Last time I wrote about Zakk Wylde’s powerhouse project, Black Label Society, it was to review their live album from 2001.  I mentioned that one of the reasons that live album is so good is that the song selection spans the band’s first two studio albums, including 2000’s Stronger Than Death.  For their live set, the band chose most of their best songs from their first two discs, but the clear highlights of it are from their second, Stronger Than Death.

Stronger Than Death is BLS’s magnum opus.  In a way, it’s a shame that the band hit its peak so early in its career, but luckily, it didn’t really start to fall down a notch for quite some time.  Their second album just happened to be their most punishing, and the most representative of what Black Label Society is all about.

And what they are all about is pure, straightforward, in your face metal.  There is no tinkering around with other genres or sounds or anything like that.  This is metal in its most traditional, brutal state.  And the result is an album that from top to bottom delivers on all levels.

Before going into details, I should say that, yes, there are a couple ballads on the disc.  This isn’t a bad thing, though, nor does it render BLS “less metal” than some band that doesn’t have an appreciation for the softer side.  Metal bands often write the best ballads (usually due to their overall talent level) and Zakk is prolific in his ballad-writing.  The softer songs create a good balance on the album and are full of emotion, which is imperative for a successful ballad.  Too many popular ballads sounds neutered and devoid of true emotion.  This isn’t the case with BLS.

Anyway, getting back on track, those two ballads are called “Rust” and “Killing Time,” and are perfectly placed around the blistering tracks of “13 Years of Grief,” “Superterrorizer,” and the title track.  Zakk’s vocals are so potent on this album that you almost feel bad for the thirteen-year-old delinquent and even death itself.  “Stronger Than Death” is such a powerful song with such a powerful message of being a strong person that it easily should be BLS’s anthem.

The two top highlights are “Phoney [sic] Smiles & Fake Hellos” and “Counterfeit God.”  In these two songs, Zakk goes to work on corporate stooges who are only out for themselves and fake preachers, respectively.  The songs have such a profound attitude and swagger and punishing groove, that if you like heavy music at all, you need to listen to these songs. 

This is BLS at the top of their game, but unfortunately that swagger I mentioned takes a bit of a dive later in their career.  Up next, I will review a later album of BLS, called Shot to Hell, which is the example of just how far they fell.  But for now, Stronger Than Death is very much worth going out of your way to listen to, and Zakk and friends show no mercy.  9/10.