Black Label Society - "Sonic Brew", 1999

Without any doubt, Zakk Wylde's 90s output, outside of Ozzy Osbourne's shadow, remains his best work to date; during those years, the blonde, bellbottoms-wearing guitarist was still a force to be reckoned with and an extremely inspired songwriter. From his superb Skynyrd-meets-Sabbath, self-titled Pride & Glory masterpiece, to the wonderful solo record "Book of Shadows" and the debut album of his long-term band Black Label Society, "Sonic Brew," his discography was flawless.

Originally recorded as a duo, with Wylde enlisting the little-known drummer Phil Ondich while taking care of everything else himself, the album was first released in Japan in 1998; less than a year later, I found the 1999 European press CD at a second-hand music shop and I was stoked, since the album was released to no fanfare at all and I hadn't seen it anywhere else before that fateful day. 

"Sonic Brew" sounds pretty different from the records the band released afterward; it retains the unmistakable southern-rock flair of Pride & Glory, but it's noticeably heavier, with strong Black Sabbath vibes and lower-tuned guitars that make it sound closer to the mid-90s sludge metal of bands such as Down and Corrosion of Conformity. The opener, "Bored to Tears," sets the tone right away, with one of the fattest, dirtiest bass-guitar intros I've ever heard paired with southern-fried guitar licks, before exploding in a rocking assault that takes no prisoners. The song encapsulates a lot of the band's flavors, grooving relentlessly and featuring both a neck-breaking bridge in the center and a swirling guitar solo, alongside Zakk's burly vocals. It must be noted that the vocals, while already indulging in some Ozzy-esque sections, are more in line with the Pride & Glory material than the Black Label Society records that followed, and it's a pity that the frontman progressively left that original tone behind, since it sounded way more natural and soulful. Phil Ondich's drumming, while adequate, is nothing to write home about, being relatively simplistic and unimaginative (unlike Brian Tichy's in Pride & Glory); in addition, the snare sounds rather tinny, and the drums in general are buried in a mix that definitely puts guitars and bass at the forefront. The production sounds a bit like a rush job; it's certainly unpolished, and at times it's all so distorted that it feels like the mixing desk was overdriving and about to fry during the sessions. In a way, though, it all adds to the ferocious, macho redneck sound that Wylde was probably trying to convey, and although he later released a remixed version of the album for its 20th anniversary, I'd advise to stick with the original.

It's a raw, alcohol-fueled, swampy record that manages to keep a great balance between energetic, hard-rocking assaults such as "Mother Mary" and the punkish "The Beginning... At Last", Sabbath-inspired stompers ("World of Trouble," "Low Down," "Born to Lose," or "Lost My Better Half"), and moodier, murky numbers like "The Rose Petalled Garden," "Hey You (Batch of Lies)," "Beneath the Tree," and "Black Pearl," all featuring effective dynamics alternating atmospheric verses with loud, crushing choruses. Wylde enriches some of the tracks with haunting acoustic and clean guitars, a melancholic piano (on "Peddlers of Death"), and a distorted bass that rumbles along the songs menacingly; he even finds the time for a heartwarming ballad ("Spoke in the Wheel") and some acoustic guitar shred on the frankly avoidable instrumental "T.A.Z."

Zakk's guitar playing is still top-notch here; his rhythm guitars sound massive, while the solos are still brilliant when compared to the more flashy but equally uninspired ones he will develop down the line. The haters of his pinch harmonics are going to have a field day here, since Zakk places them pretty much everywhere on the record; still, they were definitely part of his signature sound. I frankly always loved them, and since he quit using them—since the "Catacombs of the Black Vatican" album onwards—he just doesn't sound like himself anymore. I was astonished and disappointed he gave in to the internet mob and completely removed them from every record since 2014, but that's another story that I'll address some other time. 

While not as refined and inspired as the Pride & Glory album, "Sonic Brew" is still an outstanding debut that would have deserved more praise at the time of its release, and it's vastly superior to anything that Wylde and his revolving cast of players put out later on. While "Stronger Than Death" (2000) and "The Blessed Hellride" (2003) both contain some excellent songs, the rest of the band's releases vary widely in quality, and over the course of the 2000s, Wylde steadily drifted away from the artistic vitality of his 90s period. He unfortunately left his southern metal phase behind too soon, and that very part of his musical DNA and playing style has been sorely missed ever since. I'll take the beer-guzzling, Dixie-cowboy Wylde version any day over the kilt-wearing, silly jokester version we've been left with in the second part of his career. 

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