Black Sabbath Born Again

They say you can't go home again, but Black Stone Cherry proves otherwise on "Kentucky". The hard-rocking Bluegrass State quartet recorded its fifth album, and follow-up to 2014's Magic Mountain, at Barrick Recording in Glasgow, KY, where it recorded its 2006 debut album. The 13 tracks find BSC connecting with that same youthful energy (check out "Shakin' My Cage," "Soul Machine" or "Rescue Me") but demonstrates the wisdom gleaned from nearly a decade of recording and touring on tracks such as the reflective "Long Ride" and a brassy (and timely) take on Edwin Starr's Motown classic "War". The deluxe edition features two bonus tracks.

With "Glorious Babylon", their third LP and second on Small Stone Records, Lord Fowl refuse to compromise this high standard, bringing forth the energy of their dynamic stage presence and dual lead vocals, as the song-craft of singer/guitarists Vechel Jaynes and Mike Pellegrino reaches its next level of progression. At the helm of BirdsEye Studios in West Haven, CT, as producer, bassist Jon Conine captures Lord Fowl's vitality as only one part of the fray could hope to do, and though drummer Michael Petrucci has since left the band with Van Hartley stepping in to fill his significant percussive shoes, the drums provide the foundation of "Glorious Babylon".

What does hell look like? The introduction of Toy Machine skateboard's seminal 1996 video “Welcome To Hell,” with its pulsing overlay of the Stars and Stripes on top footage of police officers, businessmen, and fast food service workers, would appear to paint hell as the mirage of American exceptionalism. A thick, centuries-spanning unreality that may not outwardly trade in fire and brimstone, but if you turn your nose to the wind, you’ll smell sulphur.