OBSESSION (Mike Vescera) – Order Of Chaos (2012)
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There was an American band in the ’80s called OBSESSION that featured a singer who would later go on to front the legendary Japanese metal band Loudness, named Mike Vescera.
Vescera achieved international fame as vocalist for Yngwie Malmsteen and has played with other acts like Roland Grapow, Dr. Sin, Animetal and even his own band MVP, all of which are some of the best metal music you could ask for, yet Obsession was always his first love.
Obsession returned in 2004 with a new album, and other released only in Japan two years after. Now with their new CD “Order Of Chaos” are ready to conquer the world.
Despite the fact the line-up is totally different from the classic version (Vescera is the only remaining original member), the music is just as good as their eighties albums.
Of course Mike is the star here, but the band is terrific and the songs impactful.
Heavy, soaring riffs, anthemic choruses and an excellent balance of melody is which set Obsession’s sound apart from other bands in the genre.
“Order Of Chaos” remains faithful to their classic ’80s sound, this is metal but not nonsense, nor ordinary. The songs are fresh and hold up nicely compared to what’s going on in the scene these days.
Tracks like “Twist Of The Knife”, “Cold Day in Hell” or “Order of Chaos” are really heavy burners with screaming guitars, double bass drums and hot vocals. Solid stuff.
Obsession goes more melodic, very close to traditional hard rock in the great “When The Smoke Clears”, the midtempo “Wages Of Sin” and the groovy “Dark Shadows”.
“Order Of Chaos” is a heavy melodious metal release all the way overflowing with great vocals and music.
But the disc doesn’t only feature a killer powerhouse vocalist, the new line-up delivers a tight and solid background with a potent dual guitar onslaught that gets ample input, a hard driving bass player and a monster drummer in BJ Zampa (Yngwie, House Of Lords) giving Obsession’s music plenty of excitement and power.
Sometimes a classic band will go away and come back sounding so unlike what they were before that it’s disappointing. Others return only to be a carbon copy of their past with nothing exciting to write home about.
A band like Obsession are able to maintain the sound and feel that made them so killer back in the day without being stale.
“Order Of Chaos” is a rockin’, vigorous proof.
01 – Order of Chaos
02 – Twist of the Knife
03 – Forbidden Desire
04 – When the Smoke Clears
05 – License to Kill
06 – Wages of Sin
07 – Cold Day in Hell
08 – Act of God
09 – Mercy Killing
10 – Dark Shadows
Michael Vescera [ex Loudness, Yngwie Malmsteen] – Vocals
Scott Boland [MVP] – Guitars
John Bruno [X Factor X] – Guitars
Chris McCarvill [House Of Lords] – Bass
BJ Zampa [House of Lords] – Drums
Pre-Order Here:
hmv.com/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?sku=970427
