Chuck Schuldiner Project

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Black Label Society-Mafia

  Guess what? I've really been in a Zakk Wylde mood lately so now I'm reviewing MOAR BLACK LABEL SOCIETY. Also I bought a ukelele because tomorrow is my birthday (seriously). A big part of the reason I am reviewing this album is that I played a Zakk Wylde custom Les Paul today and I watched a live performance of his on this huge screen in the guitar store. From the awesome intro of Fire It Up, this is one long and awesome album that blows the roof off. This album features awesome guitar parts, for both the lead and rhythm guitars, the drums and bass are also excellent. The vocals of Wylde are still spectacular and mindblowing. The lyrics are dark and angry, often Ozzy-like in nature.
The lead guitar is really amazing, its really weird to see him perform these songs because he can play these insane riffs while singing. As I just said, the riffs on this album are awesome, they are mostly powerchord based but they make for some extremely heavy music. Zakk Wylde has a true talent for composing riffs and does not fail to impress on this album. And helping his awesome riffs are his even more awesome solos. I do not think it would be a stretch to say that of all the guitarist-vocalists alive today that are in a signed band Zakk Wylde is among the best of them. The rhythm guitar is also excellent providing a staccato Metallica like feel to the music. The drums are awesome and high powered, they help drive the music, Craig is simply a shirtless god, beating down on the drums as Thor might with his hammer. The bass is decent, adding a nice power to the music but featuring no real fills or anything of that nature.
The vocals are awesome, with Wyldes deep voice making the music unique, his voice is that of a viking god, mayhaps Thor or Loki. As the Rock and Roll Viking Wylde is really all of the male viking gods, and we see that in his overpowering voice. A voice that has power that 90% of all vocalists would envy. James Lomenzo does a lot of vocals on this album too, (He's the bassist) he adds a really awesome feel to the music because he is Ozzy-esque in his vocal style. Lomenzo really adds a Black Sabbath feel to the music. The lyrics are dark and often Black Sabbath or Ozzy like. They are very bleak, often talking about hell and dying at a young age. In short, they are pretty amazing.
Overall this is a spectacular album. It has all of the classic elements of an awesome metal album. It has an excellent entry song, explosive songs, powerful vocals and extremely amazing guitar. In short what makes this album great is the instrumental parts, with Wyldes dominant guitar, and the powerful rhythm guitar leading the music along, with the awesome guitar parts. The bass and drums also have spectacular parts. The vocals are goood and the lyrics are excellent. Those are the things that makes this album exceptional. My favorite song is In This River, probably the best BLS song ever. This album has huge replay value, you should totally go listen to it right now.
OVERALL 9.5/10

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