Black Label Society
Mafia

THE REVIEW

It seems to me that there isn't a review of this album yet, which in my humble opinion can be included among the best releases of 2005.

Let's start from the premise that the writer has a weakness for this important band led by a great character, such Zakk Wylde, a phenomenal guitarist, voice full of style and charismatic frontman of this group (which also boasts a high-level bassist, James LoMenzo). Having introduced the team offering us this music, let's talk about the music itself!

"Mafia" opens as best it could, with a "Fire It Up" that immediately clarifies to those unfamiliar with the band the ingredients that make up the perfect dish for every self-respecting true-metal fan: heavy and virtuosic guitar, precise rhythm in marking heavy metal-rooted times, and a voice that penetrates the gut for how harsh and venomous it is, yet remains pleasant. It continues, attacking with greater force, with "What's In You" always sticking to the genre standards proposed by Black Label. Already now, one can make an observation: the music present in this release is the same that we have gladly found in the previous releases of this group.

There are no unpleasant surprises like absurd experimentation pretenses; this is a band that takes traditional heavy metal to new levels, while staying anchored to a rock lifestyle made of beer, Harley Davidson, and songs that are straightforward but enormously substantial. This album never betrays you; there's not a song that isn't worth listening to until the end, and it's an album full of masterpieces like the two tracks already mentioned to which I would easily add "Forever Down", "You Must Be Blind", "Death March" and "Too Tough To Die" without forgetting the eighth track "Dr. Octavia" entirely dedicated to a Wylde solo where it seems a turbine is starting up and pushing to the max... what couldn't this bearded individual pull out of a guitar!!
I now move on to comment on the anomalous piece of the record, anomalous because it's not in line with the speed and violence of the rest of the album, but is instead melancholic, melodic, and simply beautiful... "In This River" presents us with Zakk Wylde at the piano, a position perhaps not perfectly suited to the drunk frontman, yet one in which he doesn't stop offering emotions, this time more intimate and moving. A simple yet touching ballad, with a sparse but significant lyric, a moment of rest within the album. A piece so anomalous yet fundamental to once again highlight the greatness of this "Mafia", one more reason to thrash your lower abdomen should you have overlooked it and thus lead you to rush out and make one of the most genuine masterpieces of the past year yours.

Amidst many more or less successful complicated works, here's a truly desired breath of fresh air!