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Black Label Society: Order of the black

20/05/11 || The Duff

Some people think Zakk Wylde is an over-rated guitar player, someone who has mastered lightning fast pentatonic shredding and little else. Me, I consider him one of my idols; there’s something truly endearing about a man built like a brick-shithouse, with fat sausage fingers playing notes of such authentic emotive quality. A riff-lord back in the day who may have grown too used to a wall of sound created by Marshall endorsements to compensate for what, when transferred to disc, becomes musically quite unsatisfying, one still can’t deny that his technique has always been spot-on. I lost my way with his main band after “Mafia” – an album I was pleased with, but “Concrete Jungle” off “The Blessed Hellride” was enough to make me draw the line on his recently lazy methods to songwriting.

So, blood clots, sobriety and departure from Ozzy’s band line-up, it would appear that Zakk has been through a much needed break – “Order of the Black” isn’t the return to form we all wanted following a diet of balls-heavy Sabbath gracing the earliest days, but where there is a lack of quality riffing we are met with Zakk’s outstandingly powerful vocals that on past records rarely surpassed a drawl whereas presently soar loud, honest and convincing.

Unfortunately, there are tracks where these are the only salvageable aspect to the music. Cuts like “Godspeed Hell Bound” and “Black Sunday” spring to mind, a damn shame because the choruses to both are plain fucken mean. Zack is also as with recent past offerings falling short of writing his majestic ballads such as “Rust”, “Darkest Days” purely a re-branding of Elton John’s “Rocket Man” and “Time Waits for No One” a toned down reprise of his landmark “Just Killing Time”. I’m not all too pleased with some of the riffs used to fill spaces between the bulk material, some being close to complete rip-offs of Randy Rhodes’ “Crazy Train” (as with the end of “Parade of the Dead”) or others just simplest filler (as in “Overlord” or “Southern Dissolution”). Rare are the times you can really thrash out, pinch-harmonics coming in quite expectedly to drag a horse weighted dead by too much amplifier.

The leads are as you’ve come to expect (with reminding flashes of superfluous shred a la “Speedball” off “1919 Eternal”), although appear cleaner than on past offerings; the wild vibrato is most appeasing as ever, but there isn’t that aggressiveness, a touch of sloppiness that would suggest the grit of a life on the road, alcohol-swollen hands due to poor circulation. The rest of the band (John DeServeo and Will Hunt on bass and drums, respectively) are measured, laying down the rhythms but standing back from the spotlight that has always been the leather-clad 7-footer with alcohol-sweat-drenched, bearded crevice (and I ain’t talking about the dug-out in his chin).

All told this is a satisfying album with simple but good riffs with the odd touch of brilliance from days past, plus occasional steps into refried and more unfortunate steps into “Concrete Jungle”-style platitudes. Not a return to form, but a tried, sleeked formula that keeps the BLS crew a solid unit with invigorated attitude.

6,5

Information
Released: 2010
Label: Roadrunner
Website: www.blacklabelsociety.com
Band
Zakk Wylde: vocals, guitars, synth/keys
Nick Cantanese: guitars
John DeServio: bass, vocals
Will Hunt: drums

Tracklist
01. Crazy Horse
02. Overlord
03. Parade of the Dead
04. Darkest Days
05. Black Sunday
06. Southern Dissolution
07. Time Waits for No One
08. Godspeed Hellbound
09. War of Heaven
10. Shallow Grave
11. Chupacabra
12. Riders of the Damned
13. January

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