Brand new, sealed. Officially released on HIGH ROLLER RECORDS from GERMANY.
OBSESSION - Methods of Madness LP
Mike Vescera - vocals
Bruce Vitale - lead guitar
Art Maco - lead guitar
Jay Mezias - drums
01 Four Play
02 Hard to the Core
03 High Treason
04 For the Love of Money
05 Killer Elite
06 Desperate to Survive
07 Methods of Madness
08 Too Wild to Tame
09 Always on the Run
10 Panic in the Streets
AVAILABLE
Mastered for vinyl by Patrick W. Engel at TEMPLE OF DISHARMONY in December 2022.
American metal band Obsession formed in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1981, initially playing covers by the Tygers Of Pan Tang, Angel Witch, MSG, Accept as well as The Scorpions, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. It took the band two years to ink a deal with Metal Blade Records and come up with their debut 12” EP »Marshall Law«. The line-up on this legendary piece of US Metal vinyl (bearing the catalogue number MBR 1010) consisted of Matt Karagus (bass), Jay Mezias (drums), Art Maco (guitar), Bruce Vitale (guitar) and Mike Vescera (vocals).
»Marshall Law« was very well-received in the US (selling way over 15,000 copies). To promote the record, apart from playing extensively in the New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Massachusetts area, Obsession toured quite a bit on the East Coast of the US, mainly the Northeast all the way down to North Carolina, before dedicating more time to the songwriting of their first full-length album.
Following »Marshall Law«, Obsession changed management and label. In the end Enigma Records released the band’s first full-length album »Scarred For Life« after a long delay in July 1986.
“After »Scarred For Life« came out, we began playing quite a few live shows and writing new material,” explains Obsession’s vocalist Mike Vescera. He continues: “By the time we were ready to go back in to record »Methods Of Madness«, we had really found our identity as a band. Once again, we had Brian Kane on board as co-producer and the recording studio was Audio West in West Haven, Connecticut. This studio became a second home to us. Bill Burke and Joe Mendyk were again the engineers.”
Comparing the band’s first two albums, Mike resumes: “I think »Methods Of Madness« was the better record. We were finding ourselves as musicians and understanding the recording process much better. Technically it was a better album as well.”
Stylistically, »Methods Of Madness« was once again a mixture of uncompromising uptempo songs like “Killer Elite” and “Panic In The Streets” and more melodic, commercial sounding tunes in the vein of “Too Wild To Tame” or “Desperate To Survive”. “I believe it is a mixture ob both styles,” agrees singer Mike Vescera, “we were really coming together as a band, really tight and understanding what each of us was capable of. We loved the heavier stuff, but also wanted to have songs that could cross over and bring us to a whole other level. We were huge fans of Judas Priest. All the dual harmony guitars etc. I think influences from Priest, Scorpions, Accept and Maiden all became part of the Obsession style. The »Methods Of Madness« album really put us on the ‘metal map’ and our popularity grew immensely from it. Music from »Methods Of Madness« was used in quite a few movies as well.”
The song “For The Love Of Money” was issued as a single and video, and this is how it all came about: “When the label needed a single to promote, everyone felt that ‘For The Love Of Money’ would be the best option. They needed something that could cross over to MTV(Headbanger’s Ball), and ‘Money’ was decided on. It did quite well for us and had some good amount of plays on MTV which did quite a bit for us in popularity. The video was filmed in NYC under the Brooklyn Bridge which was quite the experience!”
There were two bonus songs which didn’t make it onto the proper album: “Missing You” and the ballad “Waiting For Your Call”. With hindsight, was it the right decision to leave these two numbers off »Methods Of Madness«? “Yes, it was,” is Mike Vescera’s straight answer. “These two songs were recorded after »Methods Of Madness« as demos anyway. We were getting pressured to release a bit more commercial music. The music here in the States was leaning to more towards ‘pop’ metal, and this was our attempt at it.”
Once again there weren’t any line-up changes for »Methods Of Madness«, the chemistry and camaraderie within the band seemed to have been pretty good, which was indeed the case according to the singer: “Obsession was a really close group of guys. Not only were we a band, we also liked to hang out with each other. We were really more like a family at the time. We believed we would be together rocking forever.”
What changed, however, was the band’s dress code. Leather and studs made way for high hair and spandex – a sign of the times? “Yes, a sign of the times,”confirms Mike Vescera. “It was a bit crazy in those days with everyone (management, labels etc.) having an opinion on what the band should be (look like, sound like). We really preferred the heavier look, but things were moving in this direction, so unfortunately we were forced to go along.”
“Everything fell apart quite quickly after »Methods Of Madness«,” continues Mike. “A few personal issues within the band led to a huge falling out. In the end it was only Bruce Vitale and myself left in the band and trying to continue. We were also having issues with management, which didn't help matters. We were in discussions with Graham Bath and Steve Hopgood from Paul DiAnno’s Battle zone to become new members of Obsession. We had toured the USA/Canada with them, became quite good friends and felt they would be a great addition to the band. We already had a new bass player from NY named Scott Novello, great player. Unfortunately, this would never materialize. We did have a three album deal with Enigma, but with so much going on in our camp, things were getting a bit out of control. I’m not really sure what happened, to be honest. I just know that things were a mess. We did demo a bunch of new stuff, mostly on our own. I've tried to track some of it down, but nothing as of yet. It's difficult with all the different formats of recording etc. I was also starting to get offers from other popular bands throughout the world at the time, which made things even more complicated.”
In the end, Mike accepted one of these offers, which marked the end of Obsession (at least for the time being): “I had been getting a lot of interest from other bands, labels etc., quite a few offers. When Loudness contacted me, I was blown away that they were interested in me being their new lead singer. I had listened to Loudness for some years and been a huge fan. Obsession was pretty much finished by this time, so I agreed to meet with the guys in Tokyo and see how we got along. Everything went extremely well, and they asked me to join the Loudness camp!”
MATTHIAS MADER
Just listening to the intro that screams loud and proud 'I love Judas Priest', you know that you've got another thing coming with this album. And then it hits, like a laser bullet "Hard To The Core" kicks in and its like, "holy fuck...". The riffs are a thrashy/speed/power metal- sounding killer package that alone unto themselves pummel you down and strip your mind. Hard-hitting and full of intensity. Not to mention you get your first taste of some of the killer solos on this album and the sheer vocal virtuoso that is the voice of Mike Vescera.
The lyrics on this album rule also. To put it simply, they're '80s-stylized awesomeness that are quite creative and for the most part easily sing-a-long-able. Take "For The Love Of Money"; it's just very original and laid out perfectly with the tunes. You can't expect more from a band like this. They're slightly cheesy, in the over-the-top way, but just define what the band was about and put out a kick ass image.
"High Treason" comes in as hard as the first song burns out with a Priest-influenced riff and then goes straight into the verse riff. Very thrashy tune, with a lot of power metal-ish moments. Listen for some hands-down flawless soloing at the first vocal break. The vocals hold there own and leave you wanting more.
"For The Love Of Money" may be the best song on here. Opens with a clean guitar riff and some nice accents over it, then leads straight into some tight attacks and just warms you up to the killer instinct that awaits. The main riff has a cool thrashy and faster mid-paced feel that you surely must bang your head to (it's a classic fucking riff). The guitar patterns flow perfectly from one riff to the next and the overall song is pretty damn flawless. Mike Vescera's voice really shines here too and the lyrical patterns are great. His vocals are very unique and brandish that uber high-end wail that is surely long lost, and this track alone really gives him a good platform for showing his better-than-most-singers vocal abilities.
"Killer Elite" is a good, strong track that's maybe not as memorable as the last one, but put in proper context, few songs are. Very catchy, total power metal, and full of vocal awesomeness. The guitar work on this song is very interesting and showcases how much the guitarist rules. Overall, an awesome song that gives way to the next track, which is just nothing short of greatness in itself.
"Desperate To Survive", a classic '80s-styled balled-esque track, is powerful stuff. From the opening leads onward it's like whoa (ever see the movie "Trick Or Treat"? Think "whoa" like that little girl who's given all the candy), and these guys kick more ass then most bands ever could. "I refuse to accept my fate, and not believe there's no escape, desperate to survive!" -the lyrics rule, although are slightly cheesy, but killer nonetheless. The vocals are harmonized and laid out perfectly with the rhythm. If this was a single with this being the b-side to "For The Love Of Money", I'd still say this album was better than most anything (not everything) else the came out in 1987. If you're a sucker for great metal ballads, then this is one reason this album is mandatory.
The title track opens with some odd sound effects and then goes into the band's thrash-as- fuck speed metal style with Mike's voice leading the way through the patterns. One of the heavier tracks on here and probably should have come with a warning "may induce head trauma" 'cause you'll thrash until it ends. It cant get better than this.
"Too Wild To Tame" is one rockin' song. Very '80s metalized rock...can we say Priest? And actually Mike's voice kinda sounds a bit Halford-ish at some points in his annunciation or something. The solos rule on this one, but I guess that's the umpteenth time said. This one's way too wild to tame. Not the best song on here, but still kick ass.
"Always On The Run" opens with the chorus riff (like a few others, I might add) which is a very original riff that's hard to describe and has a rockin' vibe, but also some arpeggiated thrashiness. The main riffs just pound your skull in, especially the stand-out bass line. Awesome song that's again not the best on here, but it has a lot of killer instinct to compete with, so you gotta consider that. Vocals rule, but the lyrics are a little less than inspiring.
With "Panic In The Streets", Judas be my guide might be the band's mantra on this one. Very catchy, power metal-ish, rockin,... just a hard hittin' joyride through the "Panic In The Streets". Some cool vocal harmonies and probably more inspiring of an overall song than the last two. The leads really shine near the end as the solos on here are phenomenal. I'd go so far as to say this is one stellar fuckin' thrashin' track (just to put it into its contemporary context).
Overall, I'd say this band gave more variety in style and sound than a lot, not that there isn't some repetitiveness throughout, but you must keep continuity to have greatness. I'd also say that this is definitely one of those must-have albums for '80s fans, although it's on the cheesier side.
The cd version is cool, but I thought the cover could have been better (what the fuck is with those stupid grey bars? Bad idea, guys) and the sound quality was improved a bit, though if you're gonna buy this, don't think that the vinyl isn't better (and the bonus tracks really aren't that great either and actually kinda remind me of some cheesy early Savatage stuff. Cool, but not great). So get this album if you like '80s metal.