This year I am thankful for “Glass Heart” by Dark Chapel, the brand new band fronted by Black Label Society’s Dario Lorina.  Thick and woozy, this track hits you with its grungy hypnosis through its lyrical metaphor of a glass heart.  Think about it: solid, cracked and yellowed with age and through strife, but still trapping light, like a cage of pain with no release.  You can feel the desperation in the sonic shreddddddd provided by Brody DeRozie’s delicious soloing.  Don’t sleep on Dario’s vox though.  He’s got this masculine smoky gray thing coming through as he paints this portrait.  If you’re like me and you like your hard rock to have that emotional core, this one’s for you.  It’s got that 90s feeling all over it, but still fresh.

From the press release:  Dario Lorina began his professional career in 2006 when he was 16 as the touring guitarist with the late Jani Lane (ex-Warrant). At 19, he joined veteran metal act Lizzy Borden whom he toured with for four years. He released two instrumental records with Mike Varney on Shrapnel Records in 2013 and 2017 titled, DARIO LORINA and DEATH GRIP TRIBULATIONS. On January 1, 2014 he joined Black Label Society and has since been touring worldwide alongside Zakk Wylde, performing on guitar, piano and backing vocals ever since. Lorina dueled solos with Wylde on Black Label Society’s 2022 album DOOM CREW INC., and he joined Zakk Wylde on the January 2022 cover of Guitar World magazine.

“The guitar never really left my hands,” he laughs. Years of woodshedding followed. At 16 years old, he answered the call to audition for Jani Lane and found himself on the road with the ex-Warrant frontman shortly thereafter.

Dark Chapel’s first album, Spirit in the Glass, drops on February 28th.