Shop - Obsexed – The Wedding (IC031)

Within the pessimism caused by the harsh stage of confinement, there were people who knew how to take advantage of isolation to reinvest themselves and expand artistically. Marco Scarabel took advantage of this grim experience, he used his free time to record sound material for the first time and to devise a future project; Obsexed emerged as a consequence of the pandemic, of Marco’s loneliness, however, and instantly, Angelo Casarrubia joined as the second member of the band. Angelo Casarrubia and Marco Scarabel shared a past, both having played together in other bands, first with Buzz Aldrin and then Bromance.

Obsexed unveiled a part of their true personality at the end of November with a first self-released release. Two years later they show a fully developed facet with The Wedding, an album that demonstrates the solidity and maturity of a band joined by Giuseppe Taibi as the third member.

Anymawy Stars, the opening track of The Wedding, places you from the very first bars on a stage with a certain corrosion and sound wear and tear, due to the harshness of the guitar background, raw percussion and Marco Scarabel’s voice, which is perfectly camouflaged in this environment. However, nothing is what it seems, and both the harmonic conjugation and the additional backing vocals and the positive sense of the lyrics manage to lead the track towards another, more affable reality.

Chasing Shadows delves into the leafy terrain of dark wave with dynamic rhythmic patterns, a dominant mix of guitars and a background vocal optimised to create the desired distant, melancholic effect. Obsexed manages to put the listener in context with the situation of grief and sorrow caused by the loss of someone very close.

The Wedding, the title of the album, starts from the agitation of a dissonant string chord that gradually gives way for a short time to the security and confidence of a rhythmic structure generated by the movement of the bass and drums. Obsexed conveys equal parts uncertainty and reliability in the face of life’s compromise.

Paradoxically, the dynamic of the album in terms of style and sound varies with The Unread Books. While the band uses this title metaphorically to describe broken relationships, it also makes use of different sound resource to distance itself from the rest of the tracks, as we first encounter more synthetic drums and then an arpeggio that accompanies it to the end, however, the track is not devoid of Obsexed’s personal signature.

The beginning of Stereotypia denotes an involuntary mental coercion caused by an obsessive pattern, a line built from an extreme tremolo of what seems to be a guitar riff that is maintained throughout the track. This sound source remains latent but ever-present, masked by a perfectly orchestrated dark wave, evidence, if extrapolated to real life, that any anomalous and compulsive behaviour can be continuously present in any human being.

Unknown Spaces sonorously captures Obsexed’s idea of staging the uncertainty and insecurity that may be generated in the future by the immigration of westerners to unknown lands. Minor chords, a decadent and weakened rhythm, some very expressive riffs and above all, an extraordinary performance by the vocalist, who manages to place the listener in such a situation with the lyrics and the tone of his voice.

Trouble June On The Unfit Church, seventh and last cut of the album, reminds us of a strange mixture, although very favoured, between two bands like Bauhaus and The Cramps. The hypnotism created by the rhythm, the voice and the guitar plucks, induce the listener to a state of unconsciousness, in which existential reality loses its human condition.