Review Summary: Exactly as the artwork suggests: gloomy and maybe too oppressive on the listener.
With toned down riffs, heavy use of effects, a sludgy production and a southern vibe, Black Label Society is one of those bands that one has to either love or hate. While it could be easy to listen to a few tracks, to take the courage to stand a full record is not everybody's cup of tea. Not only one needs to appreciate Zakk Wylde's guitar playing, he also needs to appreciate his nasal singing. The whole Black Label Society sound is definitely an acquired taste, but going through the band's works there is one aspect that is hard to excuse, and it is a sense of monotony in the song structures, especially concerning hooks and riffing (we got that you like vibrato, Zakk). Thankfully, the most recent releases showed some freshness.
That said, debut album
Sonic Brew is the band's most honest release, pursuing the simple aim of delivering a powerful punch of southern-ish heavy metal. However, this is also its limit. In fact, bearing the highlights each track ends up echoing the previous one more and more as the listen goes on. That doesn't imply that the tracks have to be bad, though. For the most part,
Sonic Brew provides valid rockers that can often count on a gloomy atmosphere that actually blends well with the homogeneous feeling of the record, with "T.A.Z." and "Spoke In The Wheel" being the only two really different tracks. The former being a two minutes acoustic instrumental that shows Zakk without his beloved wah effect, and the second being an acoustic ballad that does the same but also providing the man's arguably most annoying vocals.
The gloomier parts are definitely where the band shines the most. "Beneath The Tree," "Hey You (Batch Of Lies)," "Peddlers Of Death," and "The Rose Petalled Garden" are easily the album's highlights, having the best atmosphere ("Beneath The Tree") and being the place where the effected guitar playing blends better with it ("Peddlers Of Death"). That is said without detracting anything from the explosive opener "Bored To Tears" which shows Black Label Society at their catchiest, both vocally and instrumentally speaking, being a good gateway to their sound. Listen to the opener and then to the aforementioned highlights, if you dig what you are hearing then knock yourself out. Otherwise, and if the desire of approaching Black Label Society still persists, check somewhere else.
