Artist: Black Label Society
Album: Sonic Brew
Genre: heavy/groove metal
# Album by Artist: 1st studio album
Year: 1999
Track Listing:
1. Bored to Tears
2. The Rose Petalled Garden
3. Hey You (Batch of Lies)
4. Born to Lose
5. Peddlers of Death
6. Mother Mary
7. Beneath the Tree
8. Low Down
9. T.A.Z
10. Lost My Better Half
11. Black Pearl
12. World of Trouble
13. Spoke in the Wheel
14. The Beginning ... At Last
15. No More Tears (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
So, for my first album review, I figured I'd go with one of my current favorites. As a lot of you know, Zakk Wylde, guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne, upon leaving the band for a while, formed his own band, Black Label Society. Well, he did not disappoint whatsoever! The first album is a triumphant return to how metal used to be, as it died down dramatically, and this was one of the first albums to return to the roots of metal. From the first power chords of the album, you can just tell it's going to be amazing.
Guitar: It's Zakk Wylde people! You know the guitar is going to be brutal, and it is! One of my all time favorite riffs is from "The Rose Petalled Garden". About 35 seconds into the song, it just unleashes this monster riff, throwing in a couple of Zakk's patented pinch harmonics (squealing notes for those who don't play guitar). The song overall is beautiful, but in a metal way. The next song throws in yet another, even heavier riff, and even though i feel like "Hey You (Batch of Lies)" is tacked onto "Garden", it is an astounding double song (double song meaning two songs connected together). Now, "T.A.Z" is the best acoustic guitar playing I have heard in my whole life! Like I seriously have no clue how he is making the guitar make all those noises! The rest of the album is very well written, but nothing stands out like those three songs.
Drums: Pretty standard metal drumming going on here, nothing too special or crazy. With that being said, they aren't bad whatsoever, in fact, I think the simplicity of the drums gives a nice sense of calming to Zakk's squealing guitar.
Bass: When I can make the bass out in the music, it is also pretty standard. It simply follows the same notes of the guitar, but adds a nice undertone to it all. The bass intro to "Mother Mary" sounds pretty killer, and that song seems to make the bass more predominate.
Vocals: Wow. I must say, I was actually very impressed by the power Zakk has behind his voice. You can certainly hear the giant influence Ozzy had on the way he sings, and even though he sounds a lot like Ozzy, he mixes in a little of his own little bit of southern drawl to it. It's actually a very nice combination that I didn't think would work at all. He really delivers one hell of a vocal performance on "Beneath the Tree", singing with incredible power. During the chorus of that song, the guitar and his lyrics come together in this almost magical mix, and that is why this is (in my opinion) the greatest track on the album. Also on his cover of "No More Tears" I think he made Ozzy very proud, because that is honestly the single best cover I've heard next to Machine Head's cover of "Hallowed be Thy Name".
The whole album is an absolute masterpiece, and never loses it's power throughout. The simplistic bass and drums complement an amazing vocal and guitar performance. So therefore, it's rating is five horns out of five.
Standout tracks: "Bored to Tears", "The Rose Petalled Garden"... Screw it... Their all amazing.
-Brandon
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