Just when you thought "oh no, not another live Black Label Society video", comes this entertaining stripped down/acoustic/electric set filmed and recorded on March 6, 2013 at Los Angeles' Club Nokia, titled Unblackened. Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and CD formats, this review is for the stellar Blu-ray presentation, filmed in high definition and featuring stunning audio. For the show, the band, which includes Zakk Wylde (guitar, vocals, piano), Nick Catanase (guitar), John DeServio (bass, vocals), Derek Sherinian (keyboards), Chad Szeliga (drums), and Greg Locascio (vocals), takes some Black Label Society classics and strips them down somewhat, opting for a looser, more laid back feel, with the inclusion of some acoustic guitars & piano in spots to 'unblacken' them a bit. If you are used to the crushing heaviness of BLS, this offers up the band in a different light, and it works out quite well.
Zakk obviously picked songs that would work better in this format, those that have a bluesier, more melancholy & melodic feel, so out comes tracks like "Road Back Home", which is just wonderful here, with the guitarist showing how great his vocals can be, "Sold My Soul", "Queen of Sorrow", "The Blessed Hellride", "House of Doom", and many others. Alternating between dazzling electric guitar, acoustic, and piano, Wylde proves how well rounded a musician he is throughout, really putting on a display during the poignant "Throwin' It All Away", delivering searing, screaming lead guitar on his Flying V as well as haunting vocals. During the songs where he's behind the piano, Catanase adds his lead guitar work, which, surprisingly sounds just like Wylde, so the band doesn't miss a beat. Cool to see ex-Dream Theater/Black Country Communion keyboard player Sherinian on board here lending some extra color to these songs, which is not an element you normally hear on a BLS studio album.
There are some fun bonus features on the Blu-ray, especially Zakk's visit to a prison in the UK, where he plays (shreds) on his guitar for a few minutes then answers some questions, as well as an interview with the guitarist, who talks about the making of the Unblackened show and the history of the band.
Track Listing
01. Losin' Your Mind
02. The Blessed Hellride
03. Sold My Soul
04. Road Back Home
05. Spoke In The Wheel
06. House Of Doom
07. Queen Of Sorrow
08. Machine Gun Man
09. Sweet Jesus
10. In This River
11. Throwin' It All Away
12. Takillya (Estyabon)
13. Won't Find It Here
14. Rust
15. Speedball
16. I Thank You Child
17. Stillborn
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