Marshall Law

“…these chains of hate don’t scare you…”

Obsession is a Connecticut five-piece that have survived in metal’s annals as a more or less outta sight-outta mind act despite albums coming and going even up to last year. Reasons why will come out in their later works’ future reviews, but the precursors to it are in these four tracks of stylishly traditional Armored Saint and Witchkiller who wear shoes capable of handling a short dash of speed metal.

As soon as Marshall Law shows its badge in metal’s still kinda dusty saloon, it adds to ‘83’s growing speed metal quotient with “Only the Strong Survive”, a slightly more black hat style of metal that was fairly quickly coming into its own only to be forcibly pushed aside within a year by the thornier thrash movement. So instead of moseying in menacingly, the ep overtakes the room nicely with the track’s immediate authority and straight-armed catchiness.

While I can commend these guys on the ep’s song placement, I can’t really fire as many shots in the air for “Hate Unto Death”, a seven minute ‘epic’ that does the below mid-paced mosey throughout its entirety and I’m thinking it’s for the sake of its wordy yet opaque story, however the rounds that do go off signify some pretty electrified solos via Bruce Vitale and Art Mago and a mildly doom-thundered passage or two. I bring up song placement because this portly track existing anywhere else on the disc would’ve thrown off its balance, even for something as low to the ground as an ep.

Up-tempo “The Execution” is one of those coolly-controlled mavericks that, while for the most part is still a law-abiding citizen, isn’t above pissing on the side of the bar in broad daylight with a double shot in its free hand (in a dirty glass, of course). More over, lyrically and musically it slurs a more interesting tale than “Hatred Unto Death” and is probably the best shot in this ep’s west. Either that or it’s twenty paces at high noon for this and “Only the Strong Survive”.

“Marshall Law” is yer fast/slow splitter down the middle, the neutral, everyday guy seated at the center of the bar sippin’ sarsaparilla with not much to do and nuthin’ to hide (and incidentally not much new to show anyone), and wears the safer, more conservative material that has been metal’s customer base since practically the first wagon train rolled up.

Though Marshall Law is totally in step with ‘83’s stylistic timeline, it wouldn’t help Obsession much as they seemingly hitched a ride on a really slow wagon train that took its sweet time getting to their follow-up in ’86, and oh had the times changed by then.

Comes with an inner lyric sleeve with the crew being corny on the flip side, photographed by bassist Matt Karagus’ wife/sister/daughter/same last name, Cindy, who also took the back cover shots, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if his daughter painted the front in art class.

“…to all the obsessed headbangers throughout the world…bang ‘em till they bleed…”

When you go hunting for old metal releases there’s always something comforting about buying music by American artists, there just seems to be an inherent quality that’s pretty much guaranteed. So I didn’t think twice about snapping up this CD when I found it on amazon a few years back. Up until then I’d never heard any Obsession, but I’d remembered the album cover from old magazines and the inside sleeves of Noise vinyls. In a way it was quite good to come to this E.P. first because I’ve never really connected to the following albums in the same way and I think if I hadn’t have heard this one first I might not have taken the opportunity when it presented itself.

I must commend Metal Blade for this re-issue, there’s no bonus material or any ropey live tracks, they’ve simply released it on CD exactly as it would have been had there been CD’s in 1983. And that’s just how I like it. Of course some might bristle at the idea of paying out for a mere four tracks, but if you do take the plunge you will find a small but perfectly formed collection of classic early 80’s U.S. metal.

As a showcase for Obsession’s talents, this E.P. would have worked well back in 1983, as it contains a good mixture of tunes. There’s the slow, slightly doomy ‘Hatred Unto Death’, the speedy ‘Execution’ and book-ending those two are the mid-paced chuggers ‘Only the Strong Will Survive’ and the excellent closer ‘Marshall Law’. I must say of the four tracks on offer here ‘Marshall Law’ is far and away my personal favourite, but all four are strong enough to justify their inclusion and are well worth your attention.

If you still haven’t decided that you need this E.P., there’s one more excellent reason to buy it…the incredibly cheesy band shot on the inside cover, worth the price on it’s own!

Okay, what we have here is a nice EP. Only four songs, but all four are good, so why argue?

"Only the Strong Will Survive" is the best known song on the album. It's a typical early '80s speed metal song. "Hatred Unto Death" is the mid-paced song that all speed metal albums have. The solo set in the middle of this song is very, very well done. Great solo and good song overall.

The best song on the album would have to be "Execution". A great lead riff carries the song and has a good chorus. The leads are also great. The EP comes to a finish after only four songs, finishing with the title track which is another nice speed metal song.

This album is pretty hard to find. Both of Obsession's full lengths were reissued a few years ago and they should have put this EP at the end of one of them. A very impressive EP that's worth your time most definitely.

If you've never heard Obsession, then you are missing out. For the most part this band was one of those 80's Metal Blade bands. Taking on a similar Judas Priest power pack -fronting two lead guitarists, a drummer, bass guitar, and a singer. Guitar wise the music is similar to Judas Priest, but not the singing.

The singer of Obsession happens to be Mike Vescera, who sang for Malmsteen and helped the Japanese metal band Loudness hit the scene in America. The singing is pretty good; heading more for a mid-ranged performance with some high pitched screams here and there. The singing reminds me a lot of Dokken, especially when the back-up vocals come in (see the song Hatred Unto Death).

The drumming is decent and the bass even gets some pretty cool, hearable licks. However, what tops this sound off is the duel lead guitars of Art Maco and Bruce Vitale. I guarantee there is at least three good riffs in each song. The lead guitars are spectacular, tending to sound like Judas Priest during the Defenders Era. Some of the solos are even harmonized, which I imagine would be hard to do when the solos are being played at break neck speed. There are a lot of solos on this EP. In fact the song Execution has a solo after most of the verses. To some this may seem repetitive and boring, but when the solos are played wonderfully it really doesn't matter how many there are.

I am very impressed with this band. Imagine mixing Dokken with Judas Priest! The guitars throw this music up on the line. But everything else is good too. I am hopping this EP is just a show of what this band sounds like. Because this is how heavy metal should be played. Recommend to every metal head.