Forgoing the boozy Southern rock of their previous efforts, Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society is in pure heavy metal mode on 1919 Eternal. With thick, Sabbath-influenced riffs plowing through with roaring vocals from Wylde, this is the first real impression of what he is capable of in heavy metal with Ozzy Osbourne guiding his melodies. Although nowhere near as catchy or poppy as his material with Osbourne, the songs are memorable enough & the decision to stick with heavy metal is welcome after ...

Around the late '90s/early 21st century, the traditional guitar solo in hard rock/heavy metal appeared to be a dying beast, as most bands were rejecting six-string leads in favor of focusing solely on detuned riffage (culminating a few years later with Metallica's sonic stinkbomb, St. Anger). But one early sign that the tide was changing was the arrival of the Zakk Wylde-led project Black Label Society, & their 1999 debut, Sonic Brew. Expectedly, the group is all about the almighty guitar -- l ...

On the Black Lips' fifth studio album, 2009's 200 Million Thous&, not much has changed on the surface. Maybe they are a little more together, more focused & tight, but they still have enough ramshackle swagger & loose-as-a-goose sleaze to go around & have enough for seconds. They still pick the bones of garage rock clean, sounding like they should be leading off side two of a Back from the Grave comp or at the very least a highlight of a Pebbles volume. They still sing about the insane l ...

After the surprise success of Black Mountain's self-titled debut & their equally surprising tour with Coldplay, the media focused attention solely on band founder & riff-o-matic guitar god Stephen Mc Bean. With IN THE FUTURE, their seismic follow-up, the Vancouver quintet casts aside Mc Bean's lone genius act with an emphatic statement: Black Mountain is a b&. Singer Amber Webber's haunting vibrato is as much a presence on IN THE FUTURE as Mc Bean's anguished husk, & dominates on the beauti ...

The rare stoner rock band that doesn't sound like a bad imitation of Zuma-era Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Black NASA distill their sound on their aptly-named second album. Finding a fruitful middle ground between the pop-smarts of Queens of the Stone Age or Foo Fighters & the boogie-fried jamming of the likes of Fu Manchu, singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Chris Kosnik is at his best on songs like " Colony, which marries a catchy verse melody to some open-ended guitar freakouts, as oppose ...

US cult favourites, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, return with their 4th studio album, Baby 81. After releasing 2005's rootsy, acoustic, Howl, the guys are now back in full fuzz-rocking mode with the return of drummer Nick Jago who left the band for a brief period. The first single, ' Weapon Of Choice', is an immediately compelling anthemic rocker with strong lyrics & hooks. ...

This L.A.-based band (originally hailing from San Francisco) came along just when they were needed most. This self-produced major-label debut boldly plunders a reverb-&-white noise course previously trampled underfoot by long-gone British bands of the late '80s & early '90s (the Jesus & Mary Chain, the Verve, Ride, the Stone Roses, etc.). It all sounds very British, on many levels, despite the fact that only one band member is an Englishman living in exile in the States. On some songs, howev ...