUS: FEAR

Although I am partial to the Wino-era Saint Vitus, this song has become lodged in my brain for some reason. It's from 1992, from their "Children of Doom" album. Christian Linderrson is on vocals. No Wino by far, but impressive nonetheless. What a crushing riff! Masterful psych/doom. Going to have to give some of the post-Wino Saint Vitus a better chance. Here it is...."Fear".

THE PLANET CARAVAN FESTIVAL

The Planet Caravan Festival is coming to Asheville, North Carolina on September 18th and 19th, 2009. Tickets are 79.95 for both nights. Bands included are Clutch, retro-doom masters Pentagram, Orange Goblin, and Wino. I'm really excited about this, as I write here about many of these bands on a regular basis. It's a bit if a distance to drive for me, but I would love to try to make it up there. Maybe a little fall vacation...planning to head up that way at some point this fall anyway.

To read more about the Planet Caravan Festival, click here.

WINO: SILVER LINING

Here's a thick slab of molten spacey doom...it 's the final and my favorite track from Scott "Wino" Weinrich's recently released solo album "Punctuated Equilibrium". Wino is the undisputed king of hippie/doom/biker metal. His legacy with Saint Vitus, Spirit Caravan, and The Obsessed is enough alone to give him that title. Without any further ado, here's "Silver Lining". Not a very flattering photo of Wino here but in some odd way it fits...

WINO'S "PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIUM"

Ok. It's rare these days that I get a new album or movie in my hands to review for you. With my wife and I's hours cut due to the economy, we don't have much extra cash to spare on luxury items. I have a huge backlog of music and movies from my years and years of collecting to review for you here, so don't worry, I will never run out of material. It is nice though when I have something that is new to me to review for you, and yesterday I was fortunate enough to be able to pick up Wino's brand new album "Punctuated Equilibrium".

"Punctuated Equilibrium" is without a doubt Wino's best work since he left Saint Vitus. Don't get me wrong, The Obsessed and Spirit Caravan are still great, but there is something about this album that is more exceptionally focused and well executed than his other efforts. "Punctuated Elibrium" is the perfect psych/hippie/doom metal album. It is an addictive brew mixed with equal parts Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Motorhead, Hawkwind, and Helios Creed. Wino's guitar playing is incredible. He is the master of the ungodly, sinister, earth moving, almighty riff. His guitar solos channel all kinds of psychedelic demons. There are evil, hip shaking, head banging grooves all over the place. Nasty sounding, grungy, spacey chords abound. The sparse use of keybaords here and there is nice. Wino's Lemmy meets Ozzy vocals are in top form. The songwriting is tight and loaded with hooks. What is surprising about this record is Wino's foray into space rock on some of the tracks towards the end such as "Wild Blue Yonder". Helios or Hawkwind couldn't have done it any better. The longer, spacey instrumental tracks (there are only a few) are just as strong as the songs with vocals. There is not a weak moment on here. If you're into Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, Spirit Caravan, or into doom/hippie/stoner/psychedelic metal in any form go out and pick this one up now. It will not disappoint.

Here's "Release Me", the opening track. Enjoy, you gotta pick this one up.

Saint Vitus Coming To New Orleans

The classic doom metal band Saint Vitus is going to be in New Orleans at One Eyed Jacks on April 11, playing their only United States show. They are reunited with Wino on vocals. After this show they are playing the Roadburn Festival in Europe. I've got to get to New Orleans to see them. It's rare enough that Saint Vitus is playing so close to home, but even rarer that they are back with Wino after many many years. You can buy advance tickets here. I can't wait to see them.

SAINT VITUS

Saint Vitus. A legendary psychedelic doom metal band whose best moments(to me) were in the mid to late 1980's . Their three best albums are "Born Too Late"(1987), "Mournful Cries"(1988), and "V"(1989). Their sound is very Black Sabbath oriented, with a dose of Black Flag and a heavy dose of psychedelia thrown into the mix. The tempos are agonizingly slow yet hypnotic...they reach a nice head banging mid-pace every now and then. The guitar playing is thick, sludgy, and heavy, with guitar solos that conjure up the darkest psychedelic demons from the depths of hell. Scott "Wino" Weinrich's vocals owe some debt to Ozzy, but they also have a rough and reflective edge. Saint Vitus's influence on stoner metal as well as as doom/goth metal is tremendous. Bands ranging from the psych/space rock of Monster Magnet to the gloomy, acid laden goth rock of Christian Death(with Rozz Williams) to the superbly crafted doom of Electric Wizard owe a heavy debt to their work.

Saint Vitus never achieved commercial success. They stayed true to their sound and roots, and maintained a loyal cult following. Their vocalist Wino left the band and formed The Obsessed and later Spirit Caravan. Saint Vitus continued to make music for many years in different incarnations.

Here's the slow, title track from their first album with Wino, "Born Too Late". A hippie metal anthem. The album is a raw, sludge laden masterpiece.


Here's "Dragon Time" from "Mournful Cries", hands down the gloomiest album of the three.


And here's "Ice Monkey" and "I Bleed Black" from "V", my personal favorite CD of theirs.

SPIRIT CARAVAN-"The Last Embrace"

Spirit Caravan. Anybody out there ever heard of this band? They are led by ex-Saint Vitus and Obsessed singer Scott "Wino" Weinrich. Like the two bands he came from, they are doomy stoner metal, but Spirit Caravan has a more unique sound than the other two. Filled with earth-moving riffs and grooves, a small dose of Sabbath worship, and gloomy introspective vocals, Spirit Caravan were a band to be reckoned with. The songs are mostly mid-paced so they don't fall in the same rut of sludge as some other doom metal bands. The best way to describe them would be to imagine a cross between the heavy, early Soundgarden and Motorhead.

"The Last Embrace" is a sprawling two-disc set covering most of Spirit Caravan's short but fruitful career. It's a good place to start if you're curious.

Here's "Healing Tongue" and "Cosmic Artifact". Enjoy!