Black Label Society Explained

Black Label Society
Landscape:	yes
Origin:	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Years Active:	1998–present
Website:
Current Members:	Zakk Wylde John DeServio Dario Lorina Jeff Fabb
Past Members:	Phil Ondich Nick Catanese Steve Gibb Mike Inez James LoMenzo Craig Nunenmacher Will Hunt Chad Szeliga

Black Label Society is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1998 by guitarist/singer Zakk Wylde. To date, the band has released eleven studio albums, two live albums, two compilation albums, one EP, and three video albums.

History

Sonic Brew and Formation (1998–1999)

In the early 1990s, Wylde had formed his own solo band Pride & Glory, playing a mixture of bluesy Southern rock with heavy metal.^[1] However, they disbanded in December 1994 after having released only one album. Wylde subsequently recorded an acoustic solo album, Book of Shadows (1996). In May 1998, after limited commercial success with Book of Shadows, Wylde and drummer Phil Ondich recorded what became Black Label Society's debut album Sonic Brew. It was decided, rather than the album being another solo album for Wylde, that they would form a long term band. It was known from the start that Nick Catanese would be retained as the second guitarist in the band (Catanese previously toured as rhythm guitarist for the Book of Shadows tour). John DeServio, who previously worked with Wylde as a temporary replacement in Pride & Glory, joined as the band's bassist for the album's tour.

Sonic Brew was released in Japan on October 28, 1998. Due to delays in signing with a record label (Spitfire Records), the album was not released in the rest of the world until May 4, 1999.

Line-up changes and subsequent releases (1999–2007)

The band's second album Stronger Than Death followed in 2000, with DeServio being replaced by Steve Gibb. Craig Nunenmacher replaced Ondich in July 2000, with his debut recording with the band being the live album Alcohol Fueled Brewtality Live +5. This was followed by 1919 Eternal, which was dedicated to Wylde's father and was released in 2002. Steve Gibb was temporarily replaced by Mike Inez (Alice In Chains) during the Ozzfest 2001 tour, and then Robert Trujillo took over bass duties for the band the next year.

In 2003, Trujillo joined Metallica, leaving the bass position in Black Label Society open, which left room for Inez to rejoin the band for a short two-week tour, supporting the band's album The Blessed Hellride. James LoMenzo joined the band in 2004 after the release of Hangover Music Vol. VI, which was the band's last release for Spitfire Records.

On the first four studio albums, Wylde played every instrument, except for the drums, including vocals, guitars, piano, and bass guitar.

In 2005, after the band signed with Artemis Records, the album Mafia was released. In October, LoMenzo left the band (and joined Megadeth a few months later) and was replaced by the band's original bassist, John DeServio. In 2006, the band left Artemis Records and signed to Roadrunner Records, releasing the album Shot to Hell.

In June 2007, Black Label Society parted ways with Roadrunner Records.

Side bands and lineup changes (2007–present)

thumb|Black Label Society in 2010

In July 2007, band members DeServio and Catanese both signaled the start of new bands as Zakk Wylde toured with Ozzy Osbourne. Drummer Craig Nunenmacher left the band in February 2010, and was replaced by Will Hunt (of Dark New Day, Evanescence). Hunt's first live performance with the band would be on July 24, 2010, at the first edition of the High Voltage Festival in London.

On August 10, 2010, Order of the Black, their eighth studio album, was released. It reached number 4 on the Billboard 200 chart.^[2]

In 2011 the band toured in support of their new album. The Black Label Berzerkus tour started in Portland, Oregon, with Children of Bodom and Clutch sharing the main support slot and 2cents opening.^[3]

In March 2011, Will Hunt left the band to record with Evanescence, and Danzig drummer Johnny Kelly (formerly of Type O Negative) filled in for him for the rest of the tour, however in May 2011, Mike Froedge of doubleDrive and Catanese's band Speed X joined the band.

Black Label Society released the compilation album The Song Remains Not the Same on May 3, 2011, via Entertainment One Music. The offering features unplugged versions of material from the album Order of the Black, as well as additional material recorded during the Order of the Black sessions. The Song Remains Not the Same was conceived, created and compiled by Zakk Wylde and the title is a nod to one of Wylde's favorite bands, Led Zeppelin.^[4]

On September 14, 2011, Wylde introduced Breaking Benjamin's Chad Szeliga as the band's new drummer.^[5] An interview with ESPN announced an acoustic DVD entitled Unblackened, in the works for 2012. The album was recorded during the Unblackened show at Club Nokia on March 6, 2013. ^[6]

On May 3, 2013, it was announced that Black Label Society would be included in the year's installment of Gigantour, along with Megadeth, Device, Hellyeah, Newsted, and upstart band Death Division.

In August 2013, Zakk Wylde stated that he would begin writing a new studio album, and it would be scheduled for a 2014 release. On October 28, they debuted a new music video, a cover of Bill Withers "Ain't No Sunshine".

It was reported on December 2, 2013, that Nick Catanese had amicably parted from the band.^[7]

On January 1, 2014, Wylde announced via Facebook that Lizzy Borden guitarist Dario Lorina would be replacing Nick Catanese as rhythm guitarist. Lorina made his live debut with the band on April 16 in Seattle.

In 2014, Black Label Society played the main stage of Download Festival on the Friday at Donington Park in the UK.

On October 2, 2017, the band released the song "Room of Nightmares", also announcing that they will be releasing their new album Grimmest Hits on January 19, 2018. On November 20, the band released another song from Grimmest Hits titled "All That Once Shined".

On November 29, 2019, Black Label Society released a vinyl-only EP titled Nuns and Roaches. The release features six songs originally recorded in 1999.^[8]

In August 2021, the band announced their eleventh studio album, titled Doom Crew Inc., to be released on November 26, 2021. The album's lead single is titled "Set You Free", which was selected by Loudwire as the 22nd-best metal song of 2021.^[9]

Band members

Current members

• Zakk Wylde – lead and rhythm guitar, lead vocals, piano, bass
• John DeServio – bass, backing vocals
• Dario Lorina – rhythm and lead guitar, backing vocals
• Lou Robey;– drums

Live musicians

• Robert Trujillo – bass
• Johnny Kelly – drums
• Mike Froedge – drums

Former members

• Phil Ondich – drums
• Nick Catanese – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Steve Gibb – bass
• Craig Nunenmacher – drums
• Mike Inez – bass
• James LoMenzo – bass
• Will Hunt – drums
• Chad Szeliga – drums

Timeline

Discography

See main article: Black Label Society discography. Studio albums

• Sonic Brew (1999)
• Stronger Than Death (2000)
• 1919 Eternal (2002)
• The Blessed Hellride (2003)
• Hangover Music Vol. VI (2004)
• Mafia (2005)
• Shot to Hell (2006)
• Order of the Black (2010)
• Catacombs of the Black Vatican (2014)
• Grimmest Hits (2018)
• Doom Crew Inc. (2021)

Tours

• 2011: Black Label Berzerkus Tour started in February in Birmingham, England and ended Cologne, Germany in March, with Godsized. Dates in Asia at the end of March and beginning of April were cancelled. A Latin America leg in May was also cancelled, and rescheduled for August. A second leg through Europe started at the Sweden Rock Festival in June and ended at the Norway Rock Festival in July, also stopping at Graspop Metal Meeting and Hellfest.
• 2011: Uranium Tour through North America from May 4 to June 5, with All That Remains on all dates in May, and Rev Theory on the four dates in June. Hail the Villain had been scheduled to open, but cancelled, and were replaced by Hourcast and Anchored. The tour included off-dates at the Rocklahoma, 93XFest, Kansas City Rockfest, and Rock on the Range festivals.
• 2011: Judas Priest's Epitaph World Tour of North America from October 12 to December 3. Black Label Society were one of the opening acts, alongside Thin Lizzy.^[10]
• 2014: Revolver Golden Gods Package Tour of North America with Butcher Babies and Devil You Know, from April 16 to June 7. Down joined the tour from May 5 in Birmingham, Alabama to May 23 in Grand Prairie, Texas.
• 2014: Catacombs of the Black Vatican European Tour, first leg, of major festivals and selected club dates from June 11 to July 10.
• 2014: Catacombs of the Black Vatican North American Tour, first leg, with Wovenwar and Kyng, from July 17 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to August 4 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
• 2014: Catacombs of the Black Vatican Latin American Tour from August 8 to August 20.^[11]
• 2014 - 2015: Catacombs of the Black Vatican North American Tour, second leg, with Hatebreed and Butcher Babies, from December 28, 2014 in Spokane, Washington, to January 22, 2015 in Omaha, Nebraska.
• 2015: Catacombs of the Black Vatican European Tour, second leg, with Black Tusk and Crobot, from February 11 in Glasgow, Scotland, to March 15 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
• 2015: Unblackened tour of North America with Wino, from April 3 in Huntington, New York, to April 19 in Anaheim, California.^[12]
• 2015: Festival Tour around the world from May 27 at Ozzfiesta in Mexico, through most of Europe, to two shows, also in Mexico, opening for Ozzy Osbourne on August 18 and 20. Then a one-off appearance at the Food Truck and Rock Carnival in Clark, New Jersey on September 19, and a short run in November in Europe, and at Ozzfest Japan on November 22.
• 2015: Catacombs of the Black Vatican Australia/New Zealand tour from November 25 in Frenmantle, Australia, to December 4 in Auckland, New Zealand.
• 2015: Doom Trooping Into 2016 North American Tour with Huntress and The Shrine, from December 26 in Phoenix, Arizona, to December 31 in Marksville, Louisiana.^[13]
• 2018: The Grimmest Show on Earth North American Tour with Corrosion of Conformity, from January 2 in Omaha, Nebraska, to February 27 in Los Angeles, California. A short run of shows from January 8 in Montreal, Canada, to January 12 in Oklahoma City were cancelled for health reasons, with Corrosion of Conformity playing some last-minute smaller headline shows in their place. A second leg from July 14 at the Cadott Rock Fest to August 11 in Sayreville, New Jersey included replacement dates for the four cancelled shows. The date in Oklahoma City was postponed by two days, replacing the date in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which was cancelled due to poor ticket sales. Eyehategod joined several dates on both legs.
• 2018: The Grimmest Show on Earth European Tour with Monolord from March 3 in Ekaterinburg, Russia, to April 9 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Ekaterinburg date was eventually cancelled and the tour started the next night in Moscow. The Belfast date on April 9 was added due to high demand after the original final date of the tour in Belfast on April 8 sold out.^[14]

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2022-03-13 . Music Review: Pride & Glory HMC . 2022-03-14 . en-US.
2. Web site: Music Legends. Zakk Wylde Interview. May 8, 2013. September 22, 2010. Saulnier. Jason.
3. Web site: Zakk Wylde Launching Black Label Berzerkus Tour This Fall . Billboard.biz . 2010-06-16 . 2011-07-06 . August 22, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100822095934/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i7acb6b7c0df1eb708af933cff999d2af . dead .
4. Web site: BLABBERMOUTH.NET - BLACK LABEL SOCIETY To Release 'The Song Remains Not The Same' In May . Roadrunnerrecords.com . 2011-07-06 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110518072850/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=155168 . 2011-05-18 .
5. Web site: . BLACK LABEL SOCIETY Recruits BREAKING BENJAMIN Drummer . September 14, 2011 . August 10, 2012.
6. Web site: BBTN theme winner: Zakk Wylde . Espn.com . 2011-10-14 . October 19, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111117035133/http://frontrow.espn.go.com/2011/10/bbtn-theme-winner-zakk-wylde/ . November 17, 2011 . live .
7. Web site: BLACK LABEL SOCIETY Parts Ways With Longtime Guitarist NICK CATANESE. Blabbermouth. December 2, 2013. BLABBERMOUTH.NET. March 16, 2019.
8. Web site: black label society - nuns & roaches - schwarze lp - napalm records. 2020-12-13. napalmrecords.com.
9. Web site: Al-Sharif . Rabab . DiVita . Joe . Hartmann . Graham . Richardson . Jake . Trapp . Philip . Summan . Yasmine . The 35 Best Metal Songs of 2021 . . . December 31, 2021 . December 6, 2021.
10. Web site: Black Label Society Tour 2011. Jukeboxmetal.com. August 30, 2018.
11. Web site: Black Label Society Tour 2014. Jukeboxmetal.com . August 30, 2018.
12. Web site: Black Label Society 2015 Unblackened Tour Schedule . Black-label-society.concerttournewshub.com . February 12, 2015 . April 5, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150416101423/http://black-label-society.concerttournewshub.com/ . April 16, 2015 . dead .
13. Web site: Black Label Society Tour 2015. Jukeboxmetal.com . August 30, 2018.
14. Web site: Black Label Society Tour 2018. Jukeboxmetal.com . August 30, 2018.