Kingcrimsonprog
Order Of The Black is the eighth full-length studio album by the American Heavy Metal band Black Label Society, the band featuring former Ozzy Osbourne virtuoso guitarist Zack Wylde.
Order Of The Black is seen as something of a return to form for certain fans of the band, in that after two albums that were perceived to have toned things down a little, and resided too much in only the mid and slow tempos, this record brings back a much heavier production job and more fast paced songs. Its also filled with more personality displaying guitar tricks and virtuosic solos.
It is certainly a very well written and masterfully crafted collection of songs in the Black Label Society style, it does everything that the band intend to do and it does it well, with a certain unquantifiable ‘umph.’
Standout tracks include the groovy opener ‘Crazy Horse,’ the memorable singles ‘Overlord’ and ‘Parade Of The Dead’ and the speedy and incredibly meaty ‘Godspeed Hellbound.’
All the usual Black Label Society features make an appearance on the record, there’s a few ballads, there’s a few mid tempo heavy numbers and there’s an acoustic guitar solo. If anything bad were to be said about the album beyond ‘the band have done this style before’ it would be that the album is perhaps a little overlong. Other than those two potential faults however, this is one of the better Black Label Society albums overall, and it contains a few genuine career highlights.
Overall; Order Of The Black is a strong Black Label Society album, with a satisfyingly heavy production job, a bit of variety and some of the best tracks the band have written in there during its long duration. As long as you aren’t absolutely sick of their style, or are bothered by its length, this will definitely be an enjoyable album and you should absolutely check it out.