Entry tags:

black label society, zakk wylde

Black Label Society - Mafia
Release Info:

Group - Black Label Society
Album - Mafia
Released - 2005, Artemis Records
Producer - Eddie Mapp

Lineup:

Zakk Wylde - Lead Vocals, Guitars, Piano
Nick Catanese - Guitars
Craig Nunenmacher - Drums
James Lomenzo - Bass Guitar

Tracklist:

1. Fire it Up
   
2. What's in You?
   
3. Suicide Messiah
   
4. Forever Down
   
5. In This River
   
6. You Must Be Blind
   
7. Death March
   
8. Dr. Octavia
   
9. Say What You Will
   
10. Too Tough To Die
    
11. Electric Hellfire
    
12. Spread Your Wings
    
13. Been a Long Time
    
14. Dirt on the Grave

Overview:

Since his fallout with Ozzy Osbourne, Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society has been a constant fixture of the metal circut. Their releases have been consistant, if somewhat predictable. After the Alice in Chains tributes and uncharacteristic soul-searching on Hangover Music Vol. VI Wylde has gone back to his old ways - heavy shit. The Black Label Society's riffs aren't particularly fast or inspired, but what they are is heavy. This is explained through some of their tuning habits - Wylde and fellow six-stringer Catanese have been known to detune a step and then take the 6th string down further from D to B. Strange people. Anyway, to sum up Mafia in three words - 'true to form'.

The opening track, Fire it Up, leaves me with one of the effects that truly has me stumped on any album. I think it's a talkbox with a wah pedal, but it's fucking strange. Anyway, when the drums start up and then the rhythm guitars kick in you'll stop worrying about that. No complaints here. What's in You? is a bit ordinary. Suicide Messiah was the first single, and a minor hit, and what can I say but fuck, Wylde has certainly been influenced by Ozzy. I thought the Prince of Darkness was moonlighting on the track at first, as Wylde does his best imitation of the instantly recognisable style. The song itself is good apart from some irritating vocal parts, but the soloing is good. Forever Down starts Zakk showing off his piano chops before moving into a standard heavy riff - sounds OK, but it's been done once or twice before. In This River is wholly done on piano and guitar, and the ridiculous lyrics and constant references to "fading to black" would make it sound like a 12 year old's tribute to Metallica, if it weren't for the tricky guitar licks. After this I must confess that my attention starts to wander. You Must Be Blind doesn't stand out in any particular way. Death March is a plodding Sabbath-esque tune with an interesting chorus. Dr. Octavia is just Wylde soloing for 50 seconds - not bad technically, but it's no Eruption. Say What You Will has an odd kind of melody to it that Zakk can't really pull off. Too Tough To Die is typical BLS, not a bad song though. Electric Hellfire has the most annoying vocals from Wylde I've heard. I like the Spread Your Wings intro a lot, and all in all it's one of my favourite songs on this album. Been a Long Time is allright, but by this point the songs are starting to kind of blur together. Dirt on the Grave is a more sombre number, another guitar/piano job in the vein of In This River, but it does a better job of sounding dark and the lyrics are much better - probably my favourite song on the album.

Verdict:

Mafia is not a bad album by any stretch, but it's nothing exceptional. It's disappointing that a musician of Zakk Wylde's calibre isn't producing better stuff at this point, and it's much more worthwhile listening to his work with Ozzy Osbourne in the late 1980s. Basically, if you like the BLS you'll like this, and if not this probably won't change your mind.

Worth a Download - A Matter of Taste