Review: Black Label Society, "Hangover Music, Vol. 6"

If there's one man in the world of heavy rock that seems able to do no wrong, it's Zakk Wylde.

From the heavier sound he brought to Ozzy Osbourne's band in the late 1980s to Southern rock with Pride and Glory to his acoustic solo debut to the bone-crunching Sabbath-inspired riffs he lays down with Black Label Society, Wylde has rarely made a misstep. Now comes his sixth outing with BLS, the aptly titled "Hangover Music." If the first five Black Label albums have been the wildest, loudest and craziest party you've ever attended, then this album is definitely the morning after.

On "Hangover Music," Wylde revisits the acoustic stylings of his 1996 album "Book of Shadows." And why not? Over the years, his slow songs have been some of his best. They seem to fit his vocal style well.

"Hangover Music" is a bit grungier and uses more electricity than "Shadows," which was almost completely acoustic. But the trick to this album is in how he uses the electric guitars, not as a crutch, but sparingly to create mood and atmosphere - and of course, to kick out some blistering solos.

Even in a semi-acoustic setting, though, Wylde is still served better by the more upbeat numbers. The CCR-meets-Sabbath stomp of "House of Doom" is a perfect example of Wylde in his element and at the top of his game, and the album-opener, "Crazy or High," is simply one of the best songs the band has written.

Wylde and Co. hit rough waters when they slip into Elton John mode on "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow," but fare better when they slide into an Alice in Chains groove on "Layne." Wylde shows off his piano skills on "Damage is Done" and the jazzy chords on "No Other" are a nice surprise.

Overall, the album shows that you don't have to plug in to be heavy. But as much as I like the more laid back side of Zakk, I still think he needs to plug back in as soon as possible. The metal world needs him at full intensity.

Get "Hangover Music."

Review: Anthrax, "Music of Mass Destruction"

Though he's been in the band longer than any other singer, Anthrax is just now getting around to a live album and DVD with John Bush. It was well worth the wait.

In addition to showcasing the band's live show with Bush, it also gives fans the chance to see one of the last Anthrax shows with original bassist Frank Bello, who recently parted ways with the band.

On "Music of Mass Destruction," 'Thrax rips through a collection of songs both new and old with incredible energy.

There are a few stumbling points along the way. "Bring the Noise" really doesn't work without Public Enemy involved, and I still think Bush isn't up to some of the older material because it doesn't really fit his style. That being said, I have to give him credit for the ones he belts out better than the original. "Be All, End All" sounds great with Bush on vocals, and even the classic "I Am the Law" takes on a gruffer, more powerful sound.

Of course, when they rip out newer songs like "Inside Out," "Refuse to be Denied" and "Safe Home," Bush is in his element and the performances are tight all around.

Anthrax also throws out a couple of surprises, going way back to the band's debut album for the bonus track "Metal Thrashing Mad" and whipping out a cover of Metallica's "Whiplash." There's also a nice treat for comics fans on the DVD as artist Alex Ross chats about designing the cover for this album, as well as the band's stellar 2003 release "We've Come For You All." He also talks comics with drummer Charlie Benante and shows off some of his personal collection of memorabilia.

Having had the pleasure of seeing Anthrax live, I know this doesn't compare to the real energy, but it's close - a must-have for thrash fans.

Get "Music of Mass Destruction."

Review: Aerosmith, "Honkin' on Bobo"

It's a shame these are cover songs because this is the album that a lot of Aerosmith fans have been waiting on for more than 25 years.

There are no synthesizers, no horn sections and no bows to radio airplay. It's just the five members of Aerosmith (with occasional help from vocalist Tracy Bonham and pianists Paul Santo and Johnnie Johnson) rocking out on some of their favorite blues tunes. The result is a very warm, organic record that recalls the band's best work of the 1970s. And why shouldn't it? Some of the band's hottest songs in the '70s were covers of old blues tunes.

Hearing the band put their stamp on "Shame, Shame, Shame" or Willie Dixon's "I'm Ready" will make you think you're listening to one of Aerosmith's classic albums like "Toys in the Attic" or "Rocks." The songs would certainly fit right in there.

A real surprise on this album are the two Joe Perry sung tunes, "Back Back Train" and "Stop Messin' Around." In the past, Perry songs have been like an afterthought, perhaps throwing a little bone to the guitarist. On this collection, they're two of the best songs. Perry's smooth, smoky voice is a perfect fit with the bluesier numbers.

The only weak spot on the album is, surprisingly, the only new Aerosmith song, "The Grind." It sounds like the same ballad we've heard them do seven or eight times since the early 1990s. But the energetic numbers like Bo Diddley's "Road Runner" and "Baby, Please Don't Go," and the down and dirty numbers like Sonny Boy Williamson's "Eyesight to the Blind" and "Never Loved a Girl," a reworking of Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved a Man," will soon make you forget that one misstep.

This is what Aerosmith should sound like. Here's hoping the Boston bad boys will throw us some new rock 'n' roll in this vein in the near future.

Get "Honkin' on Bobo."

Review: Grip Inc., "Incorporated"

When drummer Dave Lombardo parted ways with Slayer in the early 1990s to form his own band, I thought it was a bad move.

Grip Inc.'s first three releases were good, but not outstanding, and when Lombardo rejoined his old bandmates in Slayer a couple of years ago, it could have signalled the end of Grip Inc. Instead, the band has delivered its best album to date.

"Incorporated" is easily the most diverse album the band has done. It has the same mix of Slayer-style thrash, punk and progressive, but every time you think you've got it figured out, the band throws in something new. They add some electronic industrial beats on tracks like "The Answer " and "Prophecy." They throw out a little flamenco guitar on "Enemy Mind," and several songs have a Middle Eastern flavor.

Perhaps the most surprising touches are the strings on "(Built to) Resist," and the Gregorian-style chanting on "Blood of Saints."

What won't surprise you are thrashers like "Endowment of Apathy" and the slab of crunch on "Man With No Insides." They may mix things up a bit, but they haven't sacrificed any heaviness.

Get "Incorporated."

Review: Godsmack, "The Other Side"

Acoustic sets are a tricky thing for hard rock bands. For every Alice in Chains or Tesla that gets it right, there are a dozen bands that take the stage with an acoustic and bang out the same power chords they use with an electric. Without the wailing wall of distortion, all of the weaknesses are exposed.

Luckily, Godsmack is one of the bands that gets it right. On "The Other Side," the band offers up acoustic versions of several of their songs, along with three new tracks.

Godsmack shows an impressive side on this album, that they've hinted at before on songs like "Voodoo" and "Serenity." The most impressive and surprising moment on the album is a reworking of their heavy hit "Awake." They've renamed it "Asleep" for this version and changed it from a pounding headbanger to a melancholy ballad. It gives a whole new signifigance to the song's subject.

I was also a bit surprised by how well other heavy tunes like "Re-Align" and "Keep Away" translated into acoustic numbers. They perhaps hovers a bit close to the "same three chords" approach, but the songs take on a warm, rootsy feel that works well.

Of the three new songs, the most interesting is "Touché," which features members of Dropbox, the first signing to Godsmack singer Sully Erna's label. It's got a twangy, almost country feel that's a bit out of character for the band. All in all, "The Other Side" reminds me a lot of Alice in Chains' "Jar of Flies," and that's a very good thing. This album shows that Godsmack isn't a one-trick pony and further reinforces their position as one of the top hard rock acts out there.

Get "The Other Side."

Review: Manowar, "Hell on Earth III"

Is there any band that better represents the spirit of metal than Manowar?

Whether you love Manowar or think the metal warrior schtick is a little corny, you have to admit that there are no greater champions of the music than the world's loudest band, and they prove it again on this DVD.

The first disc chronicles Manowar's travels around the world with plenty of behind-the-scenes footage, fan interaction and some live performance clips. This disc shows first-hand Manowar's dedication to their fans and vice versa. Their love of performing their music is evident, and they seem to truly appreciate the people that allow them to do it. How many other band have you ever seen that allow a fan to grab a guitar and come on stage for a jam session almost every night?

The second disc contains an hour-long performance from an outdoor festival in Cologne, Germany, where about 27,000 fans packed the streets of the city to see the band. It's a rousing performance, if a bit brief.

The rest of the disc is full of vintage Manowar videos, along with their latest two clips. I would have liked just a little more live performance, but beyond that, I've got no complaints. The DVD shows truly that Manowar are "Kings of Metal." All hail.

Get "Hell on Earth III."

Review: Opeth, "Lamentations"

Always evolving and moving forward, Opeth takes another chance on their latest release, the live DVD "Lamentations."

Recorded at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, the DVD features a real rarity, a complete performance of the band's mellow 2003 release "Damnation." That album, the companion piece to 2002's heavier "Deliverance," showcased the band's melodic side in a way that fans had never seen. It's a blending of folk, psychedelic rock and other influences with no distorted vocals and little distorted guitar, a stripped-down declaration of the band's talents.

The show chronicled on this DVD is a gutsy move for the band. It takes some moxy to take the stage in front of a group of rabid death metal fans and play what is, in essence, an acoustic set. Singer Mikael Akerfeldt makes reference a couple of times from the stage to the band being a little nervous, and well they should. Extreme metal fans are known for their fierce loyalty, but they're not known for embracing change in their favorite bands.

Opeth has always been the exception to that rule, though. They built their name on 10-minute epics with complex arrangements and strange musical shifts. Over the course of a 10-year career, the band has been constantly on the move, and most of their fans have followed. The evidence is on this DVD, as fans pump their fists with just as much vigor to the slower songs in the first set as to the metallic second set.

The band's performance is note perfect. There's not a lot of stage show - no pyro, no elaborate set, no rock star posturing. It's an honest performance from a band that's just happy to be doing what it does. (When was the last time you saw a rock guitarist take a minute to tune on stage, rather than just trading his guitar for a new one?) For Opeth, it's all about the music. But the live show is no less entertaining for that - in fact, it makes it all the more powerful, highlighting the band members' superb musical skills.

The band also uses the first set masterfully to build excitement, tension and drama for the second set. It comes to a head when the band launches into "The Master's Apprentices," throwing fans into a frenzy for the second helping, which focuses mainly on the "Deliverance" and fan-favorite "Blackwater Park" albums.

As an added bonus, the DVD contains a 65-minute documentary about the making of the companion albums "Deliverance" and "Damnation," which gives fans an insight into the internal workings of Opeth.

Get "Lamentations."

Review: God Forbid, "Gone Forever"

With their latest release, God Forbid join the ranks of a new breed of American metal bands like Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage and Chimaira that don't mind mixing and matching their favorite parts from all the various subgenres of heavy music.

To see a perfect illustration of this, you have to look no farther than the first single off this album, "Better Days." It pummels you into submission during the verse, then lifts you back up with a melodic chorus that will burn its way into your head and get stuck there.

The whole album follows suit. It takes elements of hardcore, death, thrash and good old-fashioned melodic metal and creates a Frankenstein monster that's just as volatile and just as fascinating as Mary Shelley's creation.

I can't resist a good melodic vocal with a vicious call-back scream, and this album is packed with them, most notably "Washed Out World." But the band can also rip out a good straightforward exreme metal number, too. Check out "Anti-Hero."

The New Jersey-based quintet tears through nine songs on "Gone Forever," each as good as the last. From the thrash of "Force-Fed" to the bludgeoning "Judge the Blood," the album is outstanding from start to finish. Welcome to the future of extreme metal.

Get "Gone Forever."

Review: Damageplan, "New Found Power"

Pantera fans, rejoice. Founding brothers Vinnie Paul and "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott have called in reinforcements for their MIA bandmates and recorded an album that will have Pantera fans asking one question - Phil who?

They had big shoes to fill on vocals, but former Halford guitarist Patrick Lachman was up to the challenge. Lachman can do a spot-on Phil Anselmo impersonation in case the band wants to roll out some Pantera tunes, but he's also got a versatility that allows him to do much more than just be a clone of his predecessor. (Take a listen to "Reborn" or "Soul Bleed" to hear another side.) The band's tattoo artist Bob Zilla takes over on bass, laying down a solid bottom end.

With song names like "Breathing New Life," "New Found Power" and "Reborn," it's not hard to figure out that a lot of the songs are about new beginnings and reflect the band's struggles over the past few years. (There's also a very pointed jab at Anselmo.)

The album is a new beginning in more ways than one, though. Without the expectations of a Pantera album, Dime and Vinnie took the opportunity to stretch their songwriting skills, resulting in a much more varied album.

While numbers like the title track, "Breathing New Life" and "Explode" are ripped straight from the Pantera songbook, there are songs you'd never hear on a Pantera album, like the acoustic "Soul Bleed," the earthy "Moment of Truth" or "Pride" and "Save Me," which come down more on the commercial side of today's metal scene. In essence, they can have their cake and eat it, too, with pummelling songs that will satisfy Pantera fans and a few that could find crossover success.

Is it a new Pantera album? No. Half the album is too mellow, and it just doesn't have the same spark. But it's as close as we're likely to get.

Get "New Found Power."