As a member of both St Vitus and The Obsessed (playing on bona fide classic albums like Born Too Late, The Obsessed and Lunar Womb) as well as making music with everyone from Spirit Caravan and The Hidden Hand to Shrinebuilder), Scott ’Wino’ Weinrich has cemented his place in doom, and heavy music folklore. Never one to rest on his laurels though, Wino is constantly making music and alongside a reunited The Obsessed, his solo material is making all the right waves, and gives him another outlet for his music.
Enter Create Or Die, his latest solo album and it is a bluesy, folky, hard rocking collection of songs with Wino’s signature hard worn vocals taking centre stage and it has to be said, there’s still no one who can sing like Wino, as he proves this here without a shadow of a doubt.
From the opening blues laden strains of ‘Anhedonia’, Wino is on fine form as he pours out his hear and the quality continues prodigiously as the album flows. It is not just his vocals that are on fine form, his guitar playing is as immaculate as ever, especially on the folky storytelling of ‘New Terms’.
This is nothing but an eclectic album as the rocking ‘Carolina Fox’ and the hazy and laid back but forlorn ‘Never Said Goodbye’ prove and Create Or Die demonstrates the range of the music of Wino perfectly, and it just feels comforting as he sings, like an old storytelling friend regaling you with tales of his life.
‘Hopeful Defiance’ and ‘Us Or Them’ offer further soul searching and emotional drive to the album, and show a more vulnerable side to Wino, as does the minimalist strum of ‘Cold And Wrong’ and show the dexterity and scope of Wino, and where his music takes him.
Create Or Die finishes off on much the same level, on a personal and passionate note with the mournful ‘Lost Souls Fly’, the country tinged ‘Bury Me In Texas’ and the closing soul bearing ‘Noble Man’ all demonstrating what an honest songwriter and artist, Wino is and how he puts his heart on the line for his music with an impressive ease.
With a career as storied as Wino’s, it is a fine thing that not only is he still making music, thus far into his career, but making such vital music in tandem, and Create Or Die (surely a tribute to how Wino cannot stop doing what he does) is testament to the resilience of one of the greats of our time.
