May 4, 1999 - Black Label Society and Sonic Brew

It's a double release day! On the same day as "Hatebreeder" a new band joins my library when Black Label Society released their debut album "Sonic Brew" on May 4, 1999. But who is Black Label Society? They're a heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California created by frontman Zakk Wylde, who we know very well as Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist. Zakk plays not only the guitar in his own new band, but also the bass, piano and the vocals as well! Zakk is joined by only one other person, Phil Ondich on drums and percussion. BLS play what some call biker metal, but there's a Southern feel to some of these songs as well. Let's see what Zakk Wylde can do on his own!

The akvum begins with "Bored To Tears" and Zakk plays some nice heavy bass to start things off before the guitars and drums come thundering in for a heavy and pretty cool main riff. Wylde's voice is not your typically good singing voice, but he has some of that Southern raspiness and it fits the style of music pretty well. After a couple solid verses and choruses Zakk changes direction with a new chugging guitar riff that is slower, but still sounds pretty cool and this sets the stage for the album's first guitar solo. As we know he can do, Zakk does a pretty sweet job with some nice shredding and I think Zakk is gonna do just fine on his own. It's certainly different than Ozzy's more standard style of metal and I think Wylde must love having this alternate outlet for his own music. A pretty good first song! Up next is "The Rose Petalled Garden" and it starts with some slow but solid rhythm guitar and then some pretty epic lead guitar overtop. Wylde holds some long "yeaaaahhhh"s but the guitar is pretty catchy and cool and it carries things along. The main riff is a catchy stop-and-start one and Zakk plays some pretty cool lead guitar, rhythm guitar and bass on this one. It'a got a typically cool guitar solo midway through and even though it may not be Zakk's best vocal performance, everything else sounded pretty good. Track 3 is "Hey You (Batch Of Lies)" and Zakk plays some dirty guitar that sounds pretty gnarly to start things off with the chorus riff. The verse is done on acoustic guitar and Zakk's low voice sounds quite good in this quieter setting. The balance of the light verse and the heavy chorus is really nice and Zakk's solo on this track is easily his best one yet as he does some pretty incredible shredding. Despite this being the least heavy song so far, it might be the best one! The next track is "Born To Lose" and it has a pretty catchy and upbeat main riff that sounds like the most radio-friendly side of BLS we've heard so far. It's still good for sure, but it's a lot less heavy and a lot less complicated. After a couple minutes the speed and the complexity definitely picks up as Zakk sets the stage with some great bass and rhythm guitar before unleashing a pretty sweet solo. This part was fantastic, but then it's back to the main riff to finish things off. Track 5 is "Peddlers Of Death" and it's Zakk first time on piano as he plays some pretty beautiful stuff and sings nicely overtop as well. Then they throw that out the window and come crashing in with a great new riff that is nice and heavy. The sudden change hits so hard and the rest of the verse and chorus sounds pretty sweet. They quiet it down and do it all again and then Zakk delivers a long and epic guitar solo that sounds pretty awesome. After a final verse and chorus Zakk plays the song out on piano and he seems like a pretty good piano player as well! Who knew! Up next is "Mother Mary" and Zakkbplays a nice dirty bass riff before the catchy guitars come in and Ondich plays some solid drums as well. Zakk sings in a nice Southern voice in the verse and he also sounds good singing in a higher voice in the chorus. The guitar solo is pretty good, but not his flashiest and then everything falls away as Zakk sings half a chorus by himself and it sounds solid, and it hits hard when the music comes back in. Track 7 is "Beneath The Tree" and it has a quiet verse with Zakk playing acoustic guitar and some quiet bass while also singing softly and lightly to match the mood. The dirty/heavy guitars come in for the chorus, but everything else still sounds pretty tame. The solo is really distorted and sounds pretty epic, but this is largely a pretty laid-back BLS tune, and one on the weaker side. The next track is "Low Down" and it has a really upbeat toe-taloing main riff that is pretty damn catchy while still being nice and heavy. Zakk's rhythm guitar sounds cool and the lead guitar plays off it perfectly as Zakk drives this catchy verse and similar chorus along. He also does a spectacular job of setting up the solo with some cool rhythm guitar, and then proceeding to shred it like a madman overtop as things sound pretty great. They predictably return to the verse and chorus, but this is a solid and pretty catchy tune. Track 9 is a short instrumental called "T.A.Z." and Zakk plays an acoustic guitar, and boy does he ever shred the shit out of it! Words do not do justice! He plays it so fucking fast and it sounds fucking incredible. Hands down the best song yet! Zakk is so fucking good! Up next is "Lost My Better Half" and it has a pretty gnarly main riff that is super distorted and sounds pretty cool and Zakk holds some nice long notes, on both vocals and guitar! The chorus is pretty solid as well and of course there's a pretty sweet guitar solo as well. All the heavy songs have their own unique feel, but they are all pretty damn solid. Track 11 is "Black Pearl" and Zakk plays some light synths that are definitely not what I want from BLS. But it makes the switch to the heavy chorus hit that much harder I guess. After another lame verse and solid chorus Zakk plays a pretty good guitar solo, but it's not enough to save this weaker effort. The next track is "World Of Trouble" and we hear a funny voice say "1 2 3 4, I draft k all my brew and I ain't gotst no more!" before a nice chugging main riff kicks in. It's pretty bouncy and catchy for such a low and heavy riff and after a couple verses and choruses Zakk plays some wicked bass to set the stage for the guitar solo, which starts slow bit certainly finishes fast and strong. It's another good example of Zakk mixing catchy, made-for-radio beats with some dirty and cool guitar. Track 13 is "Spoke In The Wheel" and Zakk plays one faster acoustic riff that drives things along and another lead acoustic riff that sounds quiet yet epic overtop. There's no drums or bass just acoustic guitars and Zakk singing in a bit of a sappy Southern voice overtop that is kinda Skynyrd-esque. It's definitely on the sappy side and not a headbanger at all, but Zakk does a pretty good job at this style as well, even if it's not my favourite. His acoustic guitar playing is spot on the whole way and he plays a pretty sweet acoustic solo. Up next is "The Beginning... At Last" and we're back to being upbeat and headbanging with a nice fast main riff and Zakk sounding like his usual self again. After a couple solid goes through this they break things down really nicely with a slower and heavier new riff and this sets the stage for Zakk to unleash a truly unbelievable solo. It's so fucking fast! Holy shit man, he is talented! One of his best solos for sure and the whole song is pretty damn good. The final song on this hour-plus album is "No More Tears", an Ozzy Osbourne cover that Zakk played the original guitar on, making it a bit of an odd choice for a cover. He plays the bass and more distinctively the vocals as well this time though as Zakk shows that his voice has a bit of an Ozzy tinge to it, but I don't think Zakk sounds as good as his mentor, but he would probably agree. The guitars have that dirty BLS vibe to them still and it gives this epic song a different feel, still good, but good in different (and lesser) ways. The chorus hits pretty hard and pretty low and it does sound like it could be a BLS song, but I still like the original better. Zakk does play arguably an even better guitar solo on this cover though, and his original one was pretty sweet! A nice tribute to end the album.

That is the end of "Sonic Brew" and I thought it was a pretty good debut album from Black Label Society. There were a couple lesser ones, but there were 15 tracks and most of them were pretty cool. We knew Zakk Wylde was an excellent guitarist, but he shows that he's a great bassist, a solid piano player, and a solid singer as well. He can definitely be the frontman and I'm sure he will have lots of other songs between the long gaps of Ozzy albums.