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November 19, 2008 |
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BLACK LABEL SOCIETY - Shot To Hell
Roadrunner (2006) |
8/10 |
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01. Concrete Jungle
02. Black Mass Reverends
03. Blacked Out World
04. The Last Goodbye
05. Give Yourself To Me
06. Nothing's The Same
07. Hell Is High
08. New Religion
09. Sick Of It All
10. Faith Is Blind
11. Blood Is Thicker Than Water
12. Devil's Dime
13. Lead Me To Your Door
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Zakk Wylde is one of Heavy Metal's most prominent figures, having spent nearly the last two decades graciously entertaining our ears with his distinct, undeniable axe n' string mastery. Guitarists are aplenty, but very few come close to possessing the same skill level Wylde has. The architect of his own awe-inspiring style, which includes his signature "wahh" sounds (if you don't know what this means, you'll find them in nearly every song he's ever played in), Wylde has built a fine list of achievements over the years, including becoming OZZY OSBOURNE's right hand man at the young age of 20 (stamping his name onto four albums thus far), releasing a few solo albums, and forming his current band, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY. But enough of the history lesson...
"Shot To Hell" is BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's seventh album to date, and the first release under the wings of Roadrunner Records. The collaboration is most likely a good move on both sides. In a nutshell, the band now have a well-established name backing them up, and Roadrunner basically gets the privilege of being able to say "We have BLACK LABEL SOCIETY in our corner!" That alone is money in the bank.
In terms of style, there is nothing really in the way of "new" here, but Wylde and Co. have broadened their horizons somewhat by adding some more toned-down material that could be considered ballads; several of them in fact. Don't let that deter you, though. Wylde shows more of his soulful side with some pretty deep lyrical content, accented by soaring vocals, haunting piano passages and of course, guitar solos that will strike you like bolts of lightning right to the very core. A prime example would be track four (and personal fave), "The Last Goodbye", with its infectious atmosphere being propelled by lyrics like "Take this love, Take this life, Take this blood, It'll never die".
In proper BLACK LABEL SOCIETY form, opener "Concrete Jungle" instantly grabs you with its hooky grooves and fantastic rhythm, while "Black Mass Reverends" slows things down a tad but still remaining in the "rocker" category. Once "The Last Goodbye" passes, it's pretty much a constant pattern from there on; faster one, slower one, faster one, slower one... right until the end. Standout faster ones include the aforementioned rockers, along with "Hell Is High", the robust "Faith Is Blind" and "Devil's Dime". Standout slower ones would be "Nothing's The Same", "Sick Of It All", and "Blood Is Thicker Than Water", all displaying some more killer soloing abilities by Wylde.
Produced by Zakk Wyle himself, along with the help of other skilled practitioners like Michael Beinhorn and Randy Staub, "Shot To Hell" is a noble effort that gives the band more diverse credit to their name. Though not quite as gripping as earlier works like "Stronger Than Death" and "1919 Eternal", BLACK LABEL SOCIETY have delivered a worthy listen here. When you stand back and look at what Wylde has done over the past 20 years, it would be a complete travesty for him to ever put out something that doesn't live up to his (or fans') standards, and I seriously doubt that would ever happen.
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