Turbinenhalle, Oberhausen, Germany 11th August 2026
Black Label Society - “UK / EU Tour” 2026 - Special Guests: Thrown Into Exile
Everything about BLACK LABEL SOCIETY begins with the riff. A dedicated disciple of ZEPPELIN, SABBATH, and DEEP PURPLE, Zakk Wylde looks to the massive guitar hooks in classics like ‘Whole Lotta Love’, ‘Into the Void’, and ‘Smoke On the Water’ as guiding lights. “The main ingredient in any Black Label soup is the riff,” says the larger-than-life frontman. And around 2;000 fans of the band could not agree more, and headed out to the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen to see their idols.
Thrown Into Exile
Hailing from Los Angeles, California, THROWN INTO EXILE represents the fierce revival of American Melodeath and modern Metalcore. Emerging in the early 2010s, the band built their heritage on the classic Metalcore foundations laid down by the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, fusing aggressive thrash riffs with soaring melodic leads and visceral vocal assaults. Their discography stands as a testament to technical precision and raw grit, kickstarted by their debut full-length album ‘Safe Inside’ in 2016, which put them on the map alongside genre stalwarts.
Over the years, through refined songwriting and relentless touring, they solidified their sound with explosive tracks like ‘Declination’, ‘The Misery Sound’, and ‘No Peace’, as well as their self-titled EP and powerful singles such as ‘You’ve Lost Everything’. Their musical style consistently balances ferocious, machine-gun drum patterns with intricately woven dual-guitar harmonies, carrying the torch of West Coast metal into a bold new era. You can discover more about their history and music on their official homepage at https://www.thrownintoexile.com.
Music & Performance
Taking the stage as announced at 19:30, THROWN INTO EXILE set out to warm up a venue that was already feeling like a sauna. From the first hit, the band displayed impressive, tight-knit guitar work that showcased their technical prowess. Unfortunately, the house mix did them a slight disservice, as the guitar volume level was set noticeably low for an opening act in such a massive space. Despite the sonic handicap, their singer proved to be an absolute force of nature - extremely engaged, locked-in, and determined to win over the room.
Realizing the audience was suffering under the rising temperature inside the hall, he took it upon himself to act as a human generator, asking the crowd how they were feeling every five minutes to keep engagement alive. While his request for a circle pit felt a little forced given how sweltering and thick the air had become, his relentless enthusiasm was infectious enough that he successfully got a solid pocket of people moving and thrashing before their set wrapped up after a good forty minutes.
Black Label Society
Formed in 1998 by iconic guitar maestro Zakk Wylde, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY has spent nearly three decades operating as a premier brotherhood of heavy metal, doom, and Southern rock grit. Rooted in the rich lineage of OZZY OSBOURNE’s band - where Wylde made his name - BLACK LABEL SOCIETY carved out its own unique heritage built on thunderous pinch harmonics, biker-culture aesthetics, and soul-baring ballads. Their sprawling discography began with the raw, acoustic-tinged metal of ‘Sonic Brew’ in 1999 and the ferocious ‘Stronger Than Death’ in 2000.
Over the years, they produced enduring masterpieces like ‘1919 BLACK LABEL’, ‘The Blessed Hellride’, ‘Mafia’, and ‘Shot to Hell’, featuring legendary anthems such as ‘Stillborn’, ‘Suicide Messiah’, and ‘Fire It Up’. Later releases like ‘Order of the Black’, ‘Catacombs of the Black Vatican’, and 2021’s ‘Doom Crew Inc.’ proved that their riff supply is virtually endless, seamlessly blending brutal Groove Metal with heartfelt piano compositions. https://www.blacklabelsociety.com.
Music & Performance
Between the sets, a huge black BLS banner shielded the stage from prying eyes, concealing the storm waiting to erupt. When the curtain dropped, the sheer sight of the stage setup sent shockwaves through Turbinenhalle 1. Centre stage stood Wylde’s signature Golgotha-themed mic stand, and Wylde himself looked more imposing than ever - looking remarkably like a blonde version of the Hound from ‘Game of Thrones’.
Unleashing a punishing 120 dB blast through a wall of 28 speaker cabinets, the initial sonic wall of sound with the double-whammy of ‘Funeral Bell’ and ‘Name in Blood’ was so overwhelmingly heavy that it literally sent a few wide-eyed fans in the front row running toward the back of the hall for cover. The show shifted from pure violence to deep emotion when Zakk put aside his guitar to take his place at the grand piano.
Introducing the band members before launching into the melancholic beauty of ‘In This River’, the song served as a deeply moving tribute to his fallen brothers, Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul from PANTERA, complete with massive banners honouring the legendary duo hanging in the background. The mood bounced right back to chaos during ‘Fire It Up’, where the stage crew unloaded a bunch of beach balls into the audience, turning the sweltering, sweaty floor into a bouncing metal party.
The undisputed highlight of the evening came during a chaotic rendition of ‘Suicide Messiah’, featuring a mind-bending guitar solo duel between Zakk and co-guitarist Dario Lorina. With Zakk standing on the grand piano, both virtuosos played blazing, high-speed trade-off solos at times with their guitars strapped entirely behind their heads, sending the crowd into a frenzy. For ‘Ozzy’s Song’, portraits of a young Ozzy Osbourne were projected in the background, while the band performed the song, and Zakk paid his tribute to a great musician.
It was a masterclass in Heavy Metal showmanship, proving that even after decades on the road, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY remains an absolute titan of live performance.
Setlist
01. Funeral Bell
02. Name in Blood
03. Destroy & Conquer
04. A Love Unreal
05. Heart of Darkness
06. No More Tears (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
07. In This River
08. The Blessed Hellride
09. Set You Free
10. Fire It Up
11. Suicide Messiah
12. Ozzy’s Song
13. Stillborn
All Pictures by Markus Holzer
