Obsession - Methods of Madness

The result of gobs of hairspray, a couple years of listening to the heavyweights like Judas Priest, Yngwie Malmsteen and Iron Maiden under their belts, and a determination to not sell-out to the prissy light weights of the golden age of metal, Obsession was armed with the tools to carve out a masterpiece. While not quite hammering out the next "Screaming For Vengance", this group of musicians DID manage to churn out a cult classic, that could not be found in any discount bin anywhere in the country, and instead original copies were the focal point of metal auctions around the world. So what was so wonderful about this particular album that made it so sought after and for it to be sold for such insane amounts of money? I'll be the first to tell you that the album is not really anything revolutionary. The same formula has been tried and tested many times, and continues to be popular today. A mish-mash of their obvious influences, including Maiden and Priest and perhaps a slight dash of Omen for that slight gritty sound, has been done before and better by a certain band known as Leatherwolf. But the key to better answering that question that lies in the vocalist that sings on this album, the one and only, Michael Vescera. Now if you have never heard of Mike Vescera then you need to take a crash course in metal history, for Vescera is not only one heck of a talented singer, but who's reseme would include recording and touring with bands like Loudness, and Yngwie Malmsteen, not to mention his solo career and dropping in to record vox on Roland Grapow's solo outing. Of course that, paired with the fact that it was extremely rare due to limited pressings made it very desirable for the metal collector and the Vescera fan alike. The slightly hollow production and the general sound of the record makes it feel very authentic, which it is. A slice of the past, if you will. All the musicians here do a competent job for what instrument they are playing on. Art Maco and Bruce Vitale provide a dual guitar attack, while Matt Karagus and Jay Mezias round out the rhythm section. It pounds, it screams and it shreds, and does all of it quite well. Their one claim to fame included being a featured band on a "Metal Massacre" compilation in the early 80s with a song from their EP which was on Metal Blade, and for anyone who cares, they originated from New Haven, Connecticut. (This last bit of info came from the BNR metal pages.) Just one of those little trivia tid bits that comes in handy when everyone sits around wondering how many bands came out of CT (besides Steelheart and Fates Warning of course).

"For the Love of Money" is your showcase track here, a tale of greed in the first person perspective, brought to a chilling, yet fist raising climax with the aid of Michael Vescera's animated vocal performance. Delivered with a selfish air and a few well placed sneers and backed by a pounding chorus, this is one tune that has held up even as the 80s had faded far in the distance. Feedback fest on the opening track "Four Play" and its followup "Hard to the Core", sounds like some kind of glam thingie, but instead spouts typical 80s style crunch and pomp fast drumming stuff, and screechy vocals. The fact they are Vescera's vocals does help though. And thus is the rule, rather than the exception, to describe the rest of the album. Besides the title track, nothing else is too remarkable but a handful are to be remembered. "Killer Elite" is nothing special, its your basic Maiden influenced, guitar filled frenzy but Vescera screaming out the blood lusting chorus is surely priceless, and backed by a driving, pumping rhythm makes it a tune to watch out for. "Desperate to Survive" is a perfect compliment to the rest of the album, which all borders on early power metal, but "Desperate" is different, but rather a ballad with balls type song, just check out the bridge leading into the power pumpin chorus complete with high pitched soaring vocals, that manage to stay very masculine and rich sounding despite all the screeching. The tale of one still haunted and living a painfilled life, proves to be good subject matter and when paired with some truly beautiful guitar work, that taps into higher, brittle sounds. Vescera wails along full of emotion til the end. "Too Wild To Tame" is injected with a swinging rhythm, and feels so 80s that its bound to bring back memories. A little nod to early Dokken in song structure. Then on the flip side there are is the ho-hum stuff, like "Always On the Run", granted its a decent song but offers nothing new and ends up being very repetitive. "Panic in the Streets" plays out similiar to Yngwie Malmsteen's stuff on "Marching Out" with an extend guitar solo and plenty of screeching to accompany it.