Black Label Society - Ain’t No Sunshine

What this video is

Released September 2013 as the lead promotional video for Black Label Society's acoustic live package 'Unblackened,' this video represents a specific subgenre moment in which heavy metal acts embraced stripped-down acoustic presentation — aligning with a broader early-2010s industry trend toward unplugged live releases for the home video market. The deliberate irony of pairing Bill Withers' emotionally weighty 1971…

Why it matters

Represents the early-2010s acoustic/unplugged pivot within Southern-inflected heavy metal, where BLS bridged blues-rock heritage and metal identity. The choice to cover a canonical 1971 Bill Withers soul track signals the genre's ongoing dialogue with American roots music, while the comedic video…

The director

Justin Reich is a music video director credited on the official Black Label Society website and confirmed by multiple major metal and rock press outlets including Blabbermouth, Metal Injection, and Ultimate Metal for directing the 'Ain't No Sunshine When…