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Printer-Friendly ModeWylde's Mafia makes Ozzy an afterthought
April 4, 2005 —
There was a time when Ozzy Osbourne was not just a mumbling old man with long hair and tattoos on the television.
There was a time when Ozzy was the master of metal, with a string of hit songs like "Crazy Train" and "Bark at the Moon." And, since 1987, backing him up was guitarist Zakk Wylde. After nearly a decade as Ozzy's lead guitarist, up through the recording sessions for the Ozzmosis album, Wylde decided to venture out on his own.
Wylde formed a band called Black Label Society, though really the project was a way to highlight his solo material. After all, the only mainstays in the band were Wylde and drummer Phil Ondich, who recorded their debut Sonic Brew in 1999. However interesting the Black Label Society's sound was, the release went quite unnoticed by the public.
But the thing that makes Black Label Society interesting is not that the band's sound is unique - it's actually the very opposite. Wylde's band is a throwback to the metal of yesterday, which means its sound is more like Iron Maiden than Breaking Benjamin. Wylde isn't trying out many new things when he's writing songs, but compared to the rock bands playing on today's radio, Black Label Society manages to sound unique.
That's because the metal of old is not as prominent today as it once was. Ozzy is still alive and well, but he hasn't released an album of new material since 2001. Thankfully, Wylde is around to pick up the slack, releasing seven albums in as many years with his band.
Mafia is the latest release, spawning the radio hit "Suicide Messiah," featuring such classic metal lyrics as "Crawl through the flames that eat your flesh, drowned in the waters that know you best." Anyone who thinks the single rocks won't be disappointed with the other fourteen tracks on the CD.
Mafia begins with a four-track blast of energy, with "Fire It Up" and "Forever Down" holding up just as well as "Suicide Messiah." Even the piano-driven fifth track, "In This River," works quite well despite Wylde's less-than-divine singing voice and the bleak subject matter of the song, with Wylde singing, "In this river all shall fade to black, in this river ain't no coming back." Shortly after this unexpected mellow interlude, Mafia picks back up with the raucous "You Must Be Blind" and continues to rock throughout the rest of the disc.
As a whole, the album is strong, with very few moments that drag, which is comforting concerning the number of rock bands with strong singles and poor albums.
But Black Label Society isn't like other rock bands - at least not the rock bands of today. Look back 15 to 20 years and you might find some music similar to the Black Label Society. Some of that music might even be from Wylde himself, playing lead guitar for Ozzy. But after listening to Mafia, you might just be asking the question, "Who needs Ozzy?"