The Obsessed / Psychlona / Iron Void @ The Star & Garter, Manchester, 21st October 2025

A quick conversation with The Shaman on Monday afternoon led to a Tuesday night visit to my favourite venue in Manchester, The Star & Garter, to see a band I’d rather unashamedly never seen live before that was hosted by Tapestry Promotions.

The Obsessed are doom metal royalty, and the last time I saw legendary frontman Scott ‘Wino’ Weinrich in this venue was as part of his solo acoustic tour back in 2010, and I vividly remember him walking off stage and down the stairs whilst playing his guitar. But now, fifteen years later, he was back touring their classic 1994 album The Church Within to an expectant audience.

Across Europe, they had been joined by Bradford’s highly regarded Psychlona, who were finishing their run tonight, and before them, we had another Yorkshire band, Iron Void. I saw the trio in Chester last year at the inaugural North West Doom Fest, and they were fun to watch. They bring a no-frills doom metal mentality with Jonathan ‘Sealey’ Seale on vocals and bass. There’s a slow, lumbering beginning to Spell Of Ruinbegins their set before that nice guitar sound appears, which gets the fists pumping.

‘Is it a bit loud for a Tuesday night?’ asks Sealey as they launch into The Answer Unknown and he comments further with it being ‘a dream come true to play with these guys’ as they hit their stride with Living On The Earth. I really enjoyed this song as it’s got great rhythm and tempo and the trio are certainly getting people’s attention. They dedicate Final Resting Place to the recently departed Ace Frehley and have a quick tune-up before they end with the excellent The Devil’s Daughter. A short but very sweet set from the Wakefield lads and I look forward to seeing them again.

I saw Psychlona earlier in the year supporting Slomosa, and I was genuinely impressed by their take on the psych/stoner genre, so I was excited to see them again. Last time, they admitted they were a bit rusty, but tonight they were slick and accomplished from start to finish. They have a slow build-up leading into Let’s Go before their sound explodes. That bass sound from Ian ‘Izak’ Buxton is something I’ll never get tired of listening to, and without pausing, they head straight into Jasmine, which has a distinctive guitar sound from Phil Hey and Martin Wiseman, as they enjoy a bit of riff-off between themselves.

My favourite song was next, Down In The Valley, as for me it’s where four singular units are combined in total harmony, as it all clicks into place. It flowed effortlessly, especially after seventeen gigs in three weeks, with the solos sounding sweet. ‘We are Psychlona from Bradford, don’t hold it against us’ jokes Hey, ‘this is Topanga’as the heavy starts to hit.

They have their own unique sound – trippy and hypnotic, raucous and mellow, with a rhythm section that is seamless. Blast Off is another brilliant example of this, demonstrating their excellence. They take the crowd on a bit of a ride with Purple River as it brings a different vibe to proceedings before they dedicate the finale to The Obsessed and bow out with Magic Carpet, a song that has elements of shoegaze, which gets the crowd swaying along before that heavier sound comes along to finish you off.

As The Obsessed make their way onto the stage, the venue is busier than I remember it being for quite some time, and the crowd are cheering. ‘Thanks again, it’s great to be back in Manchester. Thirty-one years ago, this was released, so here we go’ declares Wino, before the band launches into To Protect And To Servethat is a pure joy to witness live with its huge sound.

I couldn’t always understand exactly what Wino was saying in between songs, but when in full flow, they are a magnificent sight to behold. After a few sound level changes, Streamlined is followed by Blind Lightning that quintessential doom heaviness seeping out of each note played by bassist Chris Angleberger, drummer Bob Pantella and guitarist Jason Taylor, with the solos being as good as you’ll hear this or any other decade.

‘It’s wild for a Tuesday night’ says a smiling Wino as they tear into my favourite track on the album, Neatz Brigade, with the huge crescendo of noise ahead of the slow, eeriness. Heads are banging, fists are shaking, horns are high in the air, and that was just me! It’s an epic aural assault that is definitely better than I imagined. With the drums getting a good pounding, A World Apart shakes the upstairs room as the band ooze class.

‘Y’all are rowdy tonight, this a song about having fun and getting high’ as they undertake Streetside before the heavy controlled chaos that was Decimation. With the muffled vocal that left both The Shaman and I shaking our heads and shrugging our shoulders about what had been said, Field Of Hours was either a love song or a drug song. Either way, it is a damn fine song and sounded stunning.

With them playing The Church Within album, it allows you to cast your mind back to those heady days of 1994 when it was released and embark on a short memory trip. Skybone and Touch Of Everything are fundamental to the performance, as they are solid songs that need to be heard. After a quick guitar change, Wino ask if ‘Y’all are having fun?’ as the dreamy mid-section from Climate Of Despair reverberates around the tiny, packed venue.

The crowd barely has time to recover before being cast under their hypnotic spell with Mourning as Wino mentions that ‘you won’t find a nicer bunch of guys than Psychlona’ before erupting into Hiding Mask from Lunar Womb. There’s another quick guitar change ahead of Sacred, and then we are treated to the big booming slab of doom that is Brother Blue Steel as raucous cheers greet its ending.

With repetitive shouts of ‘Wino, Wino, Wino’ ringing out, the quartet re-appears for a two-song encore consisting of the sensational Stoned Back To The Bomb Age and the simply brilliant Spirit Caravan number Lost Sun Dance. The final words rest with Wino, ‘Thanks for making us feel so welcome’ as we all head home smiling and happy, having witnessed greatness.

The Obsessed

Psychlona

Iron Void

Scribed by: Matthew Williams
Photos by: Lee Edwards