Black Label Society
Order Of The Black

How much time has passed since those black and white photos in the inner sleeve of the vinyl No Rest for the Wicked, an album by Ozzy Osbourne that marked the debut of a young, clean-shaven guitarist barely of age, with blonde almost teased hair as the hair-metal fashion of the time almost dictated, called to take on the role that in previous records was occupied by the guitar genius of Randy Rhoads and the almost blues guitar of Jackie E.Lee. Thin, almost frail, leaning on a catacomb-like perch, he could almost be mistaken for Rhoads. 22 years have passed, the boy has grown and has turned Viking. His guitar style, which was beginning to take shape back then, is now so distinctive that Papa Ozzy has decided, after more than twenty years and 5 albums recorded together, to let him go, guilty of taking the music of the madman too much down the Black Label Society path. Zakk accepts his dismissal graciously, even going so far as to praise the new guitarist of the Ozzy band, the Greek Gus G, publicly declaring that technically he himself is inferior.

And so a few months after the good recording comeback of Ozzy Osbourne, evidently the new air did him good, the Black Label Society also return, with an album that brings them back to territories very close to their first two albums "Sonic Brew" and "Stronger Than Death".

The previous album "Shot To Hell" sacrificed energy in favor of a more melodic appeal, a component that is always present in all of Wylde's albums, but this time confined solely to the ballads.

The opening triptych (Crazy Horse, Overload, Parade of the Dead) leaves a trail of ash in its wake, three classic examples of Black Label Society-sound, heavy and square riffs, guitar solos never too invasive but perfectly fitting in that mix of Southern/Sabbath sound that distinguishes it. He skillfully mixes the Southern sound of his first solo project Pride & Glory with the heaviness of the early works of Black Label Society, creating a right mix of feeling and guitar spontaneity. At last, he seems to even leave behind the "Ozzy-like" voice he had been carrying for some time in favor of his natural pipes, because Zakk can also sing, and he proves it in those ballads like the piano-based Darkest Days, Time Waits for No One and Shallow Grave, which would not have been out of place on any album of the great Southern American bands of the seventies and which he has shown himself to handle skillfully over the years, recording entire albums of roots music.
Songs that allow you to catch your breath for a few minutes, because the bearded Wylde resumes marching with the Pantera-like riffs of Godspeed Hell Bound and if ever the Pantera, I sincerely hope not, decide to reunite, Zakk would be the only one able to replace the lamented Dimebag Darrell, for technique but above all for attitude in the hearts of fans.
Wylde has fun and for once puts his technique entirely at the service of a piece, in the short flamenco interlude of Chupacabra.
The finale is dedicated to his father in the touching January, because Wylde has a big heart, as he has shown on many other occasions, a heart we hope remains the same given the continuous hospitalizations caused by his favorite vice called alcohol. Yet he had sworn he had quit, but as Ozzy sang, the demon alcohol (Demon Alcohol) is always lurking. A song contained precisely in "No Rest for the Wicked". The circle closes.