Band:	Wino
Album:	Adrift
Style:	Doom metal, Stoner metal
Release date:	October 2010

01. Adrift
02. I Don't Care
03. Hold On Love
04. Mala Suerte
05. Old And Alone
06. Iron Horse/Born To Lose [Motörhead cover]
07. Suzanes Song
08. D-Bear
09. Whatever
10. Shot In The Head
11. O.B.E.
12. Green Speed

Scott "Wino" Weinrich's newest album, Adrift, from his newest project, Wino, is about as brass tacks as an album can get: Cue up the acoustic guitar. Cue up the mic. Prepare synths and amps, but use them sparingly. Hit record.

Weinrich (of Saint Vitus and The Obsessed) took a risk when recording this. But seeing as he is a complete, alpha-male, balls-to-the-wall, motherfucking badass, he kicked that risk in the chest and proceeded to record the sort of album that a balls-to-the-wall, motherfucking badass would make. That is, an album that lacks all traces of inhibition.

Its message is clear: This is Wino. Nothing else. It's Weinrich with his guitar and his voice, channeling the muses of the blues, rock, and country. No distortion to protect him, no chugging bass, and no drums. When the electric guitar cuts in, it's refreshing but doesn't overstay its welcome. This is an acoustic album.

Weinrich pulls it off with few battle scars to show at the end. His voice has a confident power to it, even though its range is limited (to say the least). But the confidence and honesty of his voice is of the sort that can carry songs and advance stories. Which is all, one assumes, Weinrich wanted to do. The same can, more or less, be said about the guitar work. It's simple, but executed well and, above all, honest. There's no masturbatory technicality or atmospheric inauthenticity here.

Although Adrift does get a tad boring, it's worth a listen. It isn't so much a middle finger to metal, as it is a middle finger to all those who thought that one in the metal scene couldn't pull off an acoustic album without coming away looking a) whiney, or b) like a traitor. Wenrich succeeds in creating music that's nothing but totally frank, fully sincere, and entirely genuine. In other words, it's fuckin tr00.