Upon leaving
Saint Vitus -- whose unabashed worship of
Black Sabbath helped lay the groundwork for the sludge, stoner, and doom metal mini-movements of the '90s -- vocalist/guitarist
Scott "Wino" Weinrich re-formed
the Obsessed, a band he'd founded in Washington, D.C., in the early '80s prior to joining
Saint Vitus. Initially including a rhythm section of bassist Mark Laue and drummer Ed Gulli,
the Obsessed had recorded a live EP back in 1984, but didn't make their full-length debut until 1990's
The Obsessed, recorded for the small Hellhound label.
Personnel shifts ensued (
Melvins drummer
Dale Crover passed through the ranks at one time or another): bassist
Scott Reeder and drummer Greg Rogers joined for the 1991 follow-up Lunar Womb.
Reeder subsequently left the band to join
Kyuss, and was replaced by Guy Pinhas, just as
the Obsessed were landing a major-label deal with
Columbia. Although many described it as the group's most focused album, 1994's
The Church Within also proved to be their last. Following the breakup, Pinhas and Rogers formed
Goatsnake, while
Weinrich started up a new outfit first called Shine, then quickly renamed
Spirit Caravan. In 1999, Southern Lord issued a collection of outtakes and rarities titled Incarnate, and the following year repackaged
The Obsessed together with the original lineup's 1984 EP.
After pursuing a number of projects in the new millennium -- including reuniting with
Saint Vitus and appearing on
Dave Grohl's all-star metal project Probot --
Scott "Wino" Weinrich announced in 2012 that he was reuniting the
Church Within lineup of
the Obsessed to play a handful of festival dates. In 2016,
Weinrich declared he was re-forming
the Obsessed as a going concern, although with a new lineup that featured
Wino on vocals and guitar, Dave Sherman on bass, and Brian Costantino on drums. The new edition of
the Obsessed signed a deal with independent metal label Relapse Records, and they released Sacred, their first full-length studio effort in 23 years, in April 2017. ~ Steve Huey