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Biography

Dave Grohl has voiced his appreciation of heavy metal numerous times over the years, whether it be trying to convince his Nirvana bandmates to have Sepultura open shows on the In Utero tour or playing with the Foo Fighters alongside Slayer, Pantera, and Black Sabbath at Ozzfest 1998 in the U.K.. But he was never so exuberant about his metal fixation until he issued the all-star project Probot in the early 21st century. As a teen growing up in Washington, D.C., during the early '80s, Grohl and a friend became interested in such (then) cult metal bands as Iron Maiden and Motörhead, before discovering a mail order ad for a record service named "End of the Rainbow," which specialized in tracking down the newest releases from the metal underground. Looking for bands that were "fast and heavy," the duo found their gold mine when they heard such classics as Metallica's Kill 'Em All and Mercyful Fate's Melissa. From there, Grohl continued to hunt down further releases from the metal underground, which led to an appreciation for such groups as Trouble and Celtic Frost, even though he was playing in hardcore bands at the time.

Upon leaving Saint Vitus - whose unabashed worship of Black Sabbath helped lay the groundwork for the sludge, stoner, and doom metal mini-movements of the '90s - vocalist/guitarist Scott "Wino" Weinrich re-formed Obsessed, a band he'd founded in Washington, D.C. in the early '80s prior to joining Saint Vitus. Initially including a rhythm section of bassist Mark Laue and drummer Ed Gulli, Obsessed had recorded a live EP back in 1984, but didn't make their full-length debut until 1990's The Obsessed, recorded for the small Hellhound label. Personnel shifts ensued (Melvins drummer Dale Crover passed through the ranks at one time or another); bassist Scott Reeder and drummer Greg Rogers joined for the 1991 follow-up Lunar Womb. Reeder subsequently left the band to join Kyuss, and was replaced by Guy Pinhas, just as Obsessed were landing a major-label deal with Columbia. Although many described it as the group's most focused album, 1994's The Church Within also proved to be their last. Following the breakup, Pinhas and Rogers formed Goatsnake, while Weinrich started up a new outfit first called Shine, then quickly renamed Spirit Caravan. In 1999, Southern issued a collection of outtakes and rarities titled Incarnate, and the following year repackaged The Obsessed together with the original lineup's 1984 EP.

St. Vitus // by Ed Rivadavia

One of the leading American doom metal acts of the '80s (along with Trouble and the Obsessed), Saint Vitus was cursed with public indifference throughout their decade-plus career, which both started and ended in frustrating obscurity. Originally formed as Tyrant in 1979 by vocalist Scott Reagers, guitarist Dave Chandler, bassist Mark Adams, and drummer Armando Acosta, Los Angeles' Saint Vitus was named after a medieval boy saint whose beheading and violent death-throes gave rise to the gruesome expression ("Saint Vitus Dance," also the name of a Black Sabbath song from the Vol. 4 album). Though they couldn't help but be slightly influenced by the SoCal hardcore scene thriving all around them (especially on their early releases), the quartet was a card-carrying disciple of Sabbath's dreary doom metal commandments, specializing in amazingly slow, ponderous power chords and a highly unfashionable biker image. Their eponymous 1984 debut was released by Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn's SST Records, and was followed in quick succession by the Walking Dead EP and Hallow's Victim album the very next year.

Progress was slow, but the band continued to improve despite the departure of vocalist Reagars, thanks to the arrival of former Obsessed frontman and sometime-guitarist Scott "Wino" Weinrich for 1986's Born Too Late - generally regarded as their best effort. The following year's Thirsty and Miserable EP and 1988's Mournful Cries found greater acclaim in Europe than America and marked the end of the group's relationship with SST. New label Hellhound Records released 1989's V as well as a career-spanning live album recorded in Germany a year later. But despite all this hard work, the band seemed incapable of breaking new ground or achieving anything even resembling commercial success. As their disillusionment grew and Wino quit the group to reform the Obsessed, the release of an SST greatest hits set called Heavier Than Thou seemed like the final chapter for Saint Vitus. New singer Christian Lindersson appeared on 1992's half-heartedly recorded C.O.D., and though the original lineup would briefly reconvene for a last hurrah with 1995's Die Healing, no more has been heard of Saint Vitus since.

Spirit Caravan // by Patrick Kennedy

Spirit Caravan's Scott "Wino" Weinrich's guitar tone evinces the slow burning wisdom derived from many decades of hard living and touring in the underground music community. In the wake of the breakup of his previous outfit, Obsessed, due in part to a soured major-label record deal, Wino found himself living in Southern California, burned out and broke. Realizing that drastic changes were certainly in order - legend has it - he picked up his only possession, a Les Paul guitar, and boarded a Greyhound bus back East to his hometown of Washington, D.C., to sort out his life. Whether merely apocryphal or not, the story illustrates Wino's hard-as-nails, driven to the marrow modus operandi regarding the creation of music.

Spirit Caravan began in 1996, playing gigs in the Maryland area initially under the name Shine. Drummer Gary Isom and bass player Dave Sherman rounded out the lineup, both of whom Wino had known for many years. After some coaxing, Wino, who had been deeply embroiled in the thankless task of reassembling both his personal and musical career, became amenable to jamming old Obsessed tunes just for fun. Quite clearly, that blossomed into a full-fledged band. While Spirit Caravan's sound isn't drastically different from the aforementioned Obsessed, who welded the foot-stomping organic qualities of Grand Funk Railroad with no-frills American roots punk like the Dictators, all the while observing Black Sabbath, Spirit Caravan injected a healthy dose of cryptic psychedelia to the mix.

In 1997, the band recorded its first vinyl EP entitled Lost Sun Dance. Shortly after, they were met with a cease and desist order from another outfit using the moniker Shine and re-emerged after some brainstorming as Spirit Caravan. In 1999, the trio issued two recordings, the album Jug Fulla Sun, and the CD-EP Dreamwheel, the former on Fugazi member Joe Lally's Tolotta Records. After extensive U.S. and European touring, the band recorded and released its sophomore effort, Elusive Truth, in 2001.

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A fine plan, but hunting down some of these MIA chaps proved quite difficult — at least before Grohl's pal, former Chavez/Zwan guitarist Matt Sweeney, offered to lend a hand in the "location" department. Soon after, Grohl was receiving confirmations from the likes of Cronos from Venom, Snake from Voivod, Eric Wagner from Trouble, and Wino from Obsessed, as well as such more renowned names as Lemmy and King Diamond (with former Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil supplying some additional riffs to the project). Despite the project getting press coverage from the get-go, it took a few years to finally see the light of day, as record label red tape halted its release (as well as the simple fact that no major labels would commit to backing an album showcasing cult metal singers of the '80s). But Grohl eventually found a taker with the indie doom metal label Southern Lord, which issued the self-titled album (as a CD and double vinyl record) in February of 2003.

Source: http://www.probotmusic.com/disciples/bio.php?id=wino

Artist Forum


Discussion Topic	Creator
Probot (2004) 1. Centuries Of Sin [w/Cronos(Venom)] Survivor - Warrior Prince Psychopath - Making Difference Archangel - Bleed Crimson Skies New Danger - Innocence Lies Falling Calling - The Diabolicol Open Wide The Gates And Yell Screaming Dreaming - The Dark & Damnable But You Just Never Can Tell Feeding Needing - The Undestroyable Roll Up The Show Begins Blinding Grinding - The Undeniable The Centuries Of Sin Supplier - Medical Child Sycophant - Restless And Wild Illusions - A Timeless Place Sadistic - Right In Your Face Expressionless Faces In Silhouette Stance Leading The Way Through The Death Of A Dance Howling In Harmony Hostile In Key Out On The Plains Of Indulgance We Breed Sceams In The Night From A Chrous Of Fear Hiding In Corners The Drunken One Leers Desperate And Down Faking All In Disgrace Now Is The Time To Ask Questions Of Faith The Diabolicol The Dark & Damnable The Undestroyable Centuries of Sin	riff_master

Replys	Listener
2. Red War [w/Max Cavalera(Soulfly, Sepultura)] Red war will fall on my enemies Babylon is full of hipocrisy You feel the hate is for real Cause Red War will fall on my enemies Red War Red War Red War Red War WatchYaBackWatchYaBackWatchYaBack The sign of the cross I carry into war The Kyber Pass where no one rests Hold my head up the Judah Lion Twelve tribes in the mountains of Zion Babylon fall and Red War will come Babylon fall Red War Red War WatchYaBackWatchYaBackWatchYaBack Red War will fall on my enemies	riff_master
3. Shake Your Blood [w/Lemmy(Motorhead)] Looking for relief in your miserable life Need some rock and roll And you beter get it right Got to roll them bones, Do everything they say If you're cool, you're the fool Make it work everyday Rock out, make it quick My, my, my let it rip. Rock out, feeling good Break your heart, shake your blood Out upon the stage, crowd is going wild Love to see them women, babe, I ain't in denial. Make you crazy too. Make you show it out Feeling good, get some wood you knew You should, you knew you could Rock out - do it now. My, my, my - show me how. Rock out - make it good. Break your heart, shake your blood Want to be a winner, want to be the man Want to drive yourself insane, Join up with the band Want to fall in love, want to make your mark Want to get out in the storm, want to break A thousand hearts Rock out - do it now. My, my, my - show me how. Rock out - make it good. Break your heart, shake your blood	riff_master
4. Access Babylon [w/Mike Dean(C.O.C)] We're going out on a limb? Our people are about to disown us now. Incrementally change mentality Speak of values miss the irony What you once shunned Is now what you seek Three hundred sixty And never miss a beat Your people call my people What's this? I'm skeptical Success come knockin' And we're dabbin' See the circles that we travel in Access Babylon, Access Babylon All access, yeah, but not quite Your cast goes left but not allowed right Force field limbo caught in mid strata Funds evaporate so-called-friends scatter Your people call my people What's this? I'm skeptical Success come knockin' And we're dabbin'	riff_master
5. Silent Spring [w/Kurt Brecht(D.R.I)] They ravaged the land And polluted the seas They burned all the forests Or cut down the trees They damaged up the rivers And paved all the shores Built Parking lots And discount Stores Then they started to die But not fast enough So, they shot at each other With bullets and stuff Chalk it all up to human greed As seen on your TV So much cruelty and madness In these days of despair That's not the way that I am, No That's not the way that I am As the eath gets sicker and sicker A solider aims and pulls the trigger Angels cry and demons laugh Another suicide bomb blood bath Silent Spring - No Birds Sing Angels Cry - We all die Mother Earth wept As they tore off her dress Heart broken, humiliated In a state of distress They ripped out her hair And they scratched at her skin Drained her of fluids Then committed their sin They gouged out her eyes And cauterized her womb They sealed up her mouth And made her a tomb Now she lies still At the mercy of man I whisper in her ear "That's not the way that I am" No, that's not the way that I am No, that's not the way that I am No, that's not the way that I am!	riff_master
6. Ice Cold Man [w/Lee Dorian(Cathedral, Napalm Death)] Vampires of this earth hungry dying of thirst Lifeblood in short supply Black skies red watching eye Burning into demise, As all light slowly dies Seeds of man's decay have Grown to take away The sacred gift of life Mother nature cries as Darkness fills her eyes Yes we are blind, too blind to see Our tombstone to destiny Ice Cold man watches earth die Eternal winter takes its reign Devoid of light filled with pain Ice Cold man watches earth die Bleak the atmosphere freezing warmest tears The earth a ball of ice Bodies frozen cold glacier heart and soul All warmth has long since died In his arctic hearse man rides death universe For one final time through black frosted sun Into oblivion Ice Cold man watches earth die Eternal winter takes it's reign Devoid of light filled with pain Ice Cold man watches the earth die Beneath a veil of black ice He sees now hell once paradise Ice Cold man watches eath die All love lost - lost without a trace Behind his - frozen empty face Defunct eyes - cold as arctic ice Ice Cold man - pays the final price Ice Cold man - watched the earth die Ice Cold man... Ice Cold man... In his arctic hearse man rides death universe One final time through black frosted sun Into oblivion Ice Cold man watched his earth die...	riff_master
7. The Emerald Law [w/Wino(The Hidden Hand, Place of Skulls, The Obsessed)] I do not die, but awaken from the dream I lived As above? so below, be revealed, the truth be known Questions, pieces strewn shrouded answers hewn With love so grow, beneath his paws the tablets glow Behold the falcon surveys the horizon Great scribe let us see, your runes of mystery Serpent shares your name, the keeper of the emerald flames Prevail the law of three, the goddess guides humanity He weighs your heart a life pure a life false And they learn the sword deceived by false words And so their greed and their lies cause them to be blind And so become, the falcon And so become, the falcon And now the souls they swing Swirl in the cosmic ring Creations spark it has no time Rejoin the realm divine Enthroned true one he sails into the sun Falcon at the helm glides through the netherrealm Be shown unseal the laws have been concealed Earthly majesty tables of destiny Bloodline blood trail The truth becomes the grail So far so near cloked in the mists of fear Aboce below what's hidden will be shown Divine majesty true scrolls of destiny What's concealed will be revealed Those you see will be recieved The law of three, humanity The law of one, INTO THE SUN	riff_master
8. Big Sky [w/Tom G. Warrior(Apollyon Sun, Celtic Frost)] My world has died All gusts and leaves Your wondrous life And love have ceased And all you've touched Is dead and gone And night for night We're both alone Big sky throning over the tree You've left behind Through these tears lost By your forlom only child Big sky throning over the tree You've left behind It hurts iside This silence new And yet I know This wind is you And all you've touched Is dead and gone And night for night We're both alone Big sky endless in your own overwhelming pain Free at last into the light behind this eternal rain Big sky endless in your overwhelming pain You'll never pale You're never gone And all within I'm not alone Big Sky	riff_master
9. Dictatorsaurus [w/Snake(Voivod)] All Set Systems On And Ready Move Forward Level Reads Ok Click, Drive Prepare To Break Away One Target Today is D-Day! Soaked In Lies And Fears After All These Years When The Sun Will Rise The Monster's Gonna Die From Now On, Things Are Gonna Change Coz We Know Why And How Who You Really Are From Now On, Things Won't Be The Same Coz We Know What You're Doing And We Know Where You're hiding We Know Everything Next Step Engage All Procedures code, Enter Signal Loud And Clear Star-Shell Sparkling High In The Sky All Together We'll Make This Dream Come True Raised In Blood And Tears After All These Years As The Sun Goes Down A New World Comes Along	riff_master
10. My Tortured Soul [w/Eric Wagner(Trouble)] There are times when the road gets dark Seem to have lost my way Sophisticated abuse of reason Day after day Oh no please come for me For me and my tortured soul Haunted by ill angels only I'm so very pained to say Secrets of mind change reality Are the things they said soul Oh no please come for me For me and my tortured soul Words could never explain I know it might sound strange But I wish it would rain	riff_master
11. Sweet Dreams [w/King Diamond(Mercyful Fate)] Let me into your sweet dreams Let me in Let me into you sweet dreams I'm watching you, go to sleep I'm watching you but you cant see me Dream on, sweet dreams Dream on, Let me into your sweet dreams I am the pain in your brain when you dream I am the tears you cry, when your asleep I'm the slimy Demon hanging on your wall Touching you, watching you dream of me falling on you Let me in Let me into your dreams Let me in Let me in Let me in Let me in Let me into your sweet dreams I'm clawing at your skin, you gotta let me in You'll never know my friend Why I've come to steal your soul Oh yeah! But your soul has turned gold [solo] Keep on dreaming as I feed on your soul Keep on dreaming as your soul it turns to gold Let me in Let me into your sweet dreams Let me in, let me in, let me in...into your dreams Let me in, let me in, let me in...Sweet Dreams I need your soul I need your soul to pay my way out of here Let me in! Let me into your dreams...sweet dreams I'm burning up, you gotta let me in I'm burning up, let me into your soul You gotta get me out of this fire, I'm burning up Get me out Get me out Get me out Of Hell	riff_master