Catacombs of the Black Vatican

Zakk Wylde detoured from making brain-shredding records to write a book in 2012, *Bringing Metal to the Children: The Complete Berzerker’s Guide to World Tour Domination*. With its “fantastically pathetic stories of rock ’n’ roll enrichment,” it’s far from a kids’ book; it’s an entertaining look at the unhinged years of a skilled musician, one responsible for a large percentage of the metal riffs put out into the universe. Wylde, recently gone alcohol-free and perhaps feeling some damage done, seems anxious to get on with rocking and dispelling any rumors that he or BLS have gone soft. *Catacombs of the Black Vatican* is a celebration of traditional metal, including the melodramatic and the cheesy, but it’s what we’ve come to expect and love about BLS. Twin leads, blazing solos, and shades of ‘90s grunge (à la Soundgarden and Alice in Chains) are all part and parcel of this collection, and any hint of the “unplugged” nature of the last two BLS albums is nonexistent. On the first studio album without rhythm guitarist Nick Catanese on board, Wylde deftly fills all the guitar roles himself; his vocals are as strong and gnarled as an ageless oak tree.

Catacombs of the Black Vatican will stand as an enduring testament to Black Label Society’s sheer force of will and mastery of each and every musical neighborhood the hard rock titans choose to stomp through. The aggressive bite of the barnstorming BLS banger “Damn the Flood” sits comfortably right alongside the stripped down, emotionally searing “Angel of Mercy,” “Scars” and “Shades of Gray.” The album’s opening tracks, “Fields of Unforgiveness” and lead single “My Dying Time,” drop the throttle into swampy, down-tempo menace that wouldn’t sound out of place in a Classic Rock band’s catalog nor at the creative height of the grunge era.

On their previous release, 2013's live and mostly acoustic Unblackened, Black Label Society showed a different side of themselves, turning down the volume to expose the soul of their work.

Black Label Society - Catacombs of the Black Vatican review: The band continue to build and expand upon their long-established sound... slowly but surely.