Black Label Society – '1919
Eternal'
Released on Spitfire Records in 2002
THE BAND:
**see track listing**
TRACK FRAGMENTS:
1.) “Bleed for Me” – Zakk Wylde (guitars, bass, and vocals), Christian
Werr (drums): This track opens with a blistering in your face Zakk guitar
riff, along with a bass drum beat. When the main body of the intro kicks in you
can really hear that it is Zakk on guitar. The vocals for the verse are slowed
down a bit, which adds for a nice effect. The drum pattern is a real simple
heavy beat and gives the song a lot of power. The song has a couple real cool
bridges. Lyrically the song almost has a religious meaning. The solo like with
a lot of Zakk’s solos is very in your face and intense.
2.) “Lords of Destruction”- Zakk Wylde (guitars, and vocals), Craig
Nunenmacher(drums):This track opens with a real abstract effects pedal
guitar pattern. During the main body of the intro Zakk’s guitar pattern has a
big Metallica feel to it. The vocals for the verse are also set up in a very
abstract way. But after reading the lyrics you see way the vocals are on the
dark side. Through the vocal arrangement there is a little screaming vocal
patterns that really add to the effects of the track. There is a huge vocal
effect during the bridge.
3.) “Demise of Sanity” Zakk Wylde (guitars, and vocals), Christian Werr (drums)
& Robert Trujillo (bass): This track opens with a pretty standard mid
nighties Zakk guitar pattern. The vocal arrangement is set up n a duet style
with some of the lyrics sang with a vocal effect. The solo for this track is
really an extended lead scale.
4.) “Life, Birth, Blood, Doom” Zakk Wylde (guitars, and vocals),
Christian Werr (drums) & Robert Trujillo (bass): This simple
opening guitar riff completely blew me away. Zakk plays a real simple lead
scale through the intro of this track. You can hear the huge hook coming right
from the opening vocal line. Vocally Zakks vocal style is very similar to the
stuff he did with ‘Pride & Glory’. The chorus is just 13 words with two lines
and packs more of a punch as a song that has a standard four or five line
chorus. The solo is very laid back considering the intensity of the main
guitar patterns.
5.) “Bridge to Cross” Zakk Wylde (guitars, and vocals), Craig
Nunenmacher(drums): This ballad opens with a real laid back guitar rhythm
and lead scale. Once again the vocal lines are very similar to ‘Pride &
Glory’. The bass drum is muffled and the mic on it is turned up, so you have
this real huge bass drum sound. The chorus has a very small lead scale behind
the vocal lines. Like the song in whole the solo is very laid back.
6.) “Battering Ram” Zakk Wylde (guitars, and vocals), Craig Nunenmacher(drums):
This track opens with a huge double bass drum pattern. The pre-verse consists
of just drums and vocals. At times Zakk is just playing simple lead riffs
through the vocal lines. The solo is very short and intense
7.) “Speedball” Instrumental
8.) “Graveyard Disciples” Zakk Wylde (guitars, and
vocals), Craig Nunenmacher(drums): This track opens with a real
simple heavy guitar and drum pattern. Once again vocally the track is a lot
like ‘Pride & Glory’ stuff. This track is also one that really shows that Zakk
is not only a guitarist but also a singer. The solo is very intense in a way
that could only come from Zakk.
9.) “Genocide Junkies” Zakk Wylde (guitars, and vocals), Craig
Nunenmacher(drums): This track opens with a huge lead scale rhythm.
When the intro kicks in it has a very ‘System of a Down’ sound to the guitar
tracks. The vocals are very dark. There is a couple lead scales that reminded
me of very early Rhoades. During the breakdown section the song that’s a very
hard eighties metal edge to it. The solo is really just a couple of small lead
scales that are used a fill ins.
10.) “Lost Heaven” Zakk Wylde (guitars, and vocals), Craig Nunenmacher(drums):
This second ballad like the first completely blew me away. Lyrically the song
has a very blues effect to it. The song in whole is very simple and very well
structured.
11.) “Refuse to Bow Down” Zakk Wylde (guitars, and vocals), Craig
Nunenmacher(drums):This track opens with a recorded spoken section. The
lyrical arrangement and lyrics themselves are very simple. The main highlight
of the track was the double bass drum pattern. The effects pedal used for the
solo section is where the track gets its dynamics.
12.) “Mass Murder Machine” Zakk Wylde (guitars, and vocals), Craig
Nunenmacher(drums): This track opens with a Sabbath type intro. The song
all around is very simple written and has a real bad groove to it. One of the
main highlights is the backing vocal overdubs.
13.) Berserkers” Zakk Wylde (guitars, and vocals), Craig Nunenmacher(drums):
This track kicks off with a huge bass line. Zakk kicks the track in with an in
your face intro. Vocally this track really shows a lot of Zakk’s vocal
ability.
14.) America the Beautiful” –Instrumental
Absolutely do not wait for this CD to hit the bargain bin!!! It is well
worth $16.50!!!
Zakk quickly jumped on the music scene as a replacement for Jake E. Lee.
‘No More Tear’s’ as a musician still to this day ranks up there as one of the
greatest CDs musically ever written. From ‘Diary’ up to ‘Tears’ Ozzy’s releases
had been very mediocre musically, Then steps in Zakk with an in your face no
bullshit style of guitar playing. And it’s been nonstop ever since.
Black Label Society’s “1919 Eternal” is stripped down to an all balls
with no glamour sounding CD. With “1919” Zakk has givin’ a kick in the ass to
the hard rock groups of the 2000 era. Saying look punks if your going to do it,
do it right….Like this!!