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BLACK LABEL SOCIETY
Stronger Than Death (Spitfire)
Reviewed by Christophe Chuvan
This is the second release by this band, which is really more a solo vehicle for shred-hero Zakk Wylde than a real band. One of the most outspoken characters in metal today, Zakk Wylde came to prominence in the late 80's when he landed one of the most coveted guitar gigs on the planet with Ozzy while he was barely out of his teens. Back then, more than a few wondered how this kid would be able to fill the shoes of giants like Toni Iommi, Randy Rhoads and Jake E. Lee. As it turned out, there was no need to worry. Now, more than ten years after No Rest For The Wicked, Zakk is out to prove a point again. This time around, though, the message is that heavy rock isn't dead and that anyone who doesn't agree should discuss it with Zakk Wylde in person (I decline all responsibility for whatever happens after).
On this album, Wylde doesn't stray too far from what people have come to expect from him, i.e. monster grooves, relentless aggression, sonic mayhem and, above all, Godzilla-sized guitar riffs by the truckload. Throw in a good dose of dropped-D tunings and the Wyldeman's trademark harmonic squeals and you're starting to get the idea of how violent this album sounds. However, if you expect either a new "No More Tears" or a southern rock mix a la Pride & Glory (his first side project after parting ways with Ozzy), you might be disappointed.
Wylde handles pretty much all duties here, instrumental and vocal. That is, unless "mashing" refers to drumming in Wylde-speak - the booklet makes lots of references to beer but doesn't tell you much about who does what. Vocally, Zakk does a decent job, although he doesn't seem to stretch himself too much in terms of melody. On the opening number, he manages to sound like Ozzy whereas on some other tracks, his voice turns more aggressive and has a raw quality to it which brings to mind echoes of Lon Chaney (Alice In Chains). Lyrically, Zakk paints a pretty dark landscape, dealing with images of doom ("Ain't life grand"), destruction ("Superterrorizer") and deception ("Counterfeit God"). At the end of the day, though, the overall theme seems to be Zakk's opinions about people who piss him off. Obviously, subtlety is not exactly the order of the day here. Indeed, Zakk manages to sound even more pissed off on this than on the first BLS album and reaches new heights (or should I say "depths") of ultra-heavy riffosity. To give you an idea, the intro riff to the title track grinds away at such a chugging pace that it brought me back memories of a 45' vinyl record being played at 33' speed!
Not that Zakk Wylde is a one-trick man. The few of you who will have given a listen to Pride & Glory's two releases will know that there's more to this guy than just the ability to churn out heavy metal riffs on command. For example, there's even a piano ballad on there, "Just Killing Time." However, the repeated motif that carries the song fails to achieve the intended hypnotic effect and ultimately just lingers on. Similarly, the only other "soft" track on the album, "Rust," is a slow acoustic number which again fails to reach any substantial level of excitement.
In his stubbornness to rock out, Zakk Wylde eventually falls victim to the limitations of his tunnel vision. There's a distinct lack of melody throughout the album and most of the songs end up sounding the same. This is all the more disappointing because we know what the man is actually capable of. While we don't expect him to re-hash past glories and come up with Ozzy-like pop metal, it is still a shame that his versatility and melodic gifts have been overridden by his desire to flatten everything in sight with the heaviest riffs this side of Pantera. On the other hand, at the end of the day, if you like chugging riffs and lightning-speed guitar solos and you don't really care about variety, you'll probably find something to like in this shredfest.
© 2000 - Christophe Chuvan