Metal Underground.com

According to Andrew Carnegie, “People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.” On some levels, it may be unfair to attribute a dearth of motivation to Black Label Society mastermind Zakk Wylde, for the guy has stuck it out through thick and thin. But consider Ambrose Bierce’s definition of perseverance: “a lowly virtue whereby mediocrity achieves an inglorious success.”

Once upon a time, Black Label Society invigorated me. The former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist’s wild, bluesy soloing atop bludgeoning, groovy swamp-sludge riffage made for some classic tunes of “modernized traditional” metal and a series of killer albums. After “Mafia” [2005] however, the song began to sound the same. And remained the same. And the same. And the same.

Each successive effort offered some highlights, to be sure, and “Order Of The Black” [2010] came pretty close to recapturing the excitement and vigor of old. But “Catacombs Of The Black Vatican” reverts to the template “Mafia” established and what we’ve come to expect from Wylde: plodding, long-winded stoner drudgery that ambles through the motions with enough care to merit faint approval but little fanfare. This stuff is about as stimulating as a bowl of cereal.

Blindfold yourself, pin the tail on the “Mafia” tracklist, and you get lead single “My Dying Time.” This holds true for virtually the entire album. As always, the individual merits are many: opener “Fields Of Unforgiveness” brings a cool drone vibe; “Believe” and “Damn The Flood” are solid Southern hard rock entries; “Heart Of Darkness” slings a nice lacerating riff; and “Angel Of Mercy” is one of Wylde’s better ballads. But the ballads pile up, as has become custom, until we’re deep in Sad Ol’ Bastard territory with “Scars” and “Shades Of Gray,” and the album’s auto piloted closing act leaves us too beleaguered to really give a damn about what might’ve otherwise been noteworthy ditties.

The indulgent exuberance – coupled with great songwriting – of early Black Label Society, most notably on the double punch of “1919 Eternal” [2002] and “The Blessed Hellride,” [2003] is now all but extinct. You won’t find a swaggering “Demise Of Sanity,” a speedy “Battering Ram,” a pounding “Doomsday Jesus,” or a soaring “Stillborn” here; just a homogenized slab of passable songwriting and repetitive, stale hooks. No matter how impressive Wylde’s talents, “Catacombs Of The Black Vatican” subsumes them in a burdensome groan of coasting mediocrity.