Review of Black Label Society - 1919*Eternal

Imagine yourself as a 19 year old guitar player playing night clubs in front of say...100 to 200 people. Then again it might just be 30, and other times it might even be 1000 depending on the club. But then out of nowhere you land the job playing guitar in huge arenas for the King of all King's, the Lord of all Lord's, the Prince of Darkness himself, Ozzy Ozbourne. What a dream come true. Well, the dream did come true and that's exactly where Zakk Wylde found himself back in 1988 when he joined the Ozzman to co-write No Rest For The Wicked. Christ, I remember that record, but I had no idea the guy was only 19 years of age. Whether your a fan of Ozzy or not, there's no arguing the utter unlikelihood of landing yourself a spot with such a legend at such a young age. Fourteen years later we find Zakk pushing his own project going by the name of Black Label Society. Having just released his third album under this name, Zakk has obviously made a name for himself in the rock/metal community. 1919 Eternal starts out with a groove infested number entitled Bleed For Me only to be followed up by the rhythm guitar driven Lords Of Destruction. These are probably my 2 favorite songs on the disc, and unfortunately these songs are only 2 out of about 5 total songs that really do anything for me. There's something in the mix of things that just doesn't click for me. There's a few things I can accredit this to and one would be the vocal department. Now the vocals are not all that bad; however, every now and then the band will be riffing along and I totally expect to hear Ozzy come in only to be slapped back to reality. This is by no means a fault to Zakk, it just boils down to knowing of his long-time connection with Ozzy, and the song structures leading me to envision the Ozzman hopping up and down, or whatever he calls that thing he does. Anyone familiar with the work Mr. Wylde did with the Ozzman is sure to hear that style of writing here with a slightly modernized feel. I don't want to just blow Zakk off as one of Ozzy's guitarists, but that's exactly who he is. I couldn't even begin to fathom how hard it is for him to be freed of being linked to the Great Old Wise One, especially when he's trying to do his own thing in Black Label Society. Nevertheless, that's who I always find myself thinking about when listening to this record. He is a great guitarist and there are some excellent riffs and solos on 1919 Eternal. The song Speedball (Zakk, have you been hanging out with Phil?) portrays Zakk doing an acoustical solo which is quite impressive musically, but the idea lacks originality due to the fact that several others have done it before him. One such guitarist that comes to mind would be Eddie Van Halen when he shredded his acoustic guitar on Spanish Fly. Having heard that many, many moons ago I just wasn't very surprised. In conclusion, although I just can't seem to get up and move to this one, it is sure to please any diehard Zakk Wylde fans. This album is produced well, the riffing is riffable and the solos are flawless. It's just not what I see as being millennium metal.

Release Details

Black Label Society

1919*Eternal

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