The Blessed Hellride (feat. Zakk Wylde)

With 2009’s The Blessed Hellride, Zakk Wylde upped the ante on his distinctive fusion of Southern blues, thrash, stoner rock, and nu-metal. It’s possible that the album’s renewed energy comes from an appearance from Ozzy Osbourne himself, who shows up on “Stillborn.” A visit from Wylde’s longtime mentor and collaborator may have prompted him to turn everything up a notch. Produced, written, and performed primarily by Wylde, the album has cohesion and ferocious motivation. His vocals, in particular, seem more intensified than on previous efforts, especially on “Doomsday Jesus,” “Funeral Bell," and “We Live No More.” While Wylde is best known for the slow-churning riffs exemplified by “Final Solution,” “Blackened Waters," and the punishing “Suffering Overdue,” he can also whip his band into a punk-like frenzy on “Stoned and Drunk” and “Destruction Overdrive.” As is his custom, Wylde ends the album with an irresistible curveball: “Dead Meadow” is an ominously dreamy track reminiscent of mid-career Pink Floyd.