Black Label Society - 2005- Mafia

After falling out with mentor Ozzy Osbourne following the recording sessions for 1995's Ozzmosis, guitarist Zakk Wylde struck out on his own with his first solo album, Book of Shadows, in 1996. When it failed to score any mainstream success, the six-stringer took an extended break before resurfacing with a new album and band called Black Label Society in 1999, featuring Wylde on vocals, guitar, and bass and drummer Phil Ondich. A number of different musicians would sift through the band's ranks during the convoluted tour that followed, but Ondich was back on the drum stool by the time Black Label Society recorded 2000's Stronger Than Death album for new label Spitfire Records. The subsequent tour included a slot on the second stage of his old boss' Ozzfest tour and yielded the Alcohol Fueled Brewtality Live!! album in 2001. The band returned to Ozzfest the following year (this time on the main stage) in support of the 1919 Eternal LP. Blessed Hellride appeared in 2003 and Hangover Music, Vol. 6 followed a year later. Mafia, Black Label Society's seventh album, was released in spring 2005. The following October, Spitfire Records issued the Wylde work compilation Kings of Damnation: Era 1998-2004. In 2006, the band began their relationship with the Roadrunner label with a new album, Shot to Hell.

Review

Ozzy Osbourne's lead guitarist for nearly two decades, Zakk Wylde slips the off the leash again to release his seventh album with his band, the Black Label Society, creating a weighty masterwork that stands muscled shoulder to muscled shoulder with anything his liege lord is putting out. But then, the slinger is responsible for co-writing some of Osbournes's most memorable tunes from No Rest For The Wicked, No More Tears and Ozzmosis. Mafia does sometimes feel like Wylde is still in search of the heavy metal grail, especially on the Sabbath-esque "Mr. Octavia," but the slinger shows a surprisingly vulnerable side on "The River." The gritty-yet-sensitive song, dedicated to (but not written for) Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott who was shot by a fan in December of 2004, has a noble gravity and depth, and would fit comfortably on a Springsteen album. Wylde has hidden depths and reserves of talents he hasn't even scratched yet. –Jaan Uhelszki

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



Front and Back covers.