Black Label Society

RIFF-MONSTER RELOADED

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Zakk Wylde is coming back to Z7 in summer 2026 with his riff monster Black Label Society. And he's bringing fresh song material with him: a new longplayer has been announced for early 2026. As part of the subsequent album release tour, the BLS Express will be rolling into Pratteln.

Zakk Wylde is a busy man. Most recently he was on the road with the newly formed Pantera or his all-star project Zakk Sabbath and played a big gig at Ozzy Osbourne's farewell show in Birmingham in July. He also found time to produce new songs for his band Black Label Society. The long-awaited twelfth studio album will be released in spring 2026 and will be followed by a major tour. An extensive tour of the United States and Canada is initially planned from February. The new tracks will also be presented in Europe in the summer. Three singles have already been released in advance: "The Gallows" was released in September 2024, "Lord Humungus" followed in February 2025 and Black Label Society released their third pre-release single for the upcoming studio album, "Broken And Blind", in the fall of 2025. Zakk Wylde commented on the release in his usual idiosyncratic and humorous way: "What's up guys? This is Zakk Wylde from Black Label Society. This is a new song called 'Broken And Blind'. The song is about peanut butter and chocolate and what happens when I don't have either. My soul is broken and I'm blind with rage when I don't have peanut butter and chocolate. So there you go, the new song is called 'Broken And Blind'. Thank you, have a nice day.

" Black Label Society was founded in 1998 by Zakk Wylde in Los Angeles, California. The debut album "Sonic Brew" was released in the same year. Most recently, "Doom Crew Inc." was released in 2021. Metal Hammer's verdict: "Of course, the ultra-cool guitar riffs of master Wylde are at the center of all tracks, always wonderfully garnished with acoustic guitars or piano and even organ sounds. But the best thing is: Zakk Wylde has never sung as hauntingly and variedly as on 'Doom Crew Inc. To date, the band has released eleven studio albums, two live albums and one EP. Album number twelve will be released in spring 2026, with plenty of monster riffs guaranteed. "The main component of every Black Label track is the riff," says Zakk. Black Label Society build their music on this, which recently cracked the Billboard Top 5 Albums Charts three times in a row. The BLS discography is like an instruction manual for finely crafted American hard rock music and should therefore be a must for all blues-based rock'n'roll musicians. The new songs were once again recorded at Zakk's own Black Vatican Studio. They owe their simplicity to the ultimate lesson Wylde was taught on Black Sabbath's '76 album "We Sold Our Soul for Rock'N'Roll": "Less is often more. Except for the guitar solos."

Translated with DeepL