Black Label Society - "Mafia", 2005

Less than a year after the mostly unplugged "Hangover Music Vol. VI" experiment, the workaholic Wylde returned with a more traditional BLS record titled "Mafia." To this day, the album remains one of the band's most commercially successful, as shown by its number of streams on platforms such as Spotify. It's not exactly clear why, though, since in my opinion it's one of the band's most predictable and uninspired works.

The album picks up where "The Blessed Hellride" left off; the classic rock influences introduced on that record are even more prominent here, while the downtuned, sludgy riffing found on the band's early releases is definitely reduced in favor of a more accessible, immediate style. While "The Blessed Hellride" could still be considered at least partially a southern metal record, with "Mafia," the band moves toward a more mass-market, entry-level metal style potentially appealing to larger festival crowds, generic metal fans, and mainstream rock radio—a move already attempted, less successfully, by Corrosion of Conformity with the "America's Volume Dealer" record. I am not necessarily against bands trying to reach a bigger audience, but I am here to judge the music, and "Mafia" features some questionable songwriting choices.

This is also the point where Wylde's vocals become permanently Ozzyfied, with his added nasal snarl when singing in the higher range, as was already widely heard on "Hangover Music Vol. VI." They are better blended into the mix here, but they can still become somewhat grating over the album's 50-plus minutes. Often double-tracked to create harmonies, the vocal lines add another layer of melody to the songs, but the similarities with the "Prince of Darkness" have now reached a cover-band level; it is unsurprising that Wylde later started a Black Sabbath tribute band called Zakk Sabbath. This is unfortunate, since Zakk had a distinctly different vocal tone in the 1990s, as shown on earlier records such as the self-titled Pride & Glory album, his solo album "Book of Shadows," or even BLS's debut, "Sonic Brew." If only he had continued singing in that range, it would have given a different feel to the material on many BLS albums, including "Mafia."

The opener "Fire It Up" became something of a classic among BLS fans, but it's actually one of the weakest songs on the album. Built around a talk-box melody reminiscent of Alice in Chains' "Man in the Box," the song relies on just three chords, with little variety throughout its five-minute duration. It tries too hard to be an uplifting, hard rock singalong crowd-pleaser, and it is definitely a far cry from the massive, punishing signature sound of the band's first three albums.

The rest of the record improves somewhat, fortunately, though it rarely becomes exciting. The stoner metal, bouncy riffs of "What's in You" are as predictable as they come, but the song still works well enough; the same could be said for the album's single, "Suicide Messiah," which features a typical Iommi-inspired riff, or signature BLS-style tracks such as "Spread Your Wings," "Forever Down"—which opens with a melodic piano intro—and "Been a Long Time." All revolve around familiar and well oiled Wylde tropes, including the obligatory avalanche of pinch harmonics.

The album becomes more interesting when the band introduces unexpected elements or simply tries something slightly different, as on the chugging up-tempo "You Must Be Blind" or "Say What You Will," both of which could have been B-sides from a 1990s Ozzy album, or even "Death March," which features a main riff that strangely resembles the song "Love" by The Cult, though reworked into an Alice In Chains-sounding track thanks to similarly harmonized vocals. To be clear, this material is far from convincing, but it does show a glimmer of creativity compared to the rest of the tracklist, which consists of several throwaway fillers, the usual run-of-the-mill ballads (including "In This River," made popular by Zakk when he began dedicating it to the late Dimebag Darrell during shows), and a decent cover of "I Never Dreamed" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, where Wylde finally dusts off his Pride & Glory-style vocals for a classy album closer.

The production is adequate, but it's not as balanced as on "The Blessed Hellride." Craig Nunemacher's drums, while natural-sounding and unprocessed, feature a clicky kick that lacks a bit of punch, and overall they don't sound as solid as on that record. "Mafia" is also the first BLS record to feature live members Nick Catanese on second guitar and James LoMenzo on bass, but they don't make much of a difference. The bass is a bit more prominent than usual, but—if LoMenzo's performance and synergy with Wylde in Pride & Glory were outstanding—here he is rather subdued, as the songs do not offer much space for 4-string acrobatics.

Despite a tracklist of 15 songs, nothing truly deserves classic status on "Mafia." "Suicide Messiah"—while still forgettable—is probably the one song you might want to include in a BLS greatest hits or hear live, but most of the other material is frankly below average or barely above a passing grade at best. While you might not want to skip this album when it pops up in your playlist, it can be quite a chore to listen to from beginning to end. If I am going to spin a BLS record, I am definitely not going to pick this one, and over the years I have rarely reached for it.

LISTEN: Spotify