The European tours of Black Label Society often do not contain many dates in Switzerland and so I was already looking forward to the first announcement of the appearance in the Z7 of the “Catacombs of Black Vatican” tour. Black Label Society is a hard rock band from the United States led by hairy giant and guitar god Zakk Wylde. It seemed like an eternity since this band last visited Switzerland and that was evident from the large audience that Saturday. Finally Zakk Wylde again, finally Black Label Society again and the guys let it rip that the walls of the Z7 were shaking!

Black Label Society in the catacombs of the Z7

Zakk Wylde was Ozzy Osbourne's lead guitarist for many years and when Ozzy Osbourne decided to take a probably longer break after the album “Ozzmosis” in the late 90s, this was the opportunity for Zakk Wylde to spend his time on the side projects “Pride and Glory” and Dedicated to “Zakk Wylde's Book of Shadows”. In 1998 Wylde finally launched “Hell's Kitchen” and began to work on the album called “Sonic Brewery”, some of the song material from a session with Guns N 'Roses. The complete artwork and the songs were already fixed when it was discovered that the name “Hell's Kitchen” could not be secured and so the project was renamed “Black Label Society” out of the preference for whiskey. Black Label Society is still Zakk Wylde's solo project, and on the albums he usually plays all the instruments apart from the drums himself, but live he uses fellow musicians.

Black Label Society "The Blessed Hellride" Z7 Pratteln 14/03/2015
Black Label Society "The Blessed Hellride" Z7 Pratteln 14/03/2015

On this Saturday evening, many old and new Black Label Society fans gathered in the sold out Z7. The evening was opened by Crobot, the heavy metal band from the US&A can score relatively quickly with their classic rock & metal mix. With songs like “Nowhere To Hide”, singer Brandon Yeagley masters the perfect posing and can quickly win over the audience. Crobot offered a solid performance and paved the way for Black Tusk, which somehow didn't really fit into the opening act. Their music is somewhere between metal, thrash, doom and sludge. So rough, nasty and heavy, with a lot of double bass drums and also the two-part vocals is certainly a unique selling point. Unfortunately, the band sounds monotonous, dull, dirty and simply boring in the long run and unfortunately only parts of the audience can be enthusiastic about the band. Most of them just stare at the stage and sometimes give applause, the mood looks different.

Black Label Society in the catacombs of the Z7

A banner with the Black Label Society logo was raised to cover the stage. It didn't use much, because you could look past the sides wonderfully. Everything was prepared and checked and it was already clear here that it is not going to be quiet. The band was absolutely in top form. already in the first song after the intro you could feel the energy from the stage. The intro sounded, followed by the sound of sirens and the song with the appropriate title “The Beginning? At Last ”. With a crystal clear sound and a massive stage presence, the band blows the fans straight to the wall and immediately adds more breakers with the pounding “Funeral Bell” or “Bleed For Me”. The crowd shakes and celebrates every song, while the band supports it with almost perfect joy in playing and posing. Of course, after “Damn The Flood” Zakk Wylde insists on burning off what feels like a quarter-hour guitar solo, guitar porn deluxe. If you like it ... what I definitely have to complain about this evening is that there was no canned beer and for some inexplicable reason you would have to wiggle through the jam-packed Z7 with swaying plastic cups.

Zakk Wylde Solo (extrait 1) Z7 Pratteln 14/03/2015
Zakk Wylde Solo (extrait 1) Z7 Pratteln 14/03/2015

Bassist John DeServio has been part of the band for some time and is bursting with energy. Bearded and like a little Rumeplstilzchen, he scurried on his side. But he never let his five strings out of sight. What the man with the low notes did was terrific. The same goes for Dario Lorina, the new guitarist in the band. The young Spund knew how to use his instrument and should get his big performance in a very special song. Chad Szeliga also had that on drums. There was no drum solo, but there was a mighty thunder from the background. The double bass thumped mightily and provided the right pressure. But the main focus was clearly on the master himself. Zakk Wylde convinced with a fantastic handling of his guitars and he had plenty of that. A particularly close cohesion is demonstrated among the fans, which Zakk himself repeatedly emphasizes, after all, they are all “one family”. This is how the “Colors”, motorcycle club-like patches that many fans wear on their vests, are created. Ultimately, this cohesion is more representational, and the supposed “code of honor” as originally found in the booklet of the second album “Stronger Than Death” is rather fun to understand, as it quickly becomes clear when reading the content.

Black Label Society in the catacombs of the Z7

The ballad block followed, starting with “Angel Of Mercy”, for which Zakk sat down at the keyboard. When flags with the likeness of Dimebag Darrel were hung behind him, it was clear what was coming: “In This River”, which he once again dedicated to his friend Dimebag Darrel, who was murdered in 2004. Zakk sang this song with a lot of feeling and yet enormous power and with that the highlight of the show was already over. It's a shame, I could have heard the song in an extra long version and that in a loop. The hymn goes through the bone and leaves a devout audience. The set ended with “The Blessed Hellride”, “Suicide Messiah”, “Concrete Jungle” and “Stillborn”. A flashed audience remains at a late hour, a top performance by the Black Label Society. The man behind the controls also did a good job, giving the Z7 a fat sound. When the last notes of “Stillborn” had faded away and the hall light felt too quickly switched on again, the clock showed exactly 90 minutes. Seen in this way, there was still room for one or the other song in the set.

Black Label Society "Angel of Mercy" Z7 Pratteln 14/03/2015
Black Label Society "Angel of Mercy" Z7 Pratteln 14/03/2015

A thoroughly successful evening and on the record the songs seem rather leisurely, but live they knock you out, especially the ones from the new album, that's unbelievable. An absolute live band that should be seen once in a lifetime. Zakk Wylde is not one of the best metal guitarists of our time for nothing and is an audience-effective figure anyway. However, he changes his fellow musicians quite often, especially the bassist position has been subject to a large number of line-up changes in the past. One of the best-known owners is probably Robert Trujillo, who ended his work at BLS at the same time as his time with Ozzy Osbourne ended and joined Metallica a little later. Black Label Society impressively rocked the traditional Basel temple. Not as “wylde” as before, with less spit, less cross-marking, less aggression, but heavy, with a good sound, with a full board of guitars and everything that was to be expected. Black Label Society are definitely still a force live and absolutely worth listening to. No mercy and hell yeah!

Black Label Society setlist:

  1. Intro: Whole Lotta Sabbath (Wax Audio Song)
  2. The Beginning... At Last
  3. Funeral Bell
  4. bleed for me
  5. Heart of Darkness
  6. Suicide Messiah
  7. My dying time
  8. Damn the flood
  9. Guitar solo
  10. Godspeed Hellbound
  11. Angel of Mercy
  12. In This River
  13. The Blessed Hellride
  14. Concrete Jungle
  15. Stillborn

[rwp-review id = "0"]


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