It’s been four years since the last full Black Label Society UK tour, the anticipation amongst the metal heads in attendance was paramount. The band brought with them in tow their latest offering Catacombs Of The Black Vatican.

The lights go down on a packed out O2 Academy Leeds, a stage curtain emblazoned with the Black Label Society logo is suspended from the ceiling in front of the stage. A mash up of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” and Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” plays over the PA. The stage curtain falls and the band launch into “The Beginning … At Last.”

Zakk Wylde stood front and center, his mic stand draped with skulls. Like rolling thunder the band roared through “Funeral Bell.” Wylde stands aloft, mercifully looking over the crowd as he shreds with his axe, fist pumping in the air, commanding the stage.

You can read my full coverage of the show at National Rock Review.

Photos: © Adam Kennedy / Photography by Adam Kennedy, All Rights Reserved.