Black Label Society
Shot To Hell

Really a good album this one by Black Label Society. I mean it. It's just that I didn't think it would really be like this. But let's proceed in order.

A little while ago on rock fm, I got a taste of the first single from this new work by Zack Wilde and company. I liked it right away and immediately rushed to download the album. I must admit that this is my first listen to an album by Black Label Society of which I have heard a lot, so don't expect comparisons with the previous CD because I'm sorry, but I don't have the basis to provide them for you. (Here, for example, a double review with someone who knows the previous works wouldn't hurt). So here comes the album opening with three really powerful and gritty tracks. The voice stands out with a tone not entirely in line with the genre; it indeed seems to have the typical characteristics of a predominantly grunge-style voice. But after "Concrete Jungle", "Black Massed Reverends" and "Blacked Out World", the fourth seems to be the poignant ballad of many similar productions typical of the hard-rock scene. This one, "Last Goodbyes", seems very sad and intense, which makes me think it could be the most beautiful track on the album.

"Give Yourself To Me" seems to be a powerful version of any Audioslave song and the following "Nothing's The Same" is another tear-jerking ballad. "Hell Is High" is a classic hard rock song with some similarities in guitar distortion with Pantera's "Cowboys From Hell" (this is very noticeable in all the other more gritty tracks as well). We move on with yet another display of sensitivity with "New Religion" featuring a soft and gentle piano intro leading into a turbulent song that neither excites excessively nor bores. "Sick Of It All" is a carbon copy ballad of the previous ones. "Faith Is Blind" instead, is the best hard rock song on this album. With "Blood Is Thicker Than Water" it seems to be a randomly placed filler contrary to "Devil's Dime": classic hard rock. The finale is entrusted to "Lead Me To Your Door" which is yet another, but in this case eerie, final ballad.

As a great admirer of Zack Wilde's solo work, from the positive reviews of other debaseriani and the popularity that these Black Label Society are gaining, I must say I was quite disappointed and, from many of the sounds expressed by this work, they seem to be somewhat commercial. I repeat that I don't know the previous works, but from how they were presented to me, I expected a much more gritty album. Here, the number of ballads seems to almost surpass that of the tracks where there's something hard rock.

For heaven's sake, nothing to say about the actual value of the band and the beauty of the ballads themselves, but...