Kings of Damnation: Era 1998-2004 (feat. Zakk Wylde)

Between its inception in 1994 and its commercial breakthrough in 2004, Zakk Wylde’s Black Label Society became one of metal's most consistent and respected outfits. After leaving Ozzy Osbourne’s band, Wylde released a few albums of power-trio rock (represented here by “Losin' Your Mind” and "Horse Called War”) and acoustic soul-searching (“Sold My Soul,” “Bored to Tears”) before founding Black Label Society, which became the ideal channel for his lifelong devotion to metal’s most extreme aspects. With BLS, Wylde could inhabit purely malicious thrash (“Bleed for Me”), ferocious down-tuned modern metal (“Demise of Sanity”), and brooding acoustic-oriented blues-metal (“The Blessed Hellride,” “Crazy or High”). Ozzy's influence looms large, but Wylde carved out his own niche, thanks in part to the displays of instrumental virtuosity on interludes like “Taz” and “Speedball.” While he climbs deep inside the riff of Ozzy’s “No More Tears,” his reading of “The Wizard,” “Come Together,” and “Whiter Shade of Pale” show a much wider palette than he’s been given credit for.