By Kitty Synthetica

It's a well known fact that it's better to have quality over quantity, so whilst I was surprised to find that there was only one support band tonight, I can't fault Mr. Wylde on his singular choice. It's rare to see an opener who genuinely blows you away, but that's exactly what London lads Godsized [9] did tonight, providing a perfect start to the evening. It's hard to believe that a band from the UK have managed to capture such an effortless heavy Southern Groove sound, but with vocalist Glen Korner's phenomenal voice and lead guitarist Neil Fish's beastly riffs, perhaps we shouldn't be so surprised. What sets Godsized apart from the rest of the UK unsigned scene, aside from their obvious talent in playing, is their catalogue of well crafted songs, something a lot of bands these days lack. If you've not yet had the chance to see Godsized in the flesh, I cannot recommend enough that you catch them on an upcoming tour.

Black Label Society [9] started the show with their trademark curtain drop and exploded onstage with "The Beginning… At Last". The crowd, as is to be expected from such a loyal and vocal fanbase, were in full voice for the headliners and the atmosphere in the Academy was electric from start till finish. For a man who has faced losing his long term slot in Ozzy's band and a near death experience to be here tonight, putting on the same precision performance he's renowned for, you'd be excused for thinking that Zakk Wylde is more machine than man. He carries out the lead vocals with no visible effort whilst blasting out the most awesome and impressive guitar riffs in modern metal. We were even treated to his keyboard skills for a passionate rendition of "In This River", showing that Wylde is clearly a very talented multi-instrumentalist. That is not to say that the rest of the band are not also excellent; drummer Will Hunt is flawless, bassist John DeServio has fantastic stage presence, and guitarist Nick Catanese makes the effort to interact with the crowd throughout the show, clearly loving every minute he spent onstage. BLS's song choices tonight were great; they managed to squeeze in all the fan favourites, "Stillborn", "Fire It Up", "The Blessed Hellride", plus plenty of new material off the new album Order of the Black, like "Crazy Horse" and the awesome "Parade Of The Dead".

What a perfect way to spend Valentine's Day, this was definitely the best gig I've been to so far this year. If anything, my only complaint would be that BLS's set seemed a little on the short side, with no encore and a 15 minute Wylde guitar solo, which could have easily been filled with more material, but otherwise a truly fantastic night.