Album review: Black Label Society – Engines Of Demolition

There’s much in life that’s uncertain. The weather we might have at Download is an obvious example, along with how Donald Trump might pronounce the words 'Strait of Hormuz', and so on. One thing you can rely on is the fact that any album fronted by Mr. Zachary Phillip Wylde is going to feature riffs that feel like earth movements and solos that bay like hyenas scenting flesh. The new album by Zakk’s Black Label Society is no exception. On the downside, if you choose to look at it that way, nor is it going anywhere different or achieving anything new.

Opener Name In Blood is as complete a song as this line-up has ever produced. It’s all shaggy riffs, a commendable amount of emotion and a languorous, singable hook. Even better – better arguably than anything else on Engines Of Demolition – is Gatherer Of Souls, a thunderous collision of stuttering metallic guitar and skewed melody.

You won’t need AI tools to predict how Lord Humungus and Broken And Blind are going to sound. It’s all tectonic heaviness, each an earthy, Sabbath-marked bloodletter. Then there’s ferocious soloing in Above & Below, and deft slackening of pace in time for Better Days & Wiser Times and Back To Me. Zakk, of course, is about as loyal a centurion as can be imagined, and reliable as bedrock itself. His many decades at Ozzy Osbourne’s side, right to the end, are not to be forgotten by us, or him. He closes this album with a delicate and reflective serenade that’s pointedly titled Ozzy’s Song.

It’s true that not every track here rises to equal heights, but few overstay their welcome. Black Label Society remains a rock steady platform for Zakk Wylde’s beefy talent and excessive riffery. While this album offers nothing new, if you dug this band before, this is one deep hole you’re not gonna want to escape from.

Verdict: 3/5

For fans of: Clutch, Volbeat, Alice In Chains

Engines Of Demolition is out now via Spinefarm.