Reviews: The Obsessed, Bokassa, Shooting Daggers, Mr Bison (Reviews By Rich Piva & Matt Bladen)

The Obsessed discography is untouchable, so to say, in 2024 Wino and this version of the band has release what is up there with their best work may sound crazy, but it is true. Partnering with the best label in heavy rock, Ripple Music (a match made in Heaven or Hell, whatever your preference is) The Obsessed have created a modern stoner/doom masterpiece with these nine new songs, which is an amazing feat considering the band has been around since the very early 80s.

The Obsessed fifth album is their most modern sounding record, which at first may make you take a pause, but I would add to most modern their best sounding album. The production is perfect for this group of songs and the expanded fourpiece line up. The guitar sound it exactly what you want from a Wino record and the rhythm section pounds right along, inserted perfectly into the mix. 

Wino’s voice has never sounded stronger, which, again, is saying something for how long the man has been doing this. I mentioned earlier that Wino is mad; mad at the state of the world, at all the easy to offend snowflakes, the reliance on technology, and all the fake sons of bitches that he has encountered in his six decades or so in rock, and all of these are called out on the Gilded Sorrow, writing some of the best lyrics out of any of his output. 

Starting with Daughter Of An Echo, right off the bat you get Wino in a mood, smacking you across the face with one of his trademark riffs and pulling no punches on one of many who has tired to pull one over on the man. The band he has put together in this version of The Obsessed is super tight, with the opening track being the perfect example. How about that solo too? Talk about bitter, It’s Not OK really takes his haters and hangers on to task, calling out those who have lied, cheated, and stole from him over the years. 

Partner this with those riffs and whoa baby this is the stoner/doom version of the dis track of the year. When Wino sings “stick a needle in your eye” I am not taking that metaphorically, or when he calls out his enemy “who fucked up” I am glad it’s not me he has the target on. Let’s not gloss over the amazing guitar work by both Wino and the newest collaborator, Jason Taylor. These two tracks are just ahead, ass kicking heavy rock. 

Realize A Dream slows down the pace a bit, but not the heaviness, and the dual guitar work on here is just killer combined with the emotion from Wino’s voice, this is one of the best The Obsessed songs of any era. The title track is the most The Obsessed song of the new batch, leaning more towards slowed down traditional doom, a genre he helped invent. The excellently titled Stoned Back To The Bomb Age brings the filthiest riff to this airing of grievances, and this song sounds exactly what you may thinking, some Iommi style riffing with more of Wino’s state of the world address. 

The middle part of Gilded Sorrow is more on the traditional doom side of things, with Wellspring Dark Sunshine being another excellent example of this, executed flawlessly. But this version of The Obsessed really excels and the straight-ahead heavy rockers like three-minute punk inspired Jailine. Yen Sleep brings more chunky riffs (I hear classic Trouble) and more of that killer guitar action while the closing short instrumental, Lucky Free Nice Machine, almost sounds like Wino is closing out the record on a positive note, that maybe all is not lost in the world.

So, in 2024, of course one of the album of the year contenders would be a new The Obsessed record. What we have he is the perfect combination of Wino’s brilliance, the right band for him at this point in his career, production that could not be more spot on, and the backing of the number one record label in stoner/doom today. Wino rules, The Obsessed rules, and Gilded Sorrow rules. Mandatory listening for all, even those I shamed earlier. 10/10

Bokassa – All Out Of Dreams (Indie Recordings) [Matt Bladen]

I’ve got a lot of time for Bokassa; Jørn Kaarstad  (vocals/guitar), Bård Linga (bass/vocals) and Olav Dowkes (drums/vocals), there aren’t many bands who will actively go looking for a gig…any gig after the tour they were support for was cancelled. However Bokassa, with the help of Fuel Rock Club, managed to salvage the Cardiff date of their run with Therapy? with a last minute show in front of less than 100 people. 

It was a raucous sweaty affair and one that endeared me to the band who clearly love playing. Part of the set included the satirical, anthemic Let’s Storm The Capitol and the hardcore-tinged Garden Of Heathen both of which were the precursor singles for this brand new album. The latter features Lou Koller of Sick Of It All while the meaty stoner of Bradford Death Squadron features Red Fang’s Aaron Beam, the first time they’ve had guest artists on an album but a telling sign of where Bokassa dwell musically. 

They have been called stoner punk but I’d consider them drinking music, cranking out riffs with fierceness but with no fear of groove, its skate park music for you and your greebo friends. Kicking down the doors with The End Begins Today, there’s the punch of tour mates Therapy? All Out Of Dreams favouring a rawer edge than their previous more rock inclined release. Like early Clutch or Helmet, the trio know their way around a riff. 

The opener the most sophisticated track on the record, Straight Edgelord chugging away nicely like a caffeine free Pepsi Max, the title track going a bit 8-bit meets Metallica as Everyone Falls In The End goes full hardcore, keeping the punk riffs for No More Good Days. It starts grimy and ends grimy, distortion levels high and attitude set to take no shit, the influences wide ranging as Crush (All The Heretics) a slow, slaughtering Slayer riff as Gung Ho weaves a mystical psychedelia. 

All Out Of Dreams preaches that everything is ruined, we just need to just make as much noise as we can until things change. 8/10 

Shooting Daggers - Love & Rage (New Heavy Sounds) [Matt Bladen]

The trio of Sal, Bea and Raquel are pissed off, at society, at injustice, at the world at large and they want to tell everyone about it with a sound that draws not only from the UK hardcore scene but classic punk, 90's alt/grunge, the latter very strong on the title track. Having already released an EP that hinted at what they were capable of, Shooting Daggers now stand poised to unleash their debut album Love & Rage.

Its nine tracks of feisty, fiery, feminist punk rock, the rage bubbling from the opening beating of Dare, the drumming taking the track into DC hardcore reaches against the shouted gang vocals. There’s a guitar tone akin to a chainsaw on Bad Seeds except when it moves into jangly post/gaze on A Guilty Conscience Needs An Accuser, like a two sided coin, it’s the same but different.

There's a bass that rumbles with an aggressive thrust on the pithy Not My Rival, or a groove on the jerky Smug. As far as drumming goes Wipeout takes the surf rock rhythms (as you'd expect from the name) and puts them with angry noise, as Tunnel Vision is more left field. There my friends lies the kicker, Shooting Daggers unmistakably have a 'sound' but within that, the music is a broad church. Lyrically too they deal with politics, feminism trans rights and all manner of right on causes that punk was built on. 

Riot Grrl Punk rock and UK/US hardcore hybrid are the catalyst to what they do but there's much more than that on Love & Rage, from plaid wearing grunge to studious shoegaze, it means that the album can open with Dare but also as the piano closer Caves/Outro ends things, you've experienced one of the most exciting new bands in the UK in Shooting Daggers. 8/10

Mr. Bison - Echoes From The Universe (Heavy Psych Sounds) [Rich Piva]

Do you like a little prog in your stoner rock? How about a lot of prog in your stoner rock? Well, the Italians from Mr. Bison is here to scratch that itch, leaning even more into their progressive side with their latest album, Echoes From The Universe which at times sounds more like Yes than it does, say, Sasquatch. We don’t get the long winding 20-minute jams you do with some of the prog giants, but the vibe of this album is way more around the instrumentation and atmosphere than the riffs, and the results are outstanding.

The Child Of The Night Sky leads us off and right off the bat I hear traces of Yes, but heavier, of course. Musically and the harmonized vocals on Echoes From The Universe scream early Yes to me and the certainly pull it off well. Collision sounds more like Yes meets Hawkwind, but way shorter, as this one heads towards space rock territory. I love the vocals on this entire record, especially on this track. 

While the first two tracks were three-plus minute short bursts of stoner prog, Dead In The Eye, at seven minutes and with its rolling bass line you will have no choice but to hear some King Buffalo vibes happening here, and I am always all for that. While KB can be a bit sparce as a trio, Mr. Bison always sounds gigantic, with this track being no exception, with once again the vocals standing out. 

The King Buffalo comparison stays real on Fragments, which even sounds like a song name of theirs. The bass work is excellent on this track, and you get a bit of psych with this one too. The Promise continues the path of the entire record, but this is the grandest track of them all on Echoes, as this is heavy not in its chunkiness but in its pure size, as this song is a world eater. 

This track belongs on any respectable song of the year playlist. I especially like the middle that ventures off into space rock territory once again, and don’t worry, this one has the riffs too. I also really dig The Veil, as that heavy, atmospheric prog theme continues, this time incorporating nice dualling guitar action, with both chugging and floating occurring simultaneously. I excepted a long jam to close us out, but Staring At The Sun is a perfect five plus minute closer that incorporates all the goodness of the record and finishes of the trip strong.

If you dig more concise prog with some bits of stoner, psych, and space rock, and if you like your albums to sound huge, the fifth album from Mr. Bison is for you. This is the grandest, most ambitious release of their discography and some of their finest work. Echoes From The Universe is a big title for some gigantic output. 9/10