Black Label Society's Order of The Black - A Re-inspired Zakk is Back!

Zakk is back!!

Indeed. I couldn’t find any more appropriate three words to begin this. For five years I had been growin’ roots in my ass out of snoozfest from anything post- Mafia. Even Zakk’s presence in Ozzy’s band had been of the same serving. But at fuckin’ last, fate throws in the bucket of cold water, and the beast awakens.

It could’ve been one or all factors together. Ozzy’s firing, blood clotting, alcoholism, whatever it is, there must be something that had finally summoned guts of steel to make Zakk finally put all overused stuff aside, and  bring everything ‘back to basic’. A true return to form, I must say.

Before spinning this record, I honestly felt a need to duck in a quasi-cringed manner in anticipation of a salvo of pinch harmonics and wound string vibratos, three repetitions of each for every riff. But God was I surprised to hear all those had been virtually laid to rest. It will not be until the fifth track, Black Sunday, before this record greets you with the standard BLS sound. And, besides being blown away right off the bat by the preceding tracks, it’s not that much of his ‘template’ either. Notice how it starts with a shredfest of insane legatos and howls (reminiscent of those from that Tesla song) before it explodes into the berserkin Sonic Brew fashion.

My personal pick here, Parade of The Dead, should have been placed as the first track in my opinion. It steps away as a typical southern metal song, and even farther from slow sludge that is trademark BLS. Instead, it hits you so fast on all eight cylinders and lets you feel how Zakk and his boys are so damned dead serious in doing this record. The riff is so tailored-fit for his left-right headshakin and hair-whippin’ move. It opens up with.. Exterminate..! A word that’s in the ranks of Mafia lingo makes me wonder how much of the gangster fascination made it again into this record. The first track, Crazy Horse, also as you may observe is the name of that infamous night club of Adriana from The Sopranos. It could be some Neil Young trib, but I can't help but ponder..

Anyhow, it’s a different ride for every track here but every bit is just killer. War of Heaven starts in slow dark devil’s thirds yet it ignites in a bluesy main riff. Godspeed Hellbound, which is another favorite, employs a fast chugging rhythm but one that is unmistakably fast rock n’ roll. Clearly a biker’s anthem. Chupacabra, smart title choice for such brazen display of talent. Zakk really need not prove how fast his pentatonic is, but as always, he would want it delivered raw, with no effects.

The ballads here, which have been making a fuss about how utterly creative this album is, (or how disappointingly lame and anti-climactic, depending on which perspective you’re at) are of all in an assortment of genres. Darkest Days is a soulful piano ballad. Time Waits for No One (child!), is slow classic rock in the likes of early Elton John and Bob Seger. Shallow Grave is a bit American folkish of a piano ballad, and a darn sad one at that. January, is the 80s rock acoustic session touch thrown in for the finale. There is no doubt this record is some serious display of musicianship, undermining all accusations that Zakk is but pure image antics. 

Overall, Order of The Black, in spite of being so diverse and multifarious, is one unabashed BLS smokin' record. It's evident that as much as I hate doing track by track account of songs, it was to be a necessary evil in this case. As well, I had to point out that however liberal and wide-encompassing my usage of the word metal goes, this for me is wickedly heavy rock n roll. One so heavy that it borders to the extreme its almost heavy metal.

So celebrate all you Berserkers old and new, for this one great record that can make us proud to waive the flag high once again: Strength, Determination, Merciless Forever!

Three New Amazing Records to review..

My shitty iPod which almost ended up as trap shooting target for my double barrel has never been this busy.

It's a few songs shy of getting to ten thousand, hundreds of albums lined-up and dragged to my "bite" playlist- a set of potentially good ones, old and new, that I feel I may actually get to like. Well, it will have to wait again. Right now, this dumb old-fashioned disk is in heavy rotation of three relatively new albums. And I hope to get back with decent reviews of them because these bands bark of reputation for kicking serious ass.

Order of The Black, Black Label Society.

Released last August, I only acquired this record recently when I decided to look into their last compilation Skullage (2009) and how much of Mafia (2005) made it into that selection. I got re-acquainted with Fire It Up and Suicide Messiah, one nostalgic fit led to another, eventually making me remember how much I used to fucking love these berserkers.
I figured I should give their latest one a spin..



                                    

Mastermind, Monster Magnet.

Argh!! Can't have enough of this band!

Call him what you will, cheapo Iggy Pop incarnation or Anthony Kiedis drugged dead ringer- Dave Wyndorf is a fuckin' legend. There are but a few lyricists of his caliber, mighty witty and entertaining as hell. Powertrip and Dopes to Infinity remain to be my favorites but it's time for a new one from this pillar of stoner rock. Released last October 25, it has been sending ripples throughout the entire heavy music community since.

DAATH, Dååth.

I can't do the goddamn typeset, so let's just leave it at that. Would be fuckin' cool if I could though.

Most probably the one I am most thrilled about. The heavy metal world, as far as I observe, has never been this fired up about an upcoming record from a relatively new band. Sure everyone went nuts with the release of The Final Frontier and Death Magnetic, but man, Daath is far from being a decade-old band. I will have to go back for another post about how their last record The Concealers totally fucking blew me away. If you don't have that one yet, grab it and just plain marvel at the sheer technical prowess and brutality of the band. Surely that will explain why everyone is this stoked about their new self-titled record released last October 28.

New Ozzy album Scream - nothing more than an inescapable Gus G vs Zakk Wylde spotlight?

Congratulations to me, I have now ceased giving you heads-ups on upcoming albums that totally stoke me out. I reckon its better that I keep my mouth shut til I get to listen to new stuff. Only then I suppose it is apt to speak to you about how my metal guts are responding to such record, rather than not get back to you after saying my hear ye's!   Apologies for that..

I've come victorious now, you may be clued-up there's a whole lotta new stuff that's gonna rain down on our metal asses- and I'm holdin my horses. That is not to say though that I have reserved my keenness on Ozzy's new album Scream, in all honesty I wasn't really mighty stirred up about that. For one, I was quite disappointed with Ozzy's recent record Black Rain. I found almost all tracks dull, save for I Don't Wanna Stop, even if that song too is too much of a 'template' in the Ozzy/Zakk sense. Next, I knew this new record was going to be a stand-off between Zakk Wylde and Gus G. And I hate measurin' up guitarists from a technical standpoint. Nevertheless, any 'review' of this album renders the impossibility of not pitting those two guitarists against each other. So I'll stick to their styles, not the techniques, if that is where this leads to.

I like Zakk, you may have noticed that before. But the reason I got tired of Ozzy was Zakk as well. I love Pride & Glory, BLS and Live in Budokan, but succeeding Ozzy albums started sounding like BLS. It has gotten a little too old with Zakk's redundancy of vibratos and pinch harmonics on almost every single goddamn riff. In the end, it would be the reason of Ozzy's letting go of Zakk (which he would later recant in his Guitar World interview that Zakk's alcoholism was the main concern).


One more reason why I could not give a further fuck about this new record, (besides having the most lame album title any established heavy musician can come up with),  was how the Prince of Darkness himself constantly barked of callin' it quits.

But everything happened so fast. All of a sudden they're flying Gus G in and eventually putting this material out. So I got the album, and listened..

Funny thing is, unexcited as I am, I'm actually liking this record. I can't walk you through track after track this early, but I have a few points to mention. And the most surprising of all is that I'm still hearing Zakk on this record! His slow  fee-fie-foe-fum riffs on the song Soul Sucker, his descending pick tapping/scratching, double stops and scales on the solo of Let Me Hear You Scream.. there's always something reminiscent about the Old Berserker in almost every track! Did Zakk make it to the laying of the groundwork of this record before he got fired? I don't think so. Not if his style shows mostly on Gus G's solo rather than on the whole song structure. Was it some conscious effort on the part of the production team. Maybe. For what purpose I have no idea.


An outstanding remark I have for this record is Ozzy's singing. Man, it's hard to put your trust on something knowing the industry has truly raised the bar technology-wise, but live footage tells me it's legit. Check the one from Jimmy Kimmel below then compare it to the subsequent official video. I must say that with his singing alone on this record, my respect for Ozzy has increased tenfold. I no longer have this contempt for his vise grip, clamp-through-the-throat  and linear style of singing. And considering that he's old for a singer already- he had every friggin' right  to name this album as he damn pleased. Scream. Indeed.

I think it's becoming evident by now that I'm a reborn Ozzy fan. 


I can't even sing all the tracks in this record yet, so I guess it's just that initial gut feel about something that's genuine that made me admire this recent offering. And there's not even a killer First Track to strap me on an Acme warhead through the entirety of the album. Let It Die, which is clearly an attempt to be accessible to the younger fans, just don't get me off. I skip it, as a matter of fact. It's not modern but just rap metal. And a plain one at that. The rest I can say modern though, with very much prudent use of synths and keyboards without getting too Reznor-ish. 


Lyrics? nothing too weighty. I didn't expect that from Ozzy. I bet he still clings on the angry teenager poetry as it has always been his sig from the very first Sabbath record up to Black Rain. It may be Sharon's pre-approved marketing standard for all we know. 


All things considered, I think this is a great record nonetheless. And even if all other maniacs are coming up with positive reviews I must come clean and state that I loved this record first before I had browsed on them. But it sure adds a little more gratification hearing them put this up in the same league as Bark At The Moon. Others have even declared that there's nothing inferior about the singles here even if played next to big classics such as Crazy Train or No More Tears. 


In the end I would gladly like to drop the perception that Scream is nothing but a gladiator arena of past and present guitarists. Much more than that, it is a celebration of Ozzy's ever vibrant career. Though he may be old enough to bite heads of bats and pigeons, he proved us through this record that he's here to stay and not bore us along the way. 


Now I had just realized I don't think I can go on handing Tony Iommi all the heavy metal credit. It ain't a good way to present historical facts, massaging details to tailor-fit for listeners. I blame Sam Dunn for this attitude, Ozzy was as much a part of Sabbath as Iommy is. Period. 

Zakk Wylde guitar giveaway!

No matter how shitty-sounding your guitar is, aesthetics work at the end of the day.




(Ain't that the truth!)

I guess I'm trolling here no matter how much I hate debates. I still hold on to my opinion, don't get me wrong,  the guitar should sound fine. But isn't playing in front of many people the reason why we started rockin' at all? Club or arena, for damn sure I want my guitar mean-looking as hell if I am to shake my ass in front of people!

Point is, if I have all the money in the world, I can get good guitar brands with quality sound. Now the issue is not the quality, but the 'type' of sound. And yes, of course, the looks. If I want to play blues straight away, I'd get a Strat. And not just a Strat, but a Road-worn Strat. But I'm not your full-on blues guy, I also play metal rhythm. Now we should be talking Dean, or ESP in that regard. But no matter how many designs I look into, I still go back full circle to Zakk Wylde's Bullseye.

It's gonna be my 'safe queen' if ever I get my hands on one.

Win Zakk Wylde's Guitar!

Check out Classic Rock for all the details. The actual sweepstakes site is in Facebook though.

For whatever reason my eyes swept past again on all the details and were caught suddenly on that 'only persons residing in United Kingdom..' eligibility of the raffle. Man, I almost lost all interest to read on further. Often as well I'd find videos in Metal Hammer and Classic Rock, which, upon clicking, slaps you right off in the face with 'streaming only available in the uk'. Whenever I see that one hell of a disclaimer I always feel the urge to give my childhood buddy and former bandmate/drummer Vincent, who's now based in the UK, a buzz to check those things out. But in this case, I reckon it's not much of a reason of a disturbance to him, or any of my other friends in that country, who are now all too busy with Wimbledon, and are in mourning of the Three Lions' recent trouncing from Germany. Besides, my buddy's a drummer and the prize here ain't no drumkit. 

But off I went on to read more.. Fact of the matter is, I only saw the SG top half of the guitar in the pic above. Now I wanted to learn more about it and how Epiphone plans to pull-off the Bullseye pattern famous with the Les Paul, on the not-so-rounded body of an SG. Problem is, details say its half SG top and half flying V bottom. Curiosity is at an all-time high already as I cant even imagine the bullseye rings in an SG, let alone in a hybrid of two famous designs. Damn the extra effort of going to Google images.. but I'm saving you the hassle of that.

I can't say I'm particularly excited about this one. But I'm pretty much sure I don't want something that reminds me of snorkeling and agitating some starfish underwater. 

Always have been drooling over the bullseye design. It defines everything I love about Zakk Wylde -his playing, his attitude, his 'wrestler' stance, his fist-pumping, muscle-flexing, saliva-spittin', water-sproutin' antics and most of all, his blindingly fast pentatonics. He rips those leads and you're caught in a hypnotic trance. It's the same effect when you look into the rings of the Bullseye pattern!

However, as with this Epiphone ZV, Zakk has a tendency to use designs not so in-sync with his image. I did not like his take on the dotted Flying V pattern ala- Randy Rhoads, and more especially his bottle cap riddling off the Les Paul top. He better be sober when conceptualizing Guitar models, or else it gets too weird, not wild. And it says so in the Black Label Society site, which I quote "Here is a tip for the faint of heart - never put these three things together: Zakk Wylde, a bar napkin, and a pencil." I was thinking sarcasm, except it was not. I got it from the complete Gibson* Zakk Wylde ZV promotional donwloadable pdf that you can get here.

*you heard right, Epiphone is a subsidiary of Gibson but they maintain different production plants.

I think I'll be satisfied dreaming of just the orange Buzzsaw for now..