Zakk Wylde, a name of fame within the genre. The man who joined the big league as the guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and nowadays known for his Whiskey-fueled shredding in his band Black Label Society. However, his fans will remember that in 1996 he surprised the metal world with releasing a solo album consisting of mostly acoustic or clean-electric  guitars called the Book of Shadows, relatively soft and touchy material for someone known as the guitarist of the 'Prince of Darkness'. This book was closed for two decades, except for the occasional (power)ballad with BLS(In This River, Sick of it All, Angel of Mercy, etc). But now a new chapter, the Book of Shadows II, is here.

To get straight to the point; Autumn Changes, the first track on this album, isn't exactly what you'd expect as an album opener anno 2016. In a time where intros, ambient sounds or digital effects seem to have become a standard it felt out of habit for a song to start with a chord-progression that continues through almost the entire song, followed soon by a Hammond Organ backup. Does that make it bad? In my opinion most certainly not. It even felt nostalgic, as Neil Young did it, John Mayall did it, many more from the 60's and 70's did it. The Hammond Organ only adds to this. This continues with Tears of December, where the chord-progressions and bluesy lyrics make way for a slightly overdriven but still mellow and bluesy solo.  On this matter, Lay me Down surprised me by following the trend but adding a much more fiery and BLS-like solo. This sudden show of force is kept in balance by toning it down a bit in the mix, so it was surprising but didn't felt out of place.

Lost Prayer is my personal favorite on this album, as it features a nice blues-rock intro which gave me a Hendrix/Vaughan vibe. The next songs, Darkest Hour and the Levee continue on the beaten path of the earlier songs on this album. Eyes of Burden then, is the next surprise on this album where the Hammond Organ takes a more prominent place and Wylde's taste for some Procul Harum (who he also once covered) shines through.  After that, Yesterday's Tears, Harbors of Pity, Sorrowed Regret and Useless Apologies all show a bit of the same, chord-progression, solo, bluesy lyrics and a Hammond organ to top it off. Sleeping Dogs is the single of this album, available through Youtube and a HQ iTunes download, for free if you pre-ordered the album, even. It's really representative for this album, except for the fact that I find it a bit more groovy and accessible than the rest of the tracks. Finally the album is closed off by The King, which has a heavy and dark but graceful feel to it. A long outro with strings and a touching guitar solo, to show how deep Zakk Wylde was willing to go to express himself.

In the end, this is what the lyrics of the album can be described as. We might never know the exact stories behind it, but from front to end it shows us feelings of heartbreak, betrayal and grief while never losing hope, at times slightly ironic or mischievous, a style of writing which has become a Wylde trademark.  The production of the album feels solid. It was recorded and produced by Zakk Wylde himself at his home-studio the Black Vatican. Expect no top-notch work here, but it does the job and for an album in this style it's also more than sufficient. Overall, I can't help but to feel connections to the old songwriters and guitarists of the 60's albeit in a much darker tone. It has blues, it has guts and it has a man singing his heart and feelings out in a simple guitar-driven setup. But it doesn't have much more than that. So if you expected something new or prefer some diversity, you might want to pass it on.  If not?  This is an album for you and a proud continuation of what Wylde started off in '96.