Black Label Society

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.

1999 - Sonic Brew

Black Label Society - 1999 - Sonic Brew

Around the late '90s/early 21st century, the traditional guitar solo in hard rock/heavy metal appeared to be a dying beast, as most bands were rejecting six-string leads in favor of focusing solely on detuned riffage (culminating a few years later with Metallica's sonic stinkbomb, St. Anger). But one early sign that the tide was changing was the arrival of the Zakk Wylde-led project Black Label Society, and their 1999 debut, Sonic Brew. Expectedly, the group is all about the almighty guitar -- loud 'n' proud riffs and solos abound -- while Wylde himself handles the vocal duties (and can alternate his voice between a more melodic Phil Anselmo on the heavier material, and a Southern rocker on the acoustic fare). The majority of the album's style is basically summed up with the opening track, "Bored to Tears," with a few detours along the way (such as acoustic guitar shredfest "T.A.Z.," and the Lynyrd Skynyrd-like ballad "Spoke in the Wheel"). With the arrival of Sonic Brew, a whole new era of guitarists practicing their speed and scales in their bedrooms would soon be ushered in.

		1		Bored to Tears	Wylde	4:28
		2		The Rose Petalled Garden	Wylde	4:59
		3		Hey You (Batch of Lies)	Wylde	3:48
		4		Born to Lose	Wylde	4:23
		5		Peddlers of Death	Wylde	4:33
		6		Mother Mary	Wylde	4:27
		7		Beneath the Tree	Wylde	4:37
		8		Low Down	Wylde	4:36
		9		T.A.Z.	Wylde	1:56
		10		Lost My Better Half	Wylde	4:24
		11		Black Pearl	Wylde	3:27
		12		World of Trouble	Wylde	5:20
		13		Spoke in the Wheel	Wylde	4:13
		14		The Beginning... at Last	Wylde	4:26
		15		No More Tears	Castillo, Inez, Osbourne ...	6:57

¡Aquí!