In the vast domain of rock guitar, there are few players with a resume or work ethic as impressive as Zakk Wylde’s. The man literally never seems to stop.

From Black Label Society to the recent Pantera Celebration tours, plus Zakk Sabbath; Experience Hendrix; teaching online courses; maintaining a guitar brand (Wylde Audio), a couple of pedal lines (MXR Wylde Audio and Dunlop Wylde Audio), and a line of guitar strings (Dunlop Zakk Wylde String Lab), the man is far beyond relentless.

And we haven’t even mentioned the Berzerkus Festival, nonstop social media, and a coffee brand (Valhalla Java Odinforce Blend, in partnership with Death Wish Coffee)!

With the release of Black Label Society’s latest album, Engines of Demolition, blazing on the horizon, Wylde took time out of his insane schedule to chat with Guitar World.

Engines of Demolition is the 12th album in Black Label Society’s 25-year history. When you first got the BLS ball rolling, did you think it’d roll for this long – and just keep on growing?

Without a doubt. When we first started doing Black Label, I figured this is the last stop – let’s do this. Then we just kept building it and building it one gig at a time. When we started, it was three people watching us in a bar and grill, and two of them were working behind the bar!

That’s what I always tell kids when they say they want to start a band – view it as your own mom-and-pop store, and then build on it. You might start with a hotdog stand on the corner and then you build it and build it, and it becomes a food truck – and then another one, and then another one and so on.

Then, when you look back on it, it was never work because you were doing what you loved. No matter if you’re all crammed in a van or in a car, you’re doing what you dig doing. That’s the advice I give to younger musicians – just do it! Go for it and be relentless.

I remember seeing BLS on your first tour. You played a hole-in-the-wall bar in Port Jefferson, New York, and you were literally setting up the merch table and moving gear around. You played to fewer than 100 people, but the gig was phenomenal and your passion was palpable.

I think it’s the same for any band that’s starting off, whether it’s Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, or the Beatles. They started off jamming in that little bar in Liverpool, the Cavern Club, and ended up selling out Shea Stadium. It’s just a matter of sticking with it. We all start at pretty much the same spot.

Of course, there are gonna be tough times, regardless of who you are; even the Stones played little gigs to begin with – and look at them now! You’ve just gotta keep putting another brick on the empire, every single day. It’s the same with bodybuilding. Dorian Yates [retired British bodybuilder] didn’t turn into Dorian Yates overnight!

Doom Crew Inc. was released in late 2021, and you’ve been busy since then with Pantera, Zakk Sabbath, Experience Hendrix, and so much more. What drives you to work so hard?

I have a good time with the stuff I’m doing. It’s no different than when we were 15 and starting a band. You practice as if your life depends on it, because it does. [Laughs] You save up lawn-mowing money so you can buy your first Marshall, and you put up fliers to let everybody know you’re playing a keg party. You have fun with it because you’re doing what you love. That’s my drive; do what you want to do. It’s simple.

You’ve got to play what makes you happy because that’s the only way you’re gonna thrive. You’ll only thrive if you’re playing what you love because that’s what creates the passion. Why would you be in a band if you can’t stand the music you’re playing?

I understand the business aspect of it – “If you sounded more like this, it’d be an easier sell.” But to me, the thing that naturally comes out of you is what you should be doing – because you’re not even thinking about it, you’re just doing it. JD [John DeServio, BLS bassist] and I were just talking about when we were playing in Zyris when we were kids.

One night we were playing the Stone Pony [a legendary Asbury Park, New Jersey, club] and they wanted us to do another 10 minutes after we got done with our set.

We ended up playing Rock and Roll by Led Zeppelin, and I remember we were all looking at each other because we were having a blast playing it. I was like, “Why don’t our songs move me like this? This is super-cool shit, but the stuff we’re playing is contrived and not what we love.” That was a moment of clarity.

The band was trying to get signed, so we were playing what was popular at the time. I realized right then that wasn’t the way it really works. Labels don’t sign bands like that; you’ve gotta be true to yourself, not to a trend. A lot of that experience was Business 101 on how not to do it! Guns N’ Roses got signed because they were playing the music they liked playing; people gravitated toward it because they enjoyed it too.

And when there’s a line around the building, that’s when promoters, managers, and labels want to get involved. You’ve got to create your own success and situation, and that’s not really “work.” You can sit on the couch complaining or you could say, “Let’s go do this” and take action.

How would you compare Engines of Demolition to Doom Crew Inc.? Would you say it’s a natural evolution?

Of all the albums Black Label have made, this is one of them! And to be more specific, this is the next one! Let’s put it this way, if Doom Crew Inc. was Tuesday’s album, this one is Wednesday’s. Actually, all joking aside, the writing process on this one was definitely different.

Usually, it’s a bit of an implosion. I get told, “Zakk, you’ve got a month before the guys come out,” so I’ll write every day and get a bunch of cool riffs I’m happy with to work on with the fellas. But on this one, we took our time. We started work on it in late 2022, but there was no point putting it out while the Pantera Celebration was going on because all the focus was on that. So we waited.

In the end, only two or three of the original ideas made it onto the record because I kept on writing and working with the guys. It’s a musical ride through the peaks and valleys of the last four years – hitting some of the highest highs and lowest lows, plus everything in between.

A song that’s obviously going to garner a lot of attention is Ozzy’s Song.

I already had the music and the melody idea sitting around. Then, after Ozzy passed away and we’d laid him to rest [July 2025], I wrote the lyrics. As for the title, originally it had a title that was basically the chorus, but after it was recorded, [my wife] Barb would always say, “Put on the Ozzy song – the one you wrote for him.” That’s why I renamed it Ozzy’s Song. It makes sense; I mean, we’ve always called In This River, ‘Dime’s Song.’”

How different was your guitar setup in the studio compared to your live rig?

It’s the same exact thing; there’s no need to change it. That said, I only use the chorus pedal [MXR Wylde Audio Chorus] in the studio for certain things because double tracking the guitars creates a natural chorus sound anyway.

For certain dive-bomb things, though, I’ll put the chorus pedal on, double it, and it just gets huge sounding. Like at the start of Suicide Messiah, for example.

Are your solos on Engines of Demolition composed, improvised, or a bit of both?

I always sit down and come up with what I like. They’re all composed, unless it’s an outro jam, in which case I’ll invariably improvise. It’s almost like the Saint [Randy] Rhoads school of thought – or Neal Schon, where you have a melody thing and then maybe put the afterburners on near the end. They’re all pieces of music.

When you’re composing a solo, is it something you hear in your head or something you find and like when you’re jamming?

I can hear it in my head, especially when coming up with a melody. I’ll just sit down and work with what I call a homework tape of the backing track I’m soloing over.

As usual, the lead interplay between you and Dario [Lorina, BLS guitarist] is fantastic.

I love that kinda stuff. With Night Ranger you always had Brad [Gillis] and Jeff [Watson] shredding, which I thought was awesome. And then there’s all the other twin-lead guitar bands – whether it was Lynyrd Skynyrd or the Allman Brothers Band – where the guys would go back and forth and you could always hear who was playing what because they had such distinctive sounds and styles.

There are also certain lead parts where Dario doubles you or plays a harmony.

If I’ve written out something specific, that’s what we’ll do. Otherwise, I’ll just leave gaps and tell him, “Father D., just play whatever you want there.” After all, that’s the whole point – to let him do his own thing.

For Name in Blood, I pretty much had it all written out, so I was like, “Dario, why don’t you double this part and then we’ll do the harmonies at the end? You do the high part and I’ll go low.” Most of the time, though, he’s free to do whatever he wants.

Of the 13 songs on Engines of Demolition, are there any solos that stand out, or are they all your children and you love them all?

I obviously like them all. I’m really happy with the way the one in Ozzy’s Song came out, and I’m also digging the solo in Name in Blood – and it’s pretty lengthy, too. They’re all pieces of music, and like any piece of music it all depends on what mood you’re in at the time.

The upcoming BLS tour with Dark Chapel and Zakk Sabbath opening is unique in that all members will be pulling double-duty; Dario will kick off the show with Dark Chapel; then you, JD, and Jeff Fabb will do a Zakk Sabbath set. Then you’ll take a quick break before all four of you hit the stage together for BLS. That’s some heavy lifting. Looking forward to it?

Yeah. The only thing I’m worried about are the Diana Ross clothing options for the tour; that’s my main concern! Will we have enough makeup and wardrobe cases? If I don’t change my costume in between sets, the audience will think it’s the same guy up there for both bands. They’ll see right through it!

You’ve become renowned for finishing a show and then heading straight to the bus to do a workout. Does double duty with Zakk Sabbath and BLS mean two workouts every show day?

I guess it just means I can eat an extra Reece’s in between sets and then burn it off during the Black Label show before hitting the weights! [Laughs]

You’ve been pretty much nonstop for the past few years. Are you ever gonna take a vacation?

No. I just love doing it. I’ve never been like, “I can’t wait to go home; I don’t wanna do this anymore.” When you’re on the road, that’s the very reason you’re doing it. That’s the reason you had pictures of Jimmy Page, Tony Iommi, Saint Randy, and all the guys on your bedroom wall when you were a kid.

When you look at our musician friends – if they’re lifers, then it’s just part of what they do. I’ve got friends who still play at bars purely because they love playing with their buddies; it’s not a financial thing. It’s the same with bands like the Stones; they definitely don’t need the money. They’re still out there doing it because that’s what they love to do.

I saw the Alice Cooper and Judas Priest co-headline tour last year, and during the show it dawned on me that the combined ages of Alice and Rob added up to more than 150 years. Both guys are clearly still doing it purely out of their love for music, not the almighty dollar.

Exactly. That’s what I’m saying. Alice doesn’t need to do it. If he wanted to retire, chill, and play golf, he would. He likes going out on the road and hanging out with the band and crew because they’re his family and they always have a great time. Why wouldn’t you do that?

It’s like when people ask Keith Richards, “When are you ever gonna retire?” And he goes, “Retire from what?!”

I mean, if you enjoy drinking coffee while reading a good book, are you gonna retire from that? Music is the same. For sports, I get it; if you can’t perform at the same level, you say, “I’m done.” But then you move into coaching, managing, commentating, or whatever, like Dana White [CEO and president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship].

That way you’re still around the thing you love. It’s like brushing your teeth; it’s something you automatically do every day – except when you’re out with Black Label, of course!

You’ve already offered some guidance, but if you had a couple of sentences of advice to give to someone who’s just starting out, what would they be?

Play the music that moves you. Play what you love. That’s that – it’s the truth. People are always going, “It can’t be that simple,” but it is. Don’t complicate things.

If you enjoy it and it’s moving you, that’s what you should be doing. Why would you be playing anything else? That would be like telling Joe Pass, “You need to be doing more pop stuff.” And he’d just go, “I play what I love!"

• Engines of Demolition is out now via Spinefarm.
• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

Zakk Wylde was Ozzy Osbourne's right-hand man on-and-off for decades – since 1987, to be exact. After earning his reputation thanks to his guitar work on Ozzy's 1988 album No Rest for the Wicked, followed by 1991’s No More Tears, and 1995’s Ozzmosis, Wylde and Ozzy developed a sibling-like relationship that continued till the day the Prince of Darkness passed away, on July 22, 2025.

“I don't think any of us were picturing Oz passing away two weeks after the gig [referring to Back to the Beginning],” he tells Guitar World in an upcoming interview.

“So I just figured... hopefully we'll make records, and then hopefully, because the festival went so well, Mom [Sharon Osbourne] puts together a Back to the Beginning once a year... we'll do one in Brazil, do one in Japan. You know that one was in Birmingham, then do another one in the States somewhere.”

He continues, “You could just mix it around every year – one in Germany next year, the next one would be in California, the next one's in Chicago... That's the way I was looking at everything.”

Wylde recalls how “shocked” he was when he received the call from Jack Osbourne, Ozzy's son, because, as he describes it, “Keith Richards, Lemmy, Ozzy... they're like the air you breathe, and [you think] they're going to be around forever.”

As part of his grieving process, Zakk Wylde also wrote a song that pays homage to his brother-in-arms, Ozzy’s Song – set to be the closing track of his new album with Black Label Society, Engines of Demolition (due March 27).

“I wrote the music before Oz passed away,” he explains. “But after Oz passed away, when we went back to England and we laid Ozzy to rest, when I got right from that, I went straight to Pantera celebrations with Phil [Anselmo], Rex [Brown], and Charlie [Benante]. So I hooked back up with the fellas, and we were back rolling.

“And then when I got done, when we got done with the Pantera celebration run, when I got home, I was just sitting in the house and [this] is when I wrote the lyrics and just sang the song. I was just thinking about Oz, and then I just wrote the lyrics.”

In more recent Zakk Wylde news, the longtime Ozzy guitarist and Black Label Society frontman revealed the three most important guitars in his life, and, spoiler alert, the list includes his now-iconic ‘Grail’ Les Paul.

Guitar World’s exclusive interview with Wylde will be published in the coming weeks.

• Correction 02/03/26: This article initially incorrectly stated the title of the song written in tribute to Ozzy Osbourne and has been updated to reflect the correct title: Ozzy’s Song.

Given how busy he is with Ozzy Osbourne, Pantera and his Wylde Audio brand, Zakk Wylde must sometimes feel he’s carrying the weight of the six-stringed world on his shoulders.

He flanked the Prince of Darkness at his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction last year, and he’ll be on hand to support his old friend at Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning show in July.

“We did rehearsals and Oz sang a bunch of songs, and a bunch with Sabbath,” Wylde tells Guitar World. “It went over great and he had a great time. It’s like, ‘I guess we’re gonna do another tour…’”

He knows that’s just wishful thinking, but he can’t help it. “Maybe this thing will be a whole new beginning. If Oz is happy, has a great time and sings great, God bless him. Whatever Oz wants to do, I’ll do it. But all these other bands are gonna be there, so it’s going to be a great day, man.”

Meanwhile, Wylde has been headbanging across the globe with Pantera, slinging his Wylde Audio gear as he goes. “I can’t even say that the sky’s the limit – there is no limit,” he beams. “We’re working on anything, just whatever. Any ideas that we think would be cool, we just do that.”

What’s the story there with the Blood Skull Berzerker?

“I said, ‘I want to make the most awesome jazz guitar I could possibly make!’ That’s all I’m saying! I just thought of Joe Pass, the great Joe Pass, and Pat Martino; I put them into a blender and came up with the Berzerker!”

Do you design the guitars yourself?

“I literally draw them out by hand. I trace other bodies, like an SG when I did the Barbarian. It’s basically an SG that I just put tweaks on – made the horns a little bit different, changed the body contour a bit, made the bottom a little curvier.”

Is that essentially what you did with the Blood Skull?

“Yeah – I did a new tweak on an existing body shape and then some blending of different shapes that we dig, you know? I’m just having a good time with it. I’m looking at all the cool old guitars, all the different brands and everything. When I was 15 I wanted to be one of those guys with a guitar with the horns on top and bottom!”

What other developments are coming from Wylde Audio?

”We’re talking about doing amps and stuff like that now. It’ll be a whole batch of different stuff – heads, cabs, micro-amps, practice amps. Then, obviously, plugins, the Fractal element of things. It’s not just tube amps.

“That’s been in the works for a while; it’s coming to fruition now. And then I’ve got another guitar that we’re going to be doing, called the Wrathmaker. It’s another new body shape. I have the prototype at my house and I’ll be getting the actual guitar soon enough. And we’re doing another IronWorks.”

Like the Barbarian you did with Schecter?

“I think we’re going to do that with the Viking V. I’m working on the design right now. Then we’re doing CarvedWorks as well – instead of IronWorks, which has the metal front with the carvings, CarvedWorks is going to be a wood body. The actual design will be carved into the body. The prototype looks badass!”

Elsewhere, you’re playing huge shows with Pantera.

“We just had a great time doing six weeks out there. That was a blast. The next adventure is we’re going out with Metallica, and then some headline shows.”

Are you considering recording new Pantera music?

“There were talks about stuff, because Dime recorded tons of unfinished riffs, and there were things he had lying around like incomplete songs or whatever he was jamming on. It was just him putting stuff on a tape recorder.”

Are there plans to do anything with those recordings?

“The way I look at it is, it’s just like if Eric Clapton was playing with Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding, and honoring Jimi Hendrix, and calling it the Jimi Hendrix Celebration. It’s a if they were like, ‘We have these songs that Jimi never finished; one’s called Purple Haze. It’s just him on a tape recorder, with a rough outline of the song.’

“So it would be like if Eric, Noel, and Mitch recorded Purple Haze because Jimi had demoed it on acoustic guitar. It’s already written – it’s just bringing these hidden gems to life that were never recorded properly.”

Is that to say you’re considering taking Dime’s demos and bringing them to life?

“It’s still songs that Dime and Vinnie Paul had written; it’s just that it was on a tape recorder. Anything like that would still be what it is: a celebration of them and a tribute to them. I saw somebody wrote one day, ‘This is nothing but a tribute band,’ and it’s like, ‘Yeah… that’s exactly what it is.’”

Is there a timeline for these recordings?

“I don’t know – it’s just talks of it, like, if the guys would ever want to do something like that. If the guys want to do new songs and mix it up, we’ll throw some dark horses and hidden gems out there.”

• Head to Schecter Guitars to check out the current Wylde Audio range.

Dario Lorina often blazes licks on one of his many EMG-loaded Wylde Audio axes – from a brawny Warhammer to a devilishly pointy Goreghen offset he hoists while playing in Zakk Wylde’s iconic Southern-doom crew, Black Label Society.

Impressive though they all may be, when the Boston-raised, Vegas-based guitarist was recording the debut album from his new hard-rock force, Dark Chapel, Lorina relied on a family heirloom to get the job done: his father’s old Les Paul Standard.

“It was under my dad’s bed when I was a kid first learning how to play guitar,” he says of the ‘Holy Grail’ Gibson he’s still wowed by to this day, though he adds that his actual starter six-string was a Strat-shaped Samick.

It took some time before Lorina’s papa let him hold that Les Paul – let alone play it – but even eyeballing the thing was a major event back then. “When it slid out from underneath the bed… it was like the heavens were opening up.”

No doubt, Lorina’s built up a god-tier guitar game ever since. After getting his start as a 16-year-old prodigy in former Warrant singer Jani Lane’s backing band, Lorina spent time with veteran Sunset Strippers Lizzy Borden, ripped out a pair of killer instrumental solo albums and most famously joined Black Label Society in 2014 (eventually going toe-to-toe with Wylde on their 2021 record, Doom Crew Inc.)

All of those experiences come into play on Spirit in the Glass, Dark Chapel’s multi-barreled 10-song introduction. That’s where vocalist-guitarist Lorina and the rest of the outfit – guitarist Brody DeRozie, bassist Mike Gunn and drummer Luis Silva – deliver fuel-injected moto-metal fury (Afterglow), girthy down-South sludge-blues (All That Remains), Priest-leaning back-to-back solo sections (Hollow Smile) and varying layers of melodically righteous heaviness.

While Lorina puts on a refreshingly lightning-fingered clinic throughout Dark Chapel’s debut, it’s fair to say his rep as a top-tier player had already been long-established – after all, he shared a Guitar World cover with Wylde back in 2021. What may be most surprising about Spirit in the Glass is how the project also fully pushes his smokily soulful tenor vocal to the fore.

“With Black Label and other things I’ve been involved in, I’ve always sung backups. I didn’t have to rethink too much, thankfully,” Dark Chapel’s frontman says of co-existing mic-time with the spidery-fingered, wide-interval dramatics and blues-scorched shred passages of their dynamic first single, Glass Heart.

“I love how it goes into the verses, which [turns it into] a clean, pulled-back piece,” he says of that particular track, which conjures Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir by way of a slinking Bond theme sophistication.

He adds of evolving the tune’s tonal shimmer throughout the making of Spirit in the Glass: “When I was demoing this, I was using the Brigade chorus, [as a] Universal Audio plugin in ProTools, but when we recorded I did it with the Dunlop Rotovibe.”

Elsewhere, Corpse Flower affects a fragrant grunge-gloom aura through the use of hard-clanging requiem bells, EBow-droning texturalism and phase-shifting string ambiance inspired by prime Eddie.

“In the beginning of it I’m doing the Van Halen, palm-on-the-strings thing. I think I used my flanger for that, maybe an MXR Phase 90. It’s just some layered effects going on in there that I recorded separately,” Lorina says of the intro’s percussively swooshing pedal accoutrement.

While Lorina’s tone is occasionally accentuated by interstellar effects, the guitarist notes that his streamlined, go-to setup for most of the Spirit in the Glass sessions was the Les Paul, a vintage JCM800 blasting through a Peavey 5150 4x12 and a classic canary-yellow Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive thrown up front.

“I like the setup to be as simple as possible… [an] overdrive pedal going into the front of the amp… that is the tone that I want to hear.”

Though the guitarist is still fully raging with Black Label Society – they’re prepping an album behind the scenes – Dark Chapel further expands Lorina’s overall musical vision by incorporating gently brooding acoustic sojourns (Dark Waters) and heart-stirring piano ballads (Dead Weight).

“I love sitting with the acoustic and writing stripped-down songs, one vocal and a guitar. Same thing with the piano,” he says. “I’m psyched about this record, because I feel like it’s all the types of music that I love.”

• Spirit in the Glass is out now via MNRK Heavy.

When Guitar World connects with Zakk Wylde, Scott Ian and Gary Holt, the metal guitar titans are a week and a half into their North American tour: Anthrax and Black Label Society co-headlining as they did last summer, this time with Exodus roped in as special guests. 

Their show in Penticton, British Columbia a few nights earlier made headlines for an attendee referred to by the music press as ‘Angry Jesus’ – thanks to his long hair, beige robe and violent moshing – being escorted out of the venue by local police officers. It was, by all accounts, an unforgettable night which perhaps saw one bearded metal fan enjoying just a little bit too much of that holy water...

“Yeah, he got kicked out during Zakk’s set,” grins Holt – who, despite owning a blue ESP singlecut with the words ‘Officer Holt’ written around a police badge, wasn’t actually the one making arrests that night. “I don’t know what got him so angry,” he continues. “Maybe he turned a little too much water into wine [laughs]!”

“That’s what usually happens,” cackles Wylde, with a mischievous grin. “Maybe Exodus played a couple too many songs from the first record and it got him too fired up. Don’t mess with the Catholics!”

The three metal legends are on a joint Zoom call today to look back on their history as guitar players and share a thing or two about what they’ve learned along the way. When you sit down and think about their collective credentials, it’s quite staggering – as well as Black Label Society, Anthrax and Exodus, they’ve recorded with or toured as part of Ozzy Osbourne, Slayer, Pantera, Mr. Bungle, Stormtroopers Of Death and Pride & Glory. 

Then, of course, there have been the one-off collaborations with the likes of Public Enemy, Eric Gales, William Shatner, Destruction, Black Veil Brides, Leslie West, Dweezil Zappa, Metal Allegiance and many more. 

They’ve all played a part in making metal guitar what it is today, from the furious downpicking typified by Ian in the mid-'80s, the instantly recognizable ‘Zakk Attack’ explored on Wylde’s legendary instructional Pentatonic Hardcore and Holt’s love for diminished dissonance, as detailed in his own tutorial A Lesson In Guitar Violence. 

Here we look at the stories stretching back through nearly four decades of friendship and get them to cross-examine their own unique takes on all things six-string...

Take us back to the very beginning – when exactly did you all first cross paths?

Wylde: “I first met Scotty and the Anthrax fellas when I was rolling with Ozzy in 1988, back on the No Rest For The Wicked tour. That’s when we first started hanging together. And it’s great that we’re all rolling together now, because just the other day we were talking about our friends who are gone. 

“Whether they were amazing musicians – guitarists, singers, drummers or bass players – they don’t even play any more. They just fell off, for whatever reason. Then we have our buddies who are lifers that are still playing. 

“I guess the joys of the journey are trying to get to the Madison Square Garden or Royal Albert Hall. But while you are working on getting there, it’s a case of still playing and making sure you love it. You have to obviously still pay all your bills and rent. But the secret is to never stop playing. 

“I was talking about this with JD [Black Label Society bassist John DeServio] the other night. Even if I wasn’t blessed with having Ozzy in my life, I’d still be playing music, whether it be teaching, working in a music store, playing in a covers band or a wedding band. As long as you’re still playing, that’s all that matters at the end of the day. I guess you could call me, Scotty and Gary lifers.”

So you met Zakk long before that beard took shape, but even early on, he still had that signature wide vibrato…

Ian: “I was clean shaven too back in 1988. I even had hair on my head [laughs]!”  

Wylde: “JD gets to hear that vibrato every night and gets violently ill! People are always like, ‘Your bass player is so stealth and ripped’ and I go, ‘Yeah, it’s because he can’t hold his food down after hearing me play!’ But seriously, it’s crazy how many of our buddies from back then aren’t playing anymore. 

“Me and Scott were talking about this the other night, how they stuck it out from doing arenas with me and Ozzy back in the day, through the mean years of Anthrax, and now Anthrax is back on top. 

“There was a fall-off period where a lot of bands would have quit or given up. We know so many great musicians who gave up when they reached that lull. You have to be persistent and plough through it in this business. There are no other options. Just keep playing.”

Ian: “We always compare ourselves to De Niro in Raging Bull when he goes, ‘You never got me down, Ray, you never got me down!’ That’s how we’ve always felt, just like Jake LaMotta in the movie. No matter how many punches we took, we were never going to stop playing.”

So what would you say are each other’s strong points as guitar players?

Holt: “Well, when it comes to my own playing, I know I do a good job with the five licks I know. Five might be generous; maybe it’s four [laughs]!”

Wylde: “That’s all you need. It might only be four or five licks, but if you do them well, there you go. I remember I did a similar thing with Buddy Guy, where he was asked what he liked about my guitar playing. 

“I said, ‘Actually guys, let me speak for the Pontiff over here and answer on behalf of Buddy Guy – what he enjoys most about my playing is the sound right before you put the record on and, most of all, when the album ends [laughs]! It’s the silent bits in between. 

“I was thinking to myself, ‘Yeah, like Buddy Guy is gonna know anything about my guitar playing!’ As if he would be able to answer a question about my strong points. He didn’t even know what my name was and we’d been on the same Hendrix Experience tour for about three years [laughs]!”

Holt: “It doesn’t matter, because it’s Buddy Guy! It would be an honor even if he said he didn’t know who you were…”

Wylde: “Exactly! When people ask me what I offer kids as a guitar player, it’s the fact they can look at me and think, ‘If this ass clown can make a living playing music and afford the energy bills, then there’s hope for all of us!’ There is hope, kids. Just keep practicing.”

All jokes aside, though, the three of you are instantly recognizable as guitar players...

Ian: “I think the best compliment you can pay any musician is a bit like ‘name that tune’, when they have such an original sound, you name that guitar player in one note. I can do that with both of these guys.

“You instantly know whether it’s Zakk or Gary. They have their own sounds, feel and style. They’re complete originals. Of course, everything is derivative and comes from somewhere. We all came from similar influences but we took that and turned it into something of our own, expressing heavy music through our own filters. 

“In my eyes, that’s one of the reasons why we’re all still here doing it to the level we’re doing it: we’re all originals when it comes to playing and songwriting.”

Holt: “Well put! Sometimes all it takes is that one note. One of my all-time heroes is Angus Young, and I can identify his solos from just a pick slide. I’ll be like, ‘Aha! That’s from Let There Be Rock.’”

Ian: “And, by the way, I love Zakk’s vibrato. Who cares what JD thinks!”

Wylde: “Exactly. And, like I said earlier, he enjoys it because he’s losing weight and staying ripped!”

And while you all have different tones and styles, to some extent, it can all be traced back to Tony Iommi...

Wylde: “When any of us tell younger musicians where we came from, it all stems back to Lord Iommi. He was the Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Lennon, McCartney and Burt Bacharach of riffs. I mean, he created a whole genre that spawned Exodus, Anthrax, Black Label Society and various movements of different-sounding bands. 

“But all three of us take our influences and everything we’ve loved and digested over the years, and then play from the heart. I remember before I started with Ozz, I was trying to get a record deal and everyone was playing Bon Jovi kinda stuff to get our big break. 

“And then a lot of us realized that we didn’t like this music or even own any of these records. Why aren’t we playing music that we actually enjoy and love?! It’s right there in front of you but you can’t see it. I can hear Scott at soundcheck or Gary at soundcheck and it’s easy to tell where they come from as guitar players. 

“They’re not trying to play pop music. And with Bon Jovi, they’re playing exactly what they want to play and that’s the reason it became successful. Why pretend to be something that you’re not? Whatever it is that comes naturally is what you should be doing. That’s the only way you’re going to excel at anything.”

Holt: “That’s 100 percent correct. We all took the music we loved – all heavy metal starts and ends with Tony – and then we just added all these different things we liked, stirring it around in a big pot. In my case, it became Exodus. I grew up as a hard rock kid; those bands are where my roots are. The metal and punk rock came later. 

“Eventually you realize you owe it all to the giants whose shoulders you’re stood on. If I can influence some other kids, more power to it. I’m just paying it forward.”

To some degree, the success boils down to just how unique a spin you put on it...

Wylde: “Exactly, it’s all about that passing of knowledge, but with some degree of originality. Even with Saint Rhoads, there was his whole love for Mick Ronson – from how he was holding the Les Paul, the haircut, the whole nine yards. I never knew anything about that. 

“To me, Randy Rhoads was just Randy Rhoads. My friends would go, ‘Oh my god, this guy must really love Mick Ronson!’ and I’d be like, ‘I don’t know who Mick Ronson is!’ Then I learned more about it, finding out more about the history of things. 

“You eventually realize that Randy got a lot from Mick Ronson, who obviously got it from somebody else. Then Randy inspired the three of us, so we’re all indirectly inspired by Mick Ronson. That’s a beautiful thing that shows just how awesome the lineage of music is. You can see the roots almost like a tree...”

Holt: “Zakk often talks about Frank Marino. I was the youngest of six kids who grew up listening to Frank Marino but I never realized how much of an influence he had on Zakk until he mentioned. Now I listen to Zakk’s songs and I’m like, ‘Oh, I get it now!’ but I didn’t link the two together for a long time.”

When it comes to tone, there are many similarities and also a fair few differences. Zakk and Gary, you both love an EMG 81 in the bridge, while Scott prefers something like a Seymour Duncan JB. Zakk, you’ve used a Boss SD-1 on many a classic recording while Scott might prefer a boost and Gary might opt for a parametric EQ. But you’ve all mainly used EL34 tube amps for your live shows…

Ian: “I don’t even need a boost anymore; I just go straight into the EVH EL34.”

Holt: “I’m the opposite – I boost everything. And then I boost it again [laughs]!”

Wylde: “It all depends on what you want. Like Father Scott said, with certain things like EVH amps, Soldanos or Wizards, they have a lot of gain. The beautiful thing about JCM800s is that it’s such a simple circuit. There’s a good amount of overdrive, even more if you put a pedal in front. 

“If you want to clean it up, just turn the pedal off and roll the volume on your guitar down. It’s all good. There is no right or wrong way to do it. All it comes down to is whatever works best to get the tone you enjoy!”

Scott and Gary, you’re no strangers to JCM800s either…

Ian: “I love those old 800s. That’s what I used on the first six Anthrax albums with the TC Electronic Booster+ Distortion in front. When we recorded that Bungle record in 2020 [The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo], because it was just straight-up thrash, I pulled out my original 1982 JCM800 and old TC boost.

“Dave Friedman made sure the amp was running properly. I plugged it in and it was the exact tone from those early Anthrax albums. I used a combination of that with the EVH, which brought a little more bottom-end. I was so happy with the sound of both being used together.”

Holt: “I saw the clip you posted from the studio. I was like, ‘Aha, there’s that classic-sounding crunch.’ Like I was showing you the other day, on this tour I started using this new pedal I found from this Canadian company called GUP Tech [Presence Depth EQ]. It basically has this resonance control, so I put that in the loop to add back some low-end. It’s perfection and makes my amp sound super-loud! 

“The same goes for those old Jubilees. I boost them up and they get nice and crunchy. I went through all these different amp companies over the years and then [super-producer] Andy Sneap pointed out all I’m trying to do is chase the sound of my 1987 800. He said I was just trying to find a Marshall tone in something that wasn’t a Marshall. So I’ve made it easier for myself… I just use Marshalls!”

Wylde: “Every amp after the 800 is a derivative, to some extent. Those Marshall amps are like the wheel. The same goes for Les Pauls and Strats. Everything that came after is a variation or tweak on that, like a pair of Levis and a Fruit Of The Loom t-shirt. The original is always simple and works for everyone!”

Have you plugged into each other’s rigs on this tour?

Ian: “Not yet!”

Holt: “I’m dying to plug into Zakk’s rig!”

Wylde: “You can go for it anytime you want. Usually I have my anal bleaching appointment, getting my nails done and picking my makeup for the show, so I look good in my kilt. You gotta do what you gotta do because looks count. It’s all in the presentation, bro!”

Holt: “You can’t have your ass all brown and gnarly!”

As for the guitars in your hands, Zakk, your classic recordings were done with a Les Paul Custom. Gary, you mainly played Jackson Superstrats before moving over to ESP singlecuts and Scott, you’ve loved your Jacksons from very early on...

Ian: “Funnily enough, I do have this black Les Paul Custom that I’ve been using on records for quite a while now. It sounds so good! I randomly got it when Anvil had that movie come out years ago. They did a premiere in London, and because my friend made that movie, they had me come to London and jam with those guys, playing Metal on Metal together after the screening. 

“This was back around 2006 or 2007. I didn’t bring a guitar with me or anything. There was just this Custom lying there for me to play. So I jammed the song and nobody took the guitar back afterwards. It was just sitting there at the end of the night. I even called the people who made the movie saying, ‘I’ve got this guitar here!’ and they were like, ‘Well, someone will get in contact!’ 

“I ended up going back to LA and took the guitar back with me. Months later, I got this email from someone at Gibson asking if I had this Les Paul Custom and I told them, ‘Yeah, it’s been sitting here for months... I really enjoy playing it because it sounds awesome!’ So they let me keep it. I don’t even know what year it is, but that’s when I got it. I’ve actually got a whole bunch of Gibsons.”

Wylde: “Father Scott, look at the first number and the fifth number on the headstock. That will usually tell you when it’s from..."

Ian: “I’ve also got an '81 Flying V. That guitar’s been on every Anthrax album, doing rhythms on various songs. It’s one of the best-sounding guitars I’ve ever had. I’ve got a couple of Les Pauls. I’ve got every Angus Young SG signature they’ve put out. I’ve got Explorers. I mean, Gibson make great guitars – that’s why I own so many of them!”

You’ve all mastered the art of downpicking. Zakk, even though you tend to live on the sludgier side of metal, the recent shows with Pantera have been more right hand-intensive when it comes to riffing. And Gary, even on your own tuitional, you admit you occasionally mix in some alternate in there, like on the song Verbal Razors…

Holt: “Everybody cheats. Even James Hetfield cheats now… I’ve seen it enough times! If he’s doing a savage downpick section and then he throws in a ‘brrrp’ [motions descending slide], then that ‘brrrp’ is there for a reason. It allows you to lose a couple of notes…”

Wylde: “It’s okay to take a nice little breather!”

Holt: “It’s become really hard for me after battling this chronic tennis elbow in both arms. Towards the end of Slayer, I was getting so many cortisone injections I couldn’t even count them. It turns your tendons into mush! 

“I have a friend who is a San Francisco Giants hand surgeon and he saw my MRI and said I might need Tommy John Surgery. I couldn’t play anymore. I’d play for 10 minutes and my arms would lock up. I’ve been through therapy and don’t have any injections any more, so I’m good now, but downpicking is harder than it used to be. Age catches up! 

“But I’m grateful I’m still playing every day and playing injection-free. I need my sound to be really good and then I can ride. If I have to cheat a little more on downpicking because of it, so be it.”

Ian: “If you’ve got a good up, it’s not even cheating, because it sounds just as good as the down!”

Holt: “Yeah, I’ll do the down, down, down, up – throwing in that little one. Usually that’s all I need! And you mentioned Verbal Razors. Damn, when I listen to that shit now, I think I must have been out of my mind! There’s so much downpicking, but then you’ve got to jump from the E string into all this riffage. That one is a challenge these days!”

Then there are right-hand punishers like One World, A.D.I./Horror of It All and Imitation of Life. What on earth were you thinking when recording Among the Living, Scott?!

Ian: “Well, I can tell you one thing was for sure – I wasn’t thinking about having to play those songs 30 years later [laughs]!”

Holt: “Exactly. On the new Exodus album [2021’s Persona Non Grata] I probably threw in more downpicking than I did on any of them. I blew out my right elbow doing the song The Beatings Will Continue (Until Morale Improves). After recording the album, I got elbow problems really bad. 

“That’s when I had my last two injections – one right before the album, which worked really well, and one after the album that got me a couple of weeks living pain-free and then everything went to shit. I don’t know what got into me, trying to do more of that than ever on this latest album… at the end of my 50s!”

Ian: “Not too long ago, I was tapping out BPMs to songs from Among the Living, just laughing to see how much we would naturally speed up throughout songs. There are a couple of moments where I’d be downpicking at 220 or 225. I didn’t really know! I see videos of myself doing it back then and always think it would take me months to get up to that speed nowadays. 

“Any long section above 210… just forget it! I was doing that when I was 25. I wasn’t thinking about doing that with 59 year-old forearms. It’s a physical impossibility. Anything 210 and lower, I’m good. I can hang there. But anything faster than that has to be short bursts. My 11-year-old son has a faster right hand than me now. He can out-downpick me any day!”

Zakk, given that your instructional was titled Pentatonic Hardcore, it would be fair to say you’re the bluesiest out of the three of you. Those five notes are clearly home for you!

Wylde: “The pentatonic is the most lyrical scale. I mean, it actually is… when you listen to singing and everything like that, you’ll find most of it lives in the pentatonic scales. It’s interesting with picking – I’d say using only downs and alternate are two very different animals for sure. When it comes to more of the extreme side of metal, you need to do them both well.

“Like you said, when I’m rolling with the Pantera fellas, I’m playing Dime’s stuff. It’s definitely a completely different thing to playing Crazy Train, Bark At The Moon or any of the things I did with Ozz, like Miracle Man, or stuff like that. It’s just a different technique, without a doubt, and definitely a bit closer to what Scotty and Gary are doing.”

Scott, you were also with Zakk at the end of last year for one of the Pantera shows in South America. It was great to see you on lead Whammy for the song Becoming. Dimebag’s tech, Grady Champion, trusted you with the same task back in the '90s – clearly you were the right person for the job.

Ian: “When Dime started using the Whammy pedal back in the day, even before we were touring together in '97 or '98, I would go to shows in New York or LA and somehow get roped into being the guy in charge of his Whammy pedal for that song. 

“So it was from when Far Beyond Driven came out onwards – any show I was at, Grady would have me run the Whammy pedal. I got the timing down, I got the feel down and I got the pocket. Darrell didn’t want to have the pedal out front because he didn’t want to be stuck to it… he wanted to be able to move around and not stand there for those sections of the song. That’s why he always had Grady doing it out back. 

“They probably let me have the job to give Grady’s foot a break during the show! We were in Chile back in December. Zakk was there with Pantera and I was there with Mr. Bungle. I was standing right next to Grady and there was the Whammy pedal on the floor. We kinda had this funny look between us. Then I saw Grady had already stuck this piece of tape on the pedal that said, ‘Scott, don’t fuck this up!’”

Wylde: “Scott crushed it, so thanks very much, Father Scott! I was surrounded by my three guardian angels – Grady, Scott and Saint Dime. So yeah, I knew I was in good hands.”

Ian: “Some people might say I’ve got the best foot in metal!”

We noticed some bands got onsite early and even streamed the soundcheck – a bit unfair given how much work had gone into this reunion tour...

Wylde: “For me, everything’s always being filmed anyway, you know what I mean? Like, there’s people there, how could you expect it not to be filmed? It’s kinda silly. 

“Everybody on stage was up there saying, ‘Nobody release any footage or photos!’ and I was thinking, ‘But there’s a ton of people in front of us soundchecking – what are you talking about?!’ It was always going to end up everywhere. I think we were halfway through soundcheck and it was already out there. You know… I couldn’t care less, man. It is what it is.”

While we’re on the subject of Pantera, do you have a reaction to the German and Austrian show cancellations that happened last week?

Wylde: “There’s nothing I can do about that, you know what I mean? In terms of my role, it’s always a case of being ready for whatever – as in seeing if the fellas want to add any more songs or anything like that while we’re out rolling together on this tour. If I get a call from Phil or Rex and they want to change up the set or do whatever, I’m usually just in the back lounge working on more songs!”

It’s been really interesting hearing your take on the leads – sticking to the feel and format of the original recordings, while also working in some of your own licks...

Wylde: “It’s inevitable I will end up sounding like me. If Dime was playing with Ozz and doing my stuff, it would sound like Dime playing the solo to No More Tears or Mama, I’m Coming Home. It would be Dime’s vibrato, Dime’s tone. It would sound like him playing my stuff. Even if he did it note-for-note, it would sound like him because that’s his sound, you know what I mean? 

“So yeah, we’re having a blast out there playing these songs. I’m just honored I get a chance to pay tribute to the brothers. It’s a pretty special thing that’s happening right now. I can’t say I have a favorite song or solo, though. Just like when I’m playing with Ozz, I enjoy the whole thing. I love all of it and any of it, from the first note we play to the last note we play. It’s all awesome.”

• The Anthrax/Black Label Society US tour featuring Exodus continues through February 2023 – head to Anthrax.com for tickets and full dates.

The world may still feel like it’s in a state of pause, but that’s not enough to stop Zakk Wylde from doing what he does best. He ended 2021 out on the road with Black Label Society, while teasing singles from the band’s 11th studio album Doom Crew Inc. – another masterclass in blues-based metal and pentatonic shred. 

And continuing his long association with Ozzy Osbourne, he features on the singer’s forthcoming album alongside three legends in Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Tony Iommi.

In one of the new BLS tracks, End Of Days, your solo climaxes with a pentatonic run in six – it’s like hearing Eric Johnson or Joe Bonamassa with more distortion!

“I learned all of that from players like John McLaughlin and Frank Marino. When I first listened to [jazz fusion pioneers] Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jan Hammer and Jerry Goodman would be doubling what John McLaughlin was doing. That stuff felt like true pentatonic insanity to me. Hearing Eric Johnson and Bonamassa doing it came quite a while after for me, but I’m glad I discovered their pentatonic goodness!”

Those kinds of licks can be quite a challenge for the picking hand. How did you get them up to speed?

“It’s just a matter of repetition. You have to keep doing a little bit more and more, starting slow and building up speed. It’s just like laying bricks – one day you wake up and you just have it. I would just alternate pick pentatonic scales up and down. But really it all depends on what kind of sound you’re going for. 

“For example, Allan Holdsworth was trying to sound like a sax, so playing legato helped get him that sound. If he played more like Steve Morse, with every note picked and lots of staccato, it wouldn’t have had that fluid sax feel. Guys like Al Di Meola and John McLaughlin tend to pick every note because that’s the sound they’re looking for. Techniques are just different colours you can use…"

It’s great to hear your co-guitarist Dario Lorina trading licks with you on some of these tracks, which is a first.

“Yeah, like on Destroy And Conquer, Dario comes in for the second half doing the diminished stuff. He’s phenomenal. I guess he’s more like a gazelle and I’m more of a bull in a china shop! He has more grace in his playing. Even though he can pick everything, he uses more legato ideas than I do... Which is great. That’s what separates us.”

We’re guessing you’re still using your Wylde Audio electric guitars and amps, and it definitely sounds like there’s some flanger and phaser on certain tracks.

“We used the MXR Eddie Van Halen flanger on the You Made Me Want To Live intro. I probably had it on the Unchained setting, because you can press one button that takes you right there! I had a Phase 90 on a few things too. All of my stuff is out in front. A lot of people use the effects loop for delay, which gives you a great sound that doesn’t cover up your tone, it sits behind it. 

“But I really don’t use delay on anything and if I do it’s used as an effect, like at the end of the solo in [Ozzy classic] No More Tears. Usually I’m just dry. The only thing I have on is the overdrive and the chorus, though in the studio I won’t use a chorus pedal – I’ll have one head and one cabinet, then double up for the wide spread of a natural chorus.”

Funnily enough, your solos in You Made Me Want To Live and No More Tears both feature bends where you catch other strings and make your guitar scream...

“That’s a big Gary Moore thing, at least to my ears. He’d do those big bends and catch an extra string to add to the emotion. It definitely sounds very angry! Everything he played was rooted from the pentatonic scale and chromatics, but it came down to his interpretation of the blues and the aggression he put into it. That’s the beautiful thing about guitar. From Paul Kossoff to David Gilmour, everyone’s personality is in their phrasing.”

And speaking of legendary players, you must have been blown away when you found out you would be co-starring alongside Clapton, Beck and Iommi on the new Ozzy album...

“Yeah! I was shocked when I heard it was happening and even more when I heard what they played. They’d already recorded their parts so I ended up rerecording rhythm tracks underneath what they’d done at my home studio. It came out awesome. 

“With Eric, he went from John Mayall and Cream to his solo stuff, and it was always tasteful. The same goes for Jeff Beck. The whammy bar is a big part of his sound – he treats it almost like its own instrument which is amazing. Both of them are incredible songwriters. That’s the reason why we listen to them. It’s all about the musicality with those guys.”

• Doom Crew Inc. is out now via Ent. One Music.

Black Label Society frontman Zakk Wylde and bassist John DeServio are set to launch their own podcast, The Wylde Goose Show.

Hosted on the GaS Digital Network, The Wylde Goose Show will provide a “fly-on-the-wall opportunity for fans” to hear the pair talk about everything from “sordid backstage tales to stories from the road and studios”.

The podcast will be casual in nature – featuring “real talk with no politics and nothing heavy besides the music” – and will host a series of special guests who will join Wylde and DeServio (aka Goose) for relaxed conversation about music.

The Wylde Goose Show premieres February 1 at 4PM ET, and will stream live and free on a weekly basis on the GaS Digital Network. Each episode will be available on all major podcast platforms dive days after initial airing.

“This is a podcast with no nutritional value,” Wylde explains. “It's just the two of us shooting the shit and waxing poetically about nothing. We want to create an environment that makes listeners feel that they're hanging with us backstage before a gig or on the tour bus on the way to the show.

“Goose and I love going off on whatever, and this is a great platform to share what it's like to just hang with us and our friends.” 

“Zakk has been a friend for years and a regular guest on The SDR Show, a podcast I host with comedian Big Jay Oakerson,” says GaS Digital Network co-founder Ralph Sutton. “GaS has seen such tremendous growth and adding Zakk and JD is such a boon for the network and a perfect fit to our aesthetic.”

For more information on The Wylde Goose Show, head to the GaS Digital Network.

In a recent Guitar World interview, Zakk Wylde reflected on three decades of Ozzy Osbourne's sixth solo album, No More Tears (1991).

“[1988’s] No Rest for the Wicked was my first record with the boss,” he said. “And I was like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I’m gonna contribute to the sound and the direction of Ozzy’s music!’ Being such a huge Randy [Rhoads] fan and Jake [E. Lee] fan and Sabbath fan, that was a big thing – I remember it like it was yesterday.

“So we had an ass-kicking time making that record, and then after the craziness of that tour, No More Tears was more of a relaxed kind of atmosphere. We just had more experience, which led to bringing in songs like Road to Nowhere and Mama, I’m Coming Home.”

In the same interview, Wylde selected 12 musical milestones from his lengthy career, including his favorite Ozzy contributions and Black Label Society cuts.

In addition to 2021 being the year Black Label Society are releasing their 11th album and getting back onstage, it also marks the 30th anniversary of the release of No More Tears, Wylde’s biggest album with “the boss”, Ozzy Osbourne.

It was something we couldn’t ignore, so during our recent interview time with Wylde, we fired him a few questions about this particularly fruitful period with the Prince of Darkness.

What do you recall most about the experience of recording No More Tears?

“Well, obviously [1988’s] No Rest for the Wicked was my first record with the boss. And I was like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I’m gonna contribute to the sound and the direction of Ozzy’s music!’ Being such a huge Randy [Rhoads] fan and Jake [E. Lee] fan and Sabbath fan, that was a big thing – I remember it like it was yesterday. 

“So we had an ass-kicking time making that record, and then after the craziness of that tour, No More Tears was more of a relaxed kind of atmosphere. We just had more experience, which led to bringing in songs like Road to Nowhere and Mama, I’m Coming Home.”

How did the title track come together?

“I remember with No More Tears, Mikey [Mike Inez] started jamming that out on the bass. And then Randy [Castillo] started in on drums, and John [Sinclair] started playing that keyboard thing. I had a slide laying around because of my love for the Allmans and Skynyrd and everything, and I started doing that line, the major-key, Skynyrd-y Allmans thing. 

“Then we stopped, and Mike was still playing the bass and Randy was playing the drums and we did like the whole War Pigs, Black Dog thing, where Ozzy sings and then we play the riff. That was how that happened. The song almost wrote itself. But overall we had a blast making that record. And the tour was frickin’ hilarious, too. It was just a lot of fun times, man.”

• Read more: Zakk Wylde on 12 career milestones

Zakk Wylde can recall once being interviewed alongside Buddy Guy – the two appeared on the 2016 Experience Hendrix tour together – when somebody asked the blues legend a question. “They go, ‘Buddy, what is it about Zakk’s playing that you like?’” Wylde lets out a huge laugh. “And I said, ‘I can answer that for ya – he likes the space in between the songs!’”

Wylde is, of course, being characteristically self-deprecating. And why not? He knows full well that over the course of his more than 30-year recording career he’s laid down his fair share of stone-cold killer jams. 

With that in mind, here’s a dirty dozen of Zakk’s greatest guitar moments – from Ozzy tracks to Black Label Society tunes, guest spots to covers and more – straight from the man himself.

1. Miracle Man (Ozzy Osbourne, No Rest for the Wicked, 1988)

“This was the first riff I ever wrote with Ozzy. The fingering I was doing on that was Foxey Lady [sings Foxey Lady riff]. Because I remember when I learned that – it’s the same thing [sings Miracle Man riff]. And then I just added the end part. And then with the rhythm, I just made it obviously a metal thing. But I was just trying to figure out a lick, you know? 

“And, like they say, everything comes from somewhere. Muddy Waters could have influenced the Stones on something, and then Muddy would have said, 'Oh, I got that from my uncle, and my uncle got it from one of his friends that played guitar…' Then it’s just your interpretation of something else. But I always find it interesting to go back and find out where things came from. And you go, 'Oh, okay.'”

2. Crazy Babies (Ozzy Osbourne, No Rest for the Wicked)

“I remember me and Randy Castillo were jamming that riff and then doing all the pushes and everything. So I remember when we were noodling, that’s where that one came about.”

3. Mama, I’m Coming Home (Ozzy Osbourne, No More Tears, 1991)

“That actually came from me and Oz jamming on the piano in my apartment in North Hollywood. So it started on piano and then when we got in the studio I transposed it to guitar. 

“It’s in open E, so that’s where I came up with the guitar line that goes from E to A. And then obviously my love for the Allmans and Skynyrd and everything, that’s where the Albert Lee-type country bends in the beginning came from. 

“Even on No More Tears, there’s a ton of me slipping in little country things. Like, the slide part is a Free Bird type thing. I’d be sneaking in those Allmans-y, Skynyrd-y things as much as they could fit within the context of what we were doing. Just putting that seasoning on the food.”

4. I Don’t Want to Change the World (Ozzy Osbourne, No More Tears)

“That came out as a goof. We were at Joe’s Garage, Frank Zappa’s old place, and we were jamming. I remember I was playing the main riff, and then I’d get through it and just stop. And then you or me would say something into the mic, like, 'How not to ever get a date.' Or, 'I have no job and I live with my parents.' And then we’d go back into the riff. 

“It was just us on the floor, crying-laughing and coming up with all this stuff that we kept saying in between that riff. Then Ozzy comes walking into the room and he  goes, 'What is that?' I’m like, 'What are you talkin’ about?' And he says, 'That thing you’re playing. That riff.' I go, 'Oh, it’s just a joke...' And he goes, 'We’re going to use that.' Next thing you know, it won a Grammy!”

5. Losin’ Your Mind (Pride & Glory, Pride & Glory, 1994)

“We had a blast making that record. And Losin’ Your Mind was one I thought came out really great. With the banjo thing in there, I had to figure out how to tune it. So I got one of those banjos that you tune like a guitar, and I played it so that the fingering was pretty much the same as it would be on a guitar. 

“Playing in banjo tuning is great as well, but you have to work at it. And I just needed it for that specific part. But with the banjo on there and all the country bends, it just came out really slamming. And with how crushing Brian [Tichy]’s drums sounded and James [Lomenzo]’s bass playing was, I was really happy overall. 

“Again, it’s my love for the Allmans and Skynyrd and the Marshall Tucker Band and Blackfoot, that whole movement. I mean, Molly Hatchet, I still listen to that stuff. I mean, [Molly Hatchet guitarist] Dave Hlubek, his playing on those records is ridiculous. Really great playing, really great tones, the production is great. It’s just really good stuff.”

6. Spoke in the Wheel – (Black Label Society, Sonic Brew, 1998)

“The first Black Label song I ever wrote. I was sitting in a hotel room in Japan, and I think I was doing promotion for [Wylde’s 1996 acoustic solo album] Book of Shadows, or something was going on. 

“And I remember I ended up writing that song because after we did Book of Shadows I was like, 'What am I? I’m not ready to be James Taylor yet, and just be, you know, a singer-songwriter.' So it was like, I knew I still wanted to do the heavy stuff, but at the same time I was writing that song.”

7. Bored to Tears (Black Label Society, Sonic Brew)

“So I did Spoke in the Wheel, but then when me and [original Black Label Society drummer] Phil [Ondich] got together, when we were in the studio and we tracked Bored to Tears, I was just thinking about simplicity. 

“We were talking about simple riffs, whether it was Smoke on the Water, Iron Man, Aqualung, anything like that. Just the simplicity of amazingly awesome, great riffs. Because, you know, if it was easy, everyone would do it. There’s an art to it. It’s like, if I gave you minimal ingredients to make us a meal, you’d still want to come up with something great. Or, let’s give you two colors and see what you can paint. 

“Then you have to use your imagination. Because if I gave you white and red, if you blended them together, now you also have pink. So you use your imagination to come up with different combinations. So with the Bored to Tears riff, I remember us listening to it and just cranking it. It was just so simple – three notes – and I was like, 'Man, that came out pretty cool…' Having a limited amount of things forces you to have to come up with something great.”

8. Stillborn (Black Label Society, The Blessed Hellride, 2003)

“That’s another one where it’s like, 'Give me three crayons…' You know what I’m saying? In this case it’s, here’s an F sharp, an E and a B. That’s pretty much all that’s in that song. And the chorus is, what? You’ve got F sharp to D, E and B. That’s it. And the riff is one note. So let me see what we can do with one note. Simplicity.”

9. Reborn (Damageplan, New Found Power, 2004)

“Dime was in town and he was like, 'Zakk, you want to put a solo on something?' And I said, 'Yeah, Dime, whatever you want me to do, man.' So that’s how that came about – another drinking session o’ doom with the Dimebag. That’s the only time we recorded together. 

“Although I also remember going down to a Pantera show [on their tour for 2000’s Reinventing the Steel] and getting onstage and jamming with them. I walked out, I think it was at Irvine Meadows or something like that, and I had my dog Dorian with me, my Rottweiler. 

“You can see it on YouTube – 'Zakk Walks Onstage with his Dog' or something like that. Dime gave me his guitar, and it was at the end of one of their songs, just ending on E or something like that, and I started noodling.”

10. In This River (Black Label Society, Mafia, 2005)

“Originally I didn’t write that for Dime. It was after Dime passed away that I was like, 'Yeah, that’s his song.' Just because of the lyrics and everything. And live we dedicate the song to him all the time. It’s in every show we do, and it always will be.”

11. Supernaut (Zakk Sabbath, Live in Detroit, 2016)

“When we’re out there doing the Zakk Sabbath thing, I love playing the Sabbath stuff – N.I.B, Fairies Wear Boots, Never Say Die, all of it. It’s just like, it’s the riff… and then a great melody over it. That’s all you need. It’s steak, potatoes and vegetables, and it’s done really well. There’s really not much going on, but it’s amazing. You don’t need all this insane production and shit flying around all over the place, because the song’s so great. 

“The magic is in those songs, man. And Supernaut, we usually open up with that one. Like I was saying, it’s just an amazing riff, and then you’ve got two chords and the verse. That’s the whole song. And it’s like, 'Wow, this tastes amazing! What’d you put on this?' And the answer is nothing, really. It’s just a good piece of meat. You don’t have to put tons of salt, tons of pepper, tons of cayenne, whatever, all over it. No A.1. Sauce. I can just cook it in the pan and serve it to you and you’re like, 'Zakk, this is incredible!' 'Yeah, I know.'”

12. Highway Star (Generation Axe, The Guitars That Destroyed the World: Live in China, 2019)

“First off, it’s an honor to play with those guys [The Generation Axe tour featured Wylde, Steve Vai, Nuno Bettencourt, Yngwie Malmsteen and Tosin Abasi]. And it’s so much fun hanging out together. We would all sit in the bus telling horror stories about the music business. The stories Yngwie’s got…

“I remember we were all crying, laughing at how ridiculous it all is. Especially
when you’re first coming up and you don’t know anything and you’re all naïve. You’re like, 'Well, they would never do that to me...' Steve just goes, 'If anything, I’m
glad I put this thing together just for the comedy!'

“As far as Highway Star, I mean, that’s Deep Purple – Mount Riffmore. So doing that song was great every night. Everyone would get up there and do their thing. When any one of those guys picks up a guitar, within two notes I already know who’s playing what. As soon as Nuno picks up a guitar, you know it’s him. Yngwie, you know it’s him. Steve, you know it’s him. Same with Tosin. 

“It really just goes to show you how awesome the guitar is in regard to everybody’s personality really coming out in their playing. It really truly does. And there’s no competition. Like Father Steve would always say, and it’s the best quote ever, he would go, 'Zakk, there is no best guitar player. It’s, Who’s your favorite guitar player?’ You know? Who do you prefer?

“And I mean, I love Yngwie just as much as I love David Gilmour. Hearing Yngwie play Black Star or Evil Eye, and then hearing David do Comfortably Numb, they’re both devastating. It just depends on what mood I’m in and what I’d rather hear in the moment.” 

Zakk Wylde has released 10 albums with Black Label Society over roughly the past two decades. And while the band has always functioned as a two-guitar juggernaut onstage (the more axes and amps the better, we suppose), in the studio BLS has always been strictly the Zakk show, with the Wylde One handling all the guitars – from riffs to melodies to solos (and even twin harmonies) – himself. That is, until now.

Behold Doom Crew Inc., Black Label Society’s 11th record, and the first to feature a second guitarist going lick-for-lick alongside Zakk. And the guitarist in question – 32-year-old Dario Lorina – is, as would be expected, no slouch. 

Lorina has served as a member of Black Label Society since the tour for 2014’s Catacombs of the Black Vatican, and on his own has released two albums of high-intensity shred on Shrapnel Records, as well as logged time with long-running metal acts like Lizzy Borden. As for what led Zakk to bring him on board in the studio this time? “Because Dario’s awesome,” he says simply.

Much of the beauty, as it were, of Black Label Society’s music is that, to some extent, you always know what to expect – crushing rhythms built on the foundation of what Zakk calls “Mount Riffmore” (that’d be Sabbath, Zeppelin, Cream and Deep Purple); fist-pumping choruses; insanely intricate, mind-bogglingly speedy solos – and Wylde and the band once again deliver in spades. 

From the Sabbathian stomper Set You Free to the jacked-up boogie blues workout Gather All My Sins, the classic-rock-on-steroids groover Shelter Me to the sludge-metal chugfest Gospel of Lies, there’s no shortage of high-octane bangers on Doom Crew Inc. 

And while there’s also a smattering of characteristic Zakk piano ballads in the form of Forever and a Day and the closing Farewell Ballad, Doom Crew Inc. is, as Wylde proudly states, a celebration of the power and glory of the guitar. 

And this time, there’s two of ’em. “To me, it’s just about getting more,” says Zakk about bringing in Dario. In this exclusive interview, he sits down with Lorina to tell Guitar World exactly how they did it.

Black Label Society, at least in the studio, has always been a one-man-operation when it comes to the guitars. What made you decide to bring Dario into the recording process this time? 

Wylde: “He’s an amazing player, and there’s just more that we can do together. When you have a real two-guitar-player band like the Allman Brothers or Judas Priest, you can do those harmonies. And not only that – Dario can shred. So it’s just like, ‘Why don’t you do a solo here?’ 

“It’s like Night Ranger, where you have Jeff [Watson] and Brad [Gillis], and they’re doing harmonies together, but at the same time, they’re both shredding all over the records. That’s where we’re at now. So having Dario in the band is awesome. That’s why I said we have to make sure Dario is included on the cover of the magazine. Because he’s all over the record. It’s not just me this time.”

Plus, he’s a very handsome man.

Wylde: “[Laughs] Of course! He brings a lot of mutants and people like that who otherwise probably wouldn’t be at a Black Label show!”

Dario, you’ve been with Black Label Society for several years, but this is the first time you’ve been on a Black Label record. How did it come about?

Lorina: “I guess I’ve been in the band, what, seven years now? The way I joined was I was going back and forth with Blasko [Rob Nicholson], who plays bass with Ozzy and manages Black Label, and I think at the time he had heard one of my instrumental albums. 

“Then it came to me that Black Label were looking for another guitar player. We were already communicating, so they were like, ‘Send over some videos of you playing and singing some Black Label stuff.’ I sent the videos over and then Zakk had me come out and meet up at the Black Vatican [Wylde’s home studio in LA]. And that was it. 

“As far as playing on the new record, it just kind of progressed to this over the years. During live shows we would be trading solos, or I would double one of his leads, or during something like Fire It Up [from 2005’s Mafia] we’d go out in the crowd and jam together. The back-and-forth thing just kind of became part of the show, and that continued onto this album.”

That back-and-forth thing is all over Doom Crew Inc., with you guys trading solos in a headcutting style. A good example would be on the first single, Set You Free. Were your parts worked out separate from one another, or were you improvising together? 

Wylde: “For a lot of the solos I actually wrote out the whole thing. The Set You Free one, that was completely constructed, and it was recorded with just me soloing. And I really dug the way it came out. But it was long enough where I just went, ‘Dario, you play this part, I’ll play this part and then at the end of it we’ll do that pentatonic lick together.’ 

“So we sent the track from the Vatican over to his studio, the Dark Chapel [Lorina’s home studio in Las Vegas], and 10 minutes later Dario sent it back. And we were like “Slamming. Great. Done.” 

It’s a pretty intense lead, to say the least. Dario, is it difficult having to play Zakk’s licks? 

Lorina: “Absolutely. But in general when you’re playing somebody’s else’s stuff, that person has his own style and his own technique. And with Zakk, it’s not easy. Some of his diatonic runs, I might play them one way, and, of course, he’s gonna play it a different way. Or some of the cool, tricky pentatonic things, it’s like, ‘Oh, wow, that’s a little different than what I would normally do…’ 

“So I just have to get my head around things like the transitions between the strings, or if the note’s double-picked or whatever’s going on. I definitely had to sit down many times and go, ’Okay, let me practice this one out first…’”

How did you handle the leads on the rest of the record? 

Lorina: “The ones Zakk had written out completely were Set You Free, End of Days and You Made Me Want to Live. For the rest of them I wrote my own parts. And a lot of it was improvised. 

“The way I work is, I’ll start playing and then I’ll keep bits that I like. Or I might write out part of the lick, because maybe I want it to end a certain way. But I’ve done two instrumental albums of my own, and doing this one was sort of the same process for me. I’d just improvise, come up with some licks and then try to get a good take.”

Zakk, you’ve played with some great guitarists over the years, both in and out of Black Label Society. What makes Dario special? 

Wylde: “The cool thing is that Dario, even being so much younger, he has a great grasp of the guitar. He has a great vibrato, he’s blues-based… and the blues stuff is where a lot of your phrasing and things like that come from. And you can’t force somebody to like blues, you know? 

“Somebody might be really attracted to King Edward [Van Halen], and they love the tapping and they love all the crazy stuff. But then you go, ‘But, you know, the base of the King Edward soup is blues.’ Like, if you asked Eddie to play Red House, he could play it. Or Crossroads. 

“I mean, Eric Clapton was his guy. So it was all based in blues. It’s not just Spanish Fly and all the shredding, ripping fast stuff. I remember when I was younger I would go see Dave DiPietro [guitarist for New Jersey metal act T.T. Quick] play in the clubs. I could run scales and play fast and stuff like that, but when he would play blues stuff I was just like, ‘Wow!’ I could feel what he was playing. And to me it was a completely different vocabulary than just blazing finger exercises. 

“And I see that in some of these younger guys now, whether it’s Jared James Nichols or Richie Faulkner or Dario. They have great technique and can play fast, but they also have great vibrato and they can play blues.” 

Lorina: “I started playing when I was six or seven, and Eddie Van Halen was my guy. I remember driving around in the car with my dad and I’d always put in the Van Halen cassette. And I loved guys like George Lynch and John Sykes, but then I also loved Johnny Winter and a lot of the classic blues stuff. 

“So as far as blues influences, there’s definitely a similarity there in style and technique between me and Zakk. But I’m also just rooted in, like, that '80s kind of playing.”

Dario, I remember first hearing about you when you were just a teenager and playing with [former Warrant singer] Jani Lane. 

Lorina: “Yeah. Thinking back to the Jani time, those guys were so awesome because I was definitely a lot younger. But they took me under their wing and guided me and helped me grow. Those were just great times.”

When it came to the new album, what was the writing process like for you, Zakk? 

Wylde: “Like it always is. I have one of my [Wylde Audio] amps with a 4x12 [cabinet] out in the gym, and I sit out there with a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. I play at a low volume with reverb and delay so it sounds like I’m at Madison Square Garden and I just start writing riffs. [Laughs] 

“I think of it like this: you and me are going looking for dinosaur bones – we know in this area over here we’re gonna find something, so why don’t we just dig today and see what comes up? And if we find nothing? No problem – we’ll come back tomorrow. But they’re out there, you know what I mean? It’s just a matter of digging. We’ll find something. And then eventually we’ll dig up the Pazuzu Statue [from The Exorcist] and all hell breaks loose!”

Are you working alone during the recording process? 

Wylde: “The way we end up doing the records now, I’ll do everything. For this one I recorded all the rhythm guitars before the fellas came out. 

“Adam [Fuller, engineer] and I went up to my studio and did it to a click track. If there’s certain parts where the tempos are changing, we’ll stop right there, up the tempo on the click and then I’ll play the riff. Then when it slows back down we’ll stop again, slow the click down and keep going. 

So by the time JD [bassist John DeServio] and Jeff [Fabb, drums] get out here to track the bass and the drums, I’ve already doubled the guitars and it sounds exactly like what you’re hearing on the record. 

“Jeff will listen to it and he’ll play air drums to it and then he’ll go, ‘All right, I know what I’m going to do.’ And he goes into the drum room and lays it down. It’s the same with JD. That’s pretty much the way it works. 

“To me, it’s just the most painless way to do it. I mean, the way we used to do it with Ozzy on No Rest for the Wicked and No More Tears, we’d just rehearse and rehearse these songs, and it’s just like, ‘What are we doing? We know the songs, right? We know Miracle Man. We know No More Tears. We know Mama, I’m Coming Home.’ 

“Rehearsing is what you do when you’re getting ready for the tour, you know? Because when you rehearse too much before recording, you take away all the spontaneity, all the magic, all the fire. You’re sucking the life out of the thing.”

Dario, did you just record all your parts at your own studio? 

Lorina: “I did. Zakk pretty much sent me everything all at once, and I think it took me about a week to do all my parts. I’m a morning guy, so I was up with coffee, banging them out one by one from Friday to Friday. And then I would listen back and make sure, ‘Okay, is this what I want as a final thing?’ And then I sent it all off.”

What gear were you using? 

Lorina: “I used a Wylde Audio Barbarian with EMGs through a [Marshall] JCM800 100-watt and my old [Peavey] 5150 cab. And I think I threw an overdrive or two on there – a [Boss SD-1] Super Overdrive and a Seymour Duncan 805, which is sort of Tube Screamer-esque. And that was really it.”

How about you, Zakk? 

Wylde: “For guitars I used my [Wylde Audio] Nomads, and also a couple of the Heathens. I could have used one guitar to do the whole record if I wanted to, but I felt like picking and choosing because the guitars were all just sitting there. I was like, ‘Oh, let me do a solo with this one…’ 

“And then for amps I was just using my 100-watt Wylde Audio head – the same one I used for [2018’s] Grimmest Hits. That was it. It’s just crushing. It’s based off my JCM800, which to me is the perfect amp. When we designed the Wylde Audio amp, all I was going for was, ‘Give me more of that.’ 

“Because the 800 does everything you want it to do. It’s like a pair of Levi’s and a T-shirt – I don’t know how you’re going to improve on it. It pretty much never goes out of style.”

The Wylde Audio amps still aren’t available to the public, correct? 

Wylde: “No. We’ve talked about putting them into production, and that would obviously be the next thing to do. I definitely want to do the head, because that’s the one I use. Although when we go out on the road, I still bring out my old Marshalls just in case anything goes down. 

“And if we’re ever doing shows where we have to use rental gear it’s always a JCM800, a 2203. Because it has everything you need. And if you want more distortion? Just throw a pedal in front of it and you’re off and running.”

So you were writing at home, you were recording at home, you were off the road due to the pandemic… that’s a lot of at-home time. 

Wylde: “I mean, I loved every second of being home. I always do. And when I’m touring I love touring. When we’re out on the road, we’re doing what we love, you know? 

“That’s the reason you had posters of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and all your favorite guitar players up on the wall when you were a kid. Because that’s what you wanted to do with your life. And I’m doing it. So I’m blessed. Every night before we go up onstage, JD and I fist bump and he goes, ‘Dude, we’ve got the best job in the world.’ And I’m like, ‘No shit!’”

What did you do to fill your days during this extended break? 

Wylde: “The same thing I do all the time. I lift weights. I drink coffee. I walk the dogs. The running joke I’d tell my wife was, ‘You’re married to a professional dog walker now!’ Then it came time – ‘We’re going to do another record.’ And it was, ‘Okay, cool. I’ll start writing.’ And here we are.”

How about you, Dario? 

Lorina: “I have an online guitar school called Death Grip Academy, and I was doing a lot with that. So I was still playing every day. And then at some point Zakk called and he was like, ‘Hey, man, I’m going to send these songs to you – come up with some solos.’ 

“It just happened like that. But other than that it kind of felt like an extended break of not being on the road. Because here we are now starting to play shows again, and looking back at that year-and-a-half or whatever it was, it just feels like, ‘Did that really happen?’”

Wylde: “We did a show at Sturgis recently and me and the guys were laughing about getting out onstage again. I was telling them, ‘I had to practice standing up!’ Because when you’re home, you don’t stand up with the guitar on. You sit on the couch or at the kitchen table, noodling, running scales, whatever you’re doing. Now we have to get used to playing standing up again.”

Maybe the Doom Crew Inc. tour can be fully seated performances… 

Wylde: “[Laughs] That’d be great. Just roll a couch onstage. Comfortable metal!”

Zakk, you’ve been doing Black Label Society for more than 20 years now. Does it feel like it’s been that long? 

Wylde: “Not at all. The crazy thing is, I remember looking at old magazines from the '70s and Keith Richards would be on the cover and it would say, ‘Keith Richards – 16 years with the Rolling Stones!’ 

“So I’m laughing because Black Label’s been 23 years now. But it doesn’t seem like it. I remember when my dad turned 80, he was just like, ‘Where has the time gone?’ He would show me pictures of him during WWII, hanging out at the barracks playing cards or whatever, and he would go, ‘This guy got killed. This guy got his brains blown out. This guy died with me, he was under a tank. This guy got cancer. This guy’s still alive…’ 

“It didn’t seem that long ago to him. Just like for me, first playing with the boss [Ozzy Osbourne] doesn’t seem that long ago. No More Tears doesn’t seem that long ago. I don’t feel like I’m 54. I still feel the same as I did when I was 23.”

Just like Dario, you got your start professionally when you were fairly young. Recently, a video emerged online of you playing guitar alongside a pre-Skid Row Sebastian Bach at rock photographer Mark Weiss’ wedding in 1987. You’re 20 years old, you’re wearing grey slacks, you’re playing a Telecaster, and you had just joined Ozzy’s band. What advice would you give that guy? 

Wylde: “Well, I’ll say this. My son was studying to be a doctor, and one day he was like, ‘Dad, I don’t think I want to do this…’ And I went, ‘Fuck what your mom says. Fuck what I say. Whatever it is that gets your dick hard and that you have passion for and that you look forward to doing every day, that’s what you should be doing.’ That’s it. So that’s my advice for that guy, and for anyone. Whatever it is that you love, that’s what you should be doing.”

Maybe I’d also suggest that a Tele might not be the right axe for him…

Wylde: [Laughs] Or, ‘Change your pants!’ But then again, between having that guitar up high and those pants and shirt, here we are 30-plus years later. So it all worked out!”

• Black Label Society's Doom Crew Inc. is out now.

Earlier this month, a week after the release of their 11th studio album, Doom Crew Inc., Black Label Society's Zakk Wylde and Dario Lorina stopped by Guitar World HQ to teach you how to play the LP's opener, Set You Free.

And during the same visit, we asked the pair to give us a rundown of their all-time favorite guitar riffs. They proceeded to serve up 20 minutes' worth of killer six-string-slinging, along with some insight into how each riff is played, and we're thrilled to bring you the results of that session today in these two new exclusive videos.

Wylde and Lorina kick off proceedings by playing Destruction Overdrive, taken from Black Label Society's 2003 album The Blessed Hellride. On the track's pentatonic-flavored guitar licks, Wylde explains: “You can't go wrong with [the pentatonic scale] – that's why it's awesome.”

The BLS leader has made no secret of his love of the pentatonic scale. Earlier this year, during an appearance on The Guitar Villains podcast hosted by Music is Win’s Tyler Larson, he called the scale “the most lyrical”, and encouraged viewers to “just stick with the pentatonic!”

The pair then proceed to play a version of Overlord – from 2010's Order of the Black – that they currently play live, before giving a quick lesson on its simple-but-effective eighth-note main riff. 

Next up, Wylde and Lorina play through A Love Unreal and Bleed For Me – from 2018's Grimmest Hits and 2002's 1919 Eternal, respectively – before tearing up the Sabbath-esque riffs of another Grimmest Hits cut, Trampled Down Below.

The latter is in C#, which Wylde describes as “the heaviest of all the tunings: the Sabbath tuning, the Lord Iommi tuning”. While relatively simple from a guitar perspective, the track was written with the “Smoke on the Water, Iron Man principle” of using limited strings to compose great riffs.

And if that Black Label Society itch hasn't been scratched, you'll be glad to hear Zakk Wylde and Dario Lorina are the cover stars of the January 2022 issue of Guitar World.

Inside the issue, Wylde walks us through 12 critical tracks from every corner of his over-30-year career, from his tenure with Ozzy Osbourne to collaborations with Dimebag Darrell, Black Label Society and Generation Axe. He also touches on the 30th anniversary of Ozzy's No More Tears.

To pick up a copy, head to Magazines Direct.

Last week, Black Label Society dropped Doom Crew Inc.: the heavy rock outfit’s 11th studio outfit and their first since 2018’s Grimmest Hits. No doubt you’ve listened to the entire effort from start to finish numerous times already, and found yourself instantly hooked by the electric guitar riffs from the album’s opener, Set You Free.

And, while you’ve probably scoured the internet for tabs for the unrelenting riffs and have attempted to – perhaps unwisely – brave the solo by ear, there’s no substitute for a good teacher to guide you through the six-string mastery of the track.

Well, luckily for you, Guitar World has enlisted the help of the best teachers of them all to help you with your quest: Zakk Wylde himself, and his Black Label Society bandmante Dario Lorina, who swung by Guitar World HQ to record a lesson for the heavy-riffing track.

Straight off the bat, Wylde seeks to clear up a popular misconception with the main riff, revealing that aspiring players often tag him in videos of them covering the track, only to find they’re playing it wrong.

Wylde also imparted some key compositional advice by reflecting on Set You Free, voicing his penchant for a “less is more” approach. 

“You always end up learning things the hard way," he said. "But, if you had 64 crayons, just take out 60 crayons and you leave four. And it’s like, let’s see what you can do with those four.

“It’s great blazing and everything like that, but as far as writing goes, you could try and write something with just two strings. That’s the whole thing,” he continued. “Try and keep it as simple as possible. Even with this song, there’s really just two parts."

A thorough solo breakdown follows, though bear in mind it’s a two-parter, so you’ll need to grab a buddy to play along with.

Black Label Society's Doom Crew Inc. is available now.

Ever since he appeared on the six-string scene in the late ‘80s with Ozzy Osbourne, Zakk Wylde has been a constant, dominant presence in the guitar world – and in Guitar World. That said, it’s been a minute since we’ve heard from Wylde’s doom-troopin’ biker metal crew, Black Label Society.

But that all changes, well, now, with the release of Doom Crew Inc., the brand-new and 11th studio album from BLS. 

True to form, the 12-track record – which Zakk has said is titled both in tribute to the band’s “first to bleed, last to leave'' road crew as well as the legion of fans that has supported the band for more than 20 years – features the band’s trademark mix of stomping, heavy blues rock and throttling metal, alongside a smattering of Wylde-style ballads and, of course, plenty of unhinged, insanely shredding solos.

Only this time, there’s also something new in the mix: Zakk is joined, for the first time on a BLS record, by a second guitarist – in this case, longtime Black Label live shredder Dario Lorina, who pairs up with Wylde for plenty of single-note trade-offs, twin-guitar harmonies and all-around ripping leads.

But don’t just take our word for it – hear for yourself by checking out the first two singles, “Set You Free” and “End of Days,” above, or go find the band out the road, touring across the U.S. through November.

Better yet, pick up a copy of Doom Crew Inc., out Black Friday, November 26 via MNRK Heavy, here.

Black Label Society have issued a new single, End of Days, taken from their forthcoming album, Doom Crew Inc.

In a departure from the album's first single, Set You Free, the new track sees Zakk Wylde and co nod to the Seattle sound of the early '90s, incorporating dirty guitar riffs, slower tempos, clean arpeggios and grunge-style vocal harmonies. 

But the frontman and his co-guitarist Dario Lorina bring the track into the present with their lead guitar work, during which they serve up a dizzying passage full of hard rock-inspired alternate picking lines, soaring bends and dueling harmonies. Check out the track's humorous accompanying video below.

Zakk Wylde describes the band's new record – which follows 2018's Grimmest Hits – as a “two-guitar album”, and says Lorina has contributed more to leads this time around.

“We incorporated Father Dario even more into the solos [on this record],” he says. “[He’s] doubling with me and being more involved in that regard. It really, truly is a two-guitar album, more so than ever. A twin-guitar band, whether it’s the Allman Brothers or Judas Priest, with harmony lines, unison lines, and trading off solos.”

Earlier this year, Black Label Society released a box set celebrating their decades-long career, entitled None More Black.

Wylde said in an April interview with Guitar World that the release – which features 10 pieces of vinyl, a 32-page photo book and more, weighing over 20 pounds – is “remastered, reupholstered, re-edited, re-married-re-everything”.

“There are so many things you can do with this box set,” he jested. “You can use it as a cutting board to make sandwiches. You can use it as a vase for flowers. You can fight crime with this thing, using it to cave in some criminal’s head. Then you can jump out of your house and actually use it to help your landing. It’s very, very versatile.”

Earlier this week, Ozzy Osbourne confirmed that Zakk Wylde will play guitar on the entirety of his upcoming solo album. It came after Wylde's involvement on the album was thought to be a mere guest spot.

Doom Crew Inc. arrives November 26 via MNRK Heavy. Check out its tracklist below.

1. Set You Free
2. Destroy & Conquer
3. You Made Me Want to Live
4. Forever and a Day
5. End of Days
6. Ruins
7. Forsaken
8. Love Reign Down
9. Gospel of Lies
10. Shelter Me
11. Gather all my Sins
12. Farewell Ballad

The end of summer, believe it or not, is rapidly approaching. Though the arrival of September does mark the end of beach season, it also heralds the beginning of fall release season, and its accompanying rush of exciting new music.

From the tunes we’ve heard in recent days, it seems that the fall of 2021 is going to be just as thrilling for those hungry for guitar innovation as the year’s previous seasons. 

Animals As Leaders are back with an unrelenting piece of high-gain prog, Johnny Marr’s wielding a nine-pickup Strat to glorious effect on a new "electro soul anthem,” The Velveteers are – with some help from Dan Auerbach – keeping go-for-the-throat garage rock alive, while Fantastic Negrito brings topical fire to a breezy country structure on Rolling Through California.

It’s a lot to take in, and that’s not even the half of it – so don’t waste another second! Dive on in, and hear the guitar greatness that awaits.

Animals As Leaders – Monomyth 

The Tosin Abasi-led prog-metal outfit returned from their unofficial musical hiatus this week, releasing their first new music in half a decade in the form of the brutally unrelenting epic, Monomyth – and Animals As Leaders fans will be pleased to hear it was totally worth the wait.

Rather than throwing us face first into a flurry of rapid-fire notes and bombarding us with a barrage of densely packed chugs, the trio instead take the opportunity toy with us a little more, building the anticipation and heightening our senses via some sporadic strums and pounding kick-drum passages.

It’s not long before the track breaks away into the first of its many mosaic-like passages, which are ultimately joined together with a sublime sonic glue that merges Abasi’s otherworldly, ever-sustaining lead tone and snappy low-string stabs into one oversized tapestry of prog-metal perfection.

Keep your eyes and ears peeled, folks, because if this new single – and Abasi’s recent Instagram tease – is anything to go by, a new Animals As Leaders album is just around the corner. Plus, if Monomyth is a sign of things to come, you’re not going to want to miss it. (MO)

Black Label Society – Set You Free

The first track from Black Label Society’s forthcoming record Doom Crew Inc. – which is due out November 26 – Set You Free sees the Zakk Wylde-led quartet deliver a track that metamorphosizes beyond all expectation over the course of its near-four-minute runtime.

While the song commences with a Stairway to Heaven-like arpeggiated acoustic guitar passage, it quickly reminds us who’s playing it, when Wylde and co enter the fray with a stomping distorted guitar-driven section. 

The track makes many winding stylistic turns throughout its course, culminating with a mind-bending dose of dual lead work from Wylde and co-guitarist Dario Lorina.

And there’s to be plenty more where that came from. “It really, truly is a two-guitar album, more so than ever,” Wylde promises. (SR)

Johnny Marr – Spirit, Power and Soul

The fact that – other than his career-defining role crafting some of the 20th century’s most rich, quietly complex and gorgeous guitar riffs with The Smiths – Johnny Marr has managed to slot himself into bands as musically diverse as Modest Mouse, The Cribs, The Pretenders and The The is a testament to his versatility and skill as a guitarist.

No matter what the song calls for, Marr knows how to craft the perfect part, so it’s unsurprising that even when he’s looking to create an "electro soul anthem" in the form of Spirit, Power and Soul – the first single from his upcoming double album, Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 – his playing is still a tonal revelation.

Wielding an incredible-looking custom Strat with nine (yes, nine, with 18 switches to boot!) single-coil pickups, Marr makes the opening arpeggio ring out like a commandment from the heavens, likewise with the song’s brilliantly simple lead break.

We can’t wait to see what else Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 (and that guitar, for that matter) have in store for us. (JM)

The Velveteers – Motel #27

If Queens of the Stone Age and L7 got into a bar fight, the result would probably sound a lot like The Velveteers, the Denver-based three-piece whose raucous performances recently attracted the attention of Dan Auerbach – who became such a fan that he ended producing the band’s forthcoming debut album, Nightmare Daydream.

The Black Keys mastermind’s sonic footprint is all over Motel #27 – and not just because of guitarist/singer Demi Demitro’s pawn-shop offset. No, this is a garage-rock banger with the kind of fuzzed-up tones Auerbach has been honing on record for decades.

But far more importantly, the track oozes attitude. Demitro – who spent up to nine hours a day woodshedding as a teen – doesn’t so much swipe at her guitar as stab it, and that makes her playing just as exciting whether she’s engaging in pitch-shifted leads or hammering out a single chord. The Velveteers deliver rock in its rawest, most primordial form – they’re going to be huge. (MAB)

Dragged Under – Brainwash Broadcast

Taking direct aim at the “media sensationalism that we endure everyday”, Seattle metallers Dragged Under have teamed up with Underoath’s Spencer Chamberlain to issue a brand-new standalone track, Brainwash Broadcast.

Kicking off with a killer electric guitar riff courtesy of Ryan “Fluff” Bruce – of Riffs, Beards & Gear YouTube channel fame – the track quickly blossoms into a fast-paced ADTR-style punk-hard-rock number, wrought with plenty of gain-heavy guitar-centric breakdowns and carefully crafted vocal harmonies. (SR)

Davy Knowles – Roll Me 

Roll Me – the second single from roots singer-songwriter Davy Knowles’s upcoming album, What Happens Next – boasts an abundance of just about everything you could hope to find from a soulful, blues-drenched, guitar-driven number.

A three-note lick from a snarling electric guitar armed with a heavyset tremolo effect and we’re away, with Knowles guiding us through the track via his almost-hypnotic vocals, recurring gain-y snaps and melodic flourishes. His PRS isn’t wholly resigned to the rhythm section, though, and tentatively awakens from its solo-less slumber to deliver some expertly crafted phrases.

Of the track, which was written by Knowles’s producer Eric Corne, the guitarist says, “as soon as I heard it, I related to it and knew I wanted to record it. It was great to push myself out of my comfort zone and I couldn’t be more pleased with how it turned out.”

Smooth tones, easy going vocals, a swelling mid-section and a sumptuously selected guitar solo… What more could you possibly want from an end-of-week essential track? (MO)

Buffalo Nichols – Back on Top

Milwaukee, Wisconsin native Buffalo Nichols recently became venerated indie/blues label Fat Possum Records’ first solo blues signing in almost 20 years. Next month, the company will release his self-titled debut album – so, what sets this singer, songwriter and guitarist that far apart?

The premise of his debut’s second single, Back on Top, is familiar enough. Our protagonist “ain’t got a dime left” for the object of his affection, but once he’s got some money, the duo will “live like a king and queen.”

Nichols is a man on a mission though, and injects this age-old thematic backdrop with an urgency and skill – compositionally and vocally – that shows exactly why he’s got even the most seasoned of blues fans excited. 

Nichols’ sweet-as-honey slide work on the song is absolutely impeccable – matching the excitability, charisma and underdog charm of the song’s narrator beat-for-beat, while locking perfectly into the song’s sumptuous groove. 

Anyone who fears the blues’ demise would do well to keep their eyes on Nichols – with guitarists like him carrying the torch and moving the genre into the 21st century, the blues’ll be just fine. (JM)

Juan Antonio – The Science Fair

You might remember Berklee International professor Juan Antonio from his lessons on how to capture the essence of Steve Vai and Plini in your playing – and it appears he’s certainly internalized those techniques for the first single from his forthcoming EP, Sublimation.

The Science Fair takes its cues from prog – check out the piano and orchestral instrumentation – but Juan Antonio’s melodic sensibility and dynamic playing style are sure to appeal to anyone who thinks the genre favors technicality over feel. And the way that middle-eight solo alchemizes a wealth of lead approaches into solid gold is pure guitar magic. A+! (MAB)

Fantastic Negrito – Rolling Through California

In the wake of climate change and the challenges presented by California’s annual fire season, three-time Grammy winner Fantastic Negrito has joined forces with Bay Area singer songwriter Miko Marks for a refreshingly genre-fluid number, Rolling Through California.

Incorporating silky country-style slide guitar, soulful vocal harmonies and bluesy electric piano leads, Rolling Through California is an uplifting cut which further illustrates Fantastic Negrito’s impressively malleable musical style.

“I remember waking up to an apocalyptic sky,” Fantastic Negrito says. “The sky was orange, the sun looked bloodshot and people’s anxiety levels were very high. It felt and looked like doomsday. It really made me think about climate change and the environment – how our actions impact where we live and the choices we make.”

A portion of the song’s proceeds will be donated to Defy:Disaster, which aims to provide both immediate and long-term disaster relief. (SR)

Marissa Nadler – Bessie, Did You Make It?

For this writer’s money, other than maybe Nick Cave, no-one on Earth is better equipped to write a gothic murder ballad – or flip one on its head – than Marissa Nadler.

A phenomenal acoustic fingerstylist, Nadler is a master of shaping a narrative and building tension with her playing, and that’s exactly what she does on Bessie, Did You Make It?, the haunting lead single and track from her upcoming album, The Path of the Clouds.

Written during the early stages of the pandemic, this Western ghost story of sorts comes alive beautifully at the hands of Nadler’s driving fingerpicking, a lush orchestral arrangement and Nadler’s crisply matter-of-fact vocals.

Bessie, Did You Make It? feels like a tale you heard long ago at a sleepover, at a campfire, or from an old relative – timeless and forever embedded into your head, there to comfort or spook you in equal measure. (JM)

Me and That Man – Got Your Tongue (feat. Chris Georgiadis) 

Behemoth member Adam 'Nergal' Darski was back in action with his ominous blues-funk-fusion-esque group Me and That Man this week, returning with a bang thanks to the group’s newest heavy-riffing romp, Got Your Tongue.

Enlisting the help of Chris Georgiadis of Turbowolf, Got Your Tongue adopts a no-holds-barred sonic approach that blasts listeners with an immediate, in-your-face gain-heavy riff that gallops along without reprieve, save the stripped-back refrains.

And for those hoping for a solo, you're in luck, as the closing 30 seconds gives Darski ample opportunity to break away from the track’s mainstream riff and let loose on a rapid-fire lead passage that closes the track out in a show-stopping burst of frantic, rock-heavy energy. 

A timely, rock 'n' roll-fueled pre-weekend pick-me-up if ever there was one. (MO)

Zakk Wylde has unveiled Set You Free, the first track to be taken his forthcoming Black Label Society record Doom Crew Inc., due November 26.

In the video, Wylde and band seem to have been transported in time – via black-and-white film, matching suits and some truly terrible wigs – to an era of retro-rock ’n’ roll. 

The band provide the soundtrack to a prom-gone-wrong horror flick, which (of course) soon ends in a complete bloodbath overlaid with some tasty dueling solos from Wylde and BLS guitarist Dario Lorina.

“We incorporated Father Dario even more into the solos [on this record],” says Wylde. “[He’s] doubling with me and being more involved in that regard. It really, truly is a two-guitar album, more so than ever. A twin guitar band, whether it’s the Allman Brothers or Judas Priest, with harmony lines, unison lines, and trading off solos.”

Dario’s increasing role on record reportedly stemmed initially from the group’s live shows, where the pair have increasingly enjoyed trading licks and improvising over songs like Fire It Up, from 2005’s Mafia album.

Alongside the release of Doom Crew Inc. in late November, Black Label Society will be playing across the US this fall in its 'Doom Trooping Over North America' tour.

Doom Crew Inc. tracklist

1. Set You Free
2. Destroy & Conquer
3. You Made Me Want to Live
4. Forever and a Day
5. End of Days
6. Ruins
7. Forsaken
8. Love Reign Down
9. Gospel of Lies
10. Shelter Me
11. Gather all my Sins
12. Farewell Ballad

Alongside the usual digital formats, the album will be released on vinyl, CD and cassette, including a deluxe edition. Note the release date (November 26), which is, appropriately, Black Friday…

Pre-order the new Black Label Society album Doom Crew Inc.

Let’s face it, guitar players don’t really come much more metal than Zakk Wylde. His wide vibrato, blistering three-note-per-string pentatonic runs and squealing pinched harmonics are the mark of a berserker hell-bent on sonic warfare – the very epitome of brute force. Very few have been able to bludgeon their guitars in such an uncompromising way, and with such dependable results.

In Ozzy Osbourne’s band, he’s been responsible for some of the most memorable riffs and solos over the last three decades, making his debut on 1988’s No Rest for the Wicked as a fresh-faced and beardless 21 year-old. 

As the leader of Black Label Society – the band he founded in 1998, which has at points included members of Metallica, Alice In Chains and Type O Negative – he’s become one of the modern architects of biker metal, taking that penchant for Sabbathian blues to new levels of unholy heaviness.

This year sees the arrival of the first BLS box set, which features over 10 pieces of vinyl, a 32-page photo book and more, weighing over 20 pounds. It’s the most all-encompassing release in the band’s history to date, though – as we’ve grown to expect from our years dealing with Zakk – he’s taking it all with a pinch of salt...

“Yeah, it’s remastered, reupholstered, re-edited, re-married, re-everything,” he grins, before giving us a list of other uses that probably won’t be found on the official press release. 

“There are so many things you can do with this box set. You can use it as a cutting board to make sandwiches. You can use it as a vase for flowers. You can fight crime with this thing, using it to cave in some criminal’s head. Then you can jump out of your house and actually use it to help your landing. It’s very, very versatile.”

Right now, he’s talking to us from his home studio, The Black Vatican, where he’s piecing together Black Label Society’s 11th full-length record. He’s also excited about the prospect of live shows again, with some dates booked from August leading to a New Year’s Eve concert in Arizona. 

And as for 2022, he’ll be spending much of it on the road with Ozzy Osbourne, bringing those metal anthems to the masses. With everyone getting vaccinated, he reasons, there’s a lot to be looking forward to – but, at least for the next few months, a boxset weighing roughly the same as two of his old Gibson Les Pauls will have to do.

Here the Wylde one reflects on the riffs and tones of his career to date…

The first BLS album, Sonic Brew, is almost like a halfway house in between the southern rock of Pride & Glory and the down-tuned heaviness that came later...

“Definitely. I always listen back to those tracks and think I must have picked those riffs at the Tony Iommi garage sale, finding them behind some plates or whatever. 

“I’d say, ‘How much for this riff over here, Tony?’ and he’d say, ‘That one is 15 bucks!’ That’s where I got all those riffs from. And you said it perfectly – the Sonic Brew stuff was a bridge between Pride & Glory and the BLS albums that followed.”

Even going back to Pride & Glory and your first Ozzy albums, all the key fundamentals of your style were in place, from machine-gun picking to the wide vibrato...

“I was sat with Steve Vai one night and we were talking about when I got the gig with The Boss (Ozzy Osbourne). And I was telling him that I needed to find my own sound to separate me from anybody else. I didn’t want to get compared to other players… so how could I sound more like Zakk Wylde? I just wrote a list of things you can’t do. 

“If you don’t want to sound like Eddie Van Halen, don’t do any tapping or use the whammy bar or harmonics. I didn’t want people saying I sounded like Yngwie, so that meant no harmonic minor, no sweep-picking or arpeggios. 

“If you don’t want to sound like Jimi Hendrix, stay off the Uni-Vibe and don’t play a Strat with a wah-wah. Classical stuff was more Randy’s thing so I stayed away from that. If you don’t want to get compared, don’t play it!”

And after all those stages of reduction, you were left with...

“The only things left were pentatonics and some bluegrass stuff I’d picked up from Albert Lee. I wanted to see how creative I could get by taking all these crayons out of the box. I started with 64 and now I only had four left. So the big test was seeing what I could do with less. 

“It was kinda cool because it forced me to do things I might not have done otherwise. That’s when I started to really focus on my own sound, mainly picked pentatonic ideas. When I speak to younger musicians, I always tell them once they’ve learned all the scales, the rest is up to their imagination.

“If you want to get better, try and write a record using only pentatonic scales. Come up with 10 riffs that are only using those five notes. And you might end up writing your own Smoke On The Water, Whole Lotta Love or Into The Void. They are all from pentatonic scales, pretty much.”

It’s easy to forget how fruitful that five-note scale can be when you start looking at it from different angles...

“For sure. The guys I learned most from are John McLaughlin and Frank Marino, plus your usual suspects. You put your own spin on licks that have been played a million times. You might find a Hendrix riff but instead of playing it forwards, you play it backwards. 

“Or you change the combination. It’s like the combination on a lock – if I give you eight numbers, you could come up with endless alternatives. Learn the basics but the rest is up to you. No one can teach you that. It’s for you to find out and discover.”

Moving on through the BLS discography, it definitely felt like 1919 Eternal and The Blessed Hellride benefitted from better production and, ultimately, bigger songs...

“I look forward to every record I do. It’s like playing for Manchester United. Whether you won the championship, came close or had a really bad season – when the next one comes, you’re starting all over again and excited about where it’s going to go. 

“Will it be another rough season? Who knows, but you go in positive and feeling like you’re going to win. But you don’t know what you’re going to write. And sure, the production could’ve been better on this one or that one, but I go in with the best intentions. 

“I think it’s the same for Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Sabbath or anybody. When Led Zeppelin were going in to record In Through The Out Door, they were hoping to make the best Zeppelin album of them all, with the intention of smoking all of it – Led Zeppelin IV included!”

For a lot of your classic recordings you opted for a Boss SD-1. What made you choose that pedal over something like a Tube Screamer?

“Those are the two premium options. It’s like Coke and Pepsi. There are certain standards you can trust in. And it’s like with cars, you can go for a BMW or a Mercedes… you’re not going to go wrong with either one. 

“For me, back when I was playing clubs, David DiPietro from T.T. Quick and Kenny Dubman from Prophet were guitar heroes of mine. I still keep in touch with them today. And their live tones were absolutely phenomenal and crushing, they played through Marshall JMPs and used the Boss SD-1. So that’s why I started using that. It’s a great pedal, as is the Tube Screamer.” 

The SD-1 was, in many ways, the Boss take on the Ibanez...

“Neither of them change the tone of your amp much, they just add more of what you already have – which is what you want, at least for that purpose. I mean, Big Muffs are great too. They serve a different purpose.

“Steve Vai once told me, ‘Zakk, there is no best, it just comes down to what’s your personal favorite!’ That goes for everything, including amp and guitars. If you give Robin Trower a Tele, he’ll still sound phenomenal but he’ll prefer the tone of a Strat.

“That doesn’t make it better or worse, it is what it is. Jimmy Page and Slash almost always play Standards. You don’t really see them with Customs, but personally I always loved the Customs. There is no right or wrong. The same goes for pizza. Do you like it plain or with garlic or pepperoni? To be honest, I’ve never run into a wrong pizza [laughs].”

You’ve generally sworn by chorus pedals to fatten your live tones – typically Boss ones before you released your signature model with MXR in 2009...

“I remember when I first heard a chorus pedal going through two amps for that huge wide tone and it was mind-blowing. Some of that influence came from guys like Andy Summers [The Police]. He had that really chimey chorus sound. 

“I always loved Randy’s live tone, and his chorus seemed to fatten up in the later live recordings, he seemed to dial it in wider. His live tones were always phenomenal. 

“Frank Marino’s live tone had a lot of chorus too. I love straight tones too, you hear Angus and Malcolm, they don’t need anything else... just a big direct sound. 

“When I record, I won’t really use the chorus because I’m already doubling the guitar in the tracking, except for maybe certain bits like in Overlord, just to push a certain note or bend. Live, me and Dario have the chorus on pretty much all the time, while in the studio doubling the parts brings its own natural chorus.”

Your signature EVM12L speakers are incredibly high output. When did you realize 300 Watts of power worked better in your cabinets?

“A lot of this stuff I discovered by accident. I remember plugging into a spare cabinet and thinking, ‘Man, this sounds really fat and tight!’ We took off the back and saw it had higher output speakers. Again, there is no right and wrong. 25-Watt speakers sound great for certain things as well. 

“It was the same when I tried EMG pickups. I had a guitar student over with me and was playing my cream Les Paul with PAFs in it, going through a Marshall ‘79 combo. My student was playing a Fender Mustang, which is more of a thin-sounding guitar, with EMG pickups. 

“When he plugged into my amp, I was like, ‘Wow… that’s what this amp is supposed to sound like!’ I couldn’t believe the amount of clarity and attack. Every note came out perfectly.

“It was almost as if when he plugged in his guitar, someone took a blanket off the speakers. When I plugged my Les Paul back in, it all sounded mushy and dirty again, with no definition. And that’s the moment I was sold on EMGs. I heard the difference and within one minute I was like, ‘Okay, I’m a believer!’”

So what’s next for Wylde Audio – the guitars seem to be doing well but did the amps ever make into production? 

“I still use the amps live all the time. It’s just a matter of us mass-producing them. Nowadays, people use plugins, Fractals, all kinds of things, so there’s a lot [to consider]. 

“But yeah, I still use those amps. I think [when we do release them] it will be the practice amps first, before we start putting out the heads and cabs and stuff like that.”

Interestingly, you were using Lee Jackson Metaltronix amps until you got the Ozzy gig and switched to Marshall...

“It was [producer] Keith Olsen who got me into Marshall. We went over to Keith’s studio, Goodnight LA, and he asked me what tone I was hearing. I played him Ronni Le Tekrø’s tone on 10,000 Lovers by TNT and said, ‘Listen to how amazing the guitars sound!’ You could hear all the bottom end so clearly. 

“So he plugged me into a Marshall JCM800 combo, but we used it like a head, connecting the speaker outputs to a 4X12. We double tracked everything like that. I remember playing the Miracle Man riff while Keith carried on EQing it, and then we’d A/B it against 10,000 Lovers.”

And apparently that was the combo John Sykes used on Whitesnake’s 1987?

“Yeah, that’s what I was told. Keith had a Les Paul there too, and asked if I wanted to use it, but I had my own cream Les Paul with the bullseye, The Grail. So we used my guitar with an SD-1 in front going into the 800.”

Speaking of Miracle Man, that opening economy lick in the solo is one of your most legendary. What do you remember about writing that?

“That bit is played on the B and E strings and goes back to Saint Rhoads. Whenever people ask me about his legacy, it’s all about his writing. Sure he was the whole package, with technique and tone, but it was his writing that stood the test of time. All the guitar players we love are the ones who could write as well as play. 

“I could play any of Randy’s solos and you’d be able to name the song. The same goes for Hotel California or Stairway to Heaven. That’s how phenomenal those players are. 

“So writing that one, I would sit there with the backing track coming out of a boombox and piece together each section until it was something I was really happy with. You have to remember, a solo should be part of the song.”

Similar things could be said of your No More Tears solo. What do you remember about recording it?

“The weird thing was I did it in one take. I remember being at A&M [Records] and I had the piano bit down. It reminded me of Pink Floyd and The Beatles, plus Elton John’s Funeral For A Friend and stuff like that. We had that bit and then got to the solo. I think I was just jamming! 

“There’s the structured pentatonic thing at the very end, but it was pretty weird because I only did it once. I remember saying to everyone, ‘Let me try it again!’ and they were like, ‘Na, it’s cool as it is.’ That song is one of very few on that record where I didn’t double the guitars... it’s all just one guitar for those rhythms.”

Ozzy got you a 1957 Gibson Les Paul Junior as a birthday present early on. We’re guessing you’d never dream of selling that one…

“Especially because The Boss got it for me. I remember we were opening for Mountain and Leslie West had the hugest guitar tone. He played a ‘57 Junior, so Ozz got me that for my 21st. 

“It will always have a special place in my collection, plus it’s a great-sounding guitar. I’ve kept all my special guitars. People have asked me in the past if I’d sell The Grail or The Rebel and it’s like, ‘Na!’ Those guitars will always be a big part of who I am.

“When we did Ozzmosis, I remember [producer] Michael Beinhorn got me a red ‘58 double-cutaway Junior and I still have that. I still have my ‘65 SG. I’m never gonna get rid of those old guitars.”

How is Ozzy doing? You guys are back out on the road next year…

“Hopefully! Ozzy is still hilarious. I remember when he messed his neck up and I went to visit him at the hospital. He had all these flowers in his room and I asked who they were from. And he goes, ‘I don’t know, but all the cards said 'You’re not dead yet’... whoever they’re from, they must not like me too much!’ I was in tears.

“He’s always been hilarious. We were having a blast with the shows, he was singing great every night. So yeah, he’s working hard, getting all his power lifts, deadlifts, benches and squats up to the same amazing numbers they were before he hurt himself.”

What are the biggest life lessons you’ve picked up from all these years working with him?

“The whole thing with him is that he lives it. If he gets knocked down, he’ll get back up and keep ploughing ahead. I remember the whole time we’ve been playing together, if he’s feeling a little sick or whatever, we’d be two songs in and his voice would be smashed...

“We’d be coming up on War Pigs and I’d be wondering if he might cancel or pull the show. And he’d always be like, ‘Fuck this!’ and keep fuckin’ going. And we’d always make it through the show. 

“He’d be singing his balls off and I’d be like, ‘Wow… that’s my guy’. He’s my hero because he refuses to quit. He won’t let anything beat him. He’s the best of the best.”

• Black Label Society's None More Black box set is available now.

It’s been a staggering 31 years since a 20-year-old Zakk Wylde exploded onto the rock scene as Ozzy Osbourne’s newest axeman in 1988. Since then, Zakk has become one of the hardest-working guitarists out there, in terms of recording and touring.

He’s justifiably highly respected by the public, press and his peers and remains a popular cover-story artist for rock and guitar publications all over the globe. Hell, Zakk’s image has adorned the cover of Guitar World alone some 13 times! Not too shabby!

2019 marks the 20th anniversary of Zakk’s beloved creation, Black Label Society. To celebrate this landmark, BLS released their 10th studio album, Grimmest Hits, last year.

After all the well-earned coverage Zakk has received in the pages of GW over the past three decades, his fascinating career path is well known. And thanks to a number of Private Lesson features, his extremely popular Brewtality monthly columns and a much-lauded Boot Camp cover story in our July 2004 issue, so too are his teaching skills.

We recently scored some quality time with Zakk on his tour bus in Dallas. He was there with one of his successful projects, Zakk Sabbath, performing at the 2019 Ride for Dimebash charity show, a reverent celebration of his dearly missed friend and fellow guitar great, the late Dimebag Darrell Abbott (or, as Zakk refers to him, Saint Dime) and Darrell’s recently departed brother, Vinnie Paul, who played drums with Darrell in the legendary metal outfit Pantera.

Intro over, take it away, Mr. Wylde… “Did I expect Black Label Society to still be touring, recording and ‘successful’ today, when I first formed the band in 1999?” Zakk muses, repeating my opening question verbatim. The wry grin on his face braced me for one of his trademark comebacks.

“Yes, of course. The whole project was planned to run up a massive bar tab, and then to be constantly working to pay the thing off. That was it - it was all by design. And right now, it’s going incredibly well. We work like dogs and I’m still broke paying off that tab. So yes, it is very ‘successful’ in that regard!”

A lot of things have changed during Zakk’s lengthy tenure in the “cruel and shallow money trench,” as Hunter S. Thompson so eloquently referred to show business. A biggie for all bands today is the ever-growing need for profitable touring and merchandising, due to the precipitous decline in revenue from album sales. Thankfully, Zakk and BLS are extremely savvy and successful in both the aforementioned areas.

“No More Tears [released in 1991] doesn’t seem that long ago, but everything has changed since then,” Zakk nods in agreement. “There will never be another Led Zeppelin IV, Back in Black or Appetite for Destruction. Albums are like rotary phones now - they’re obsolete because we don’t use them anymore.

“I mean, they’re not even teaching cursive script handwriting to kids in schools anymore. And, I’m like, ‘So how are you supposed to sign your name?’ And my son, Sabbath Page [Zakk’s youngest of four, great name!], goes, ‘with a fingerprint, Dad!’ And I get it - no one uses script, ’cos they’re on the phone all the time.”

Has the daunting drop in album sales diminished Zakk’s seemingly indomitable drive? Not one bit.

“I don’t think any real musician ever goes, ‘I’m doing this so I can get chicks, loads of money, a nice car and a big-ass house,’” is Wylde’s immediate response.

“That’s not the reason you learn to play a Zeppelin, Sabbath or Mahavishnu Orchestra song. I think that with any true musician, it’s about the love and joy of playing. That’s what drives me. Period. I’m blessed, man. I wouldn’t change my life for anything.

“Your drive should be your passion,” the guitarist continues with genuine zeal. “Find what you love and then drive it into the ground. That’s what I always say about the immortal beloved, [his wife] Barbaranne. Know what I’m saying? That’s why we’re here! Find what you love and do that, be it playing guitar, working on cars or whatever. I mean, why would you wanna do anything else?

“It’s like me and J.D. [DeServio, BLS/Zakk Sabbath bassist and longtime friend] always talk about,” Zakk enthuses, now on an almost evangelical roll.

“If I wasn’t blessed with having Ozzy in my life, or we didn’t have our Black Label Society family, everything would still revolve around music. We’d own a music store, we’d teach, we’d have our cover bands and our wedding bands. We wouldn’t have crummy day jobs that we can’t stand; we’d figure out a way to pay the bills playing music, man.

“I’ve got plenty of buddies who are doing exactly that - they’re not playing Madison Square Garden, but they’re still managing to make a living doing what they love… and they’re happy. I’ve also known people who make a lot of money doing something they can’t stand, and they’re beyond miserable.”

I first interviewed Zakk in 1989 for a British guitar magazine cover story, and we briefly touched on some of the topics we discussed, including the fact that he reappraised his playing approach pretty brutally in his teens.

“I got totally caught up in that, ‘I wanna blow everyone else away,’ ego trip,” Wylde revealed some 30 years ago.

“I was into mastering the hardest songs, scales and techniques possible. Looking back, that was a big mistake because although I was fast, I wasn’t thinking about important stuff like phrasing, vibrato or string bending. It was a total speed thing, and nothing else mattered to me. It was pretty pathetic!”

What sparked the change? Well, Zakk’s band Zyris opened up for TT Quick, and the playing of lead guitarist Dave DiPietro had a profound impact on the 17-year-old Wylde.

“His lead work blew me away,” Zakk recalls. “He was playing bluesy stuff with a lot of pentatonics - all the things I considered cheesy at the time. And it sounded great - like music. What a concept! Dave also played the fast, three-notes-per string diatonic stuff like I was, but I couldn’t do what he was doing.

“I didn’t just hear Dave, I felt him, and that’s the true mark of any amazing musician. He definitely opened my eyes to a whole other world outside of exotic scales and impressive techniques.

“I remember him showing me this Alvin Lee-style lick in A,” Zakk shares, playing FIGURE 1.

“It’s really simple, but it sounds like music, as opposed to me just running scales. Watching and listening to Dave was great for my development as a player. He taught me how to slow down, use vibrato, do bends properly and actually think about what I was playing in the context of a song.”

As mentioned earlier, way back in the July 2004 issue of GW, I had the honor of working with Mr. Wylde on his very popular Guitar Boot Camp lesson. In that lesson, he hit on a Nigel Tufnel-approved list of 11 key points. So, we figured it’d be interesting to revisit those points 15 years later - and maybe even add a couple. The playing examples are all taken from our many lesson sessions together. Here we go!

1. Give it all you've got

“Whether you’re doing the dishes at the house, making your bed, playing guitar, playing a sport or what have you — give it all you’ve got! Leave nothing to chance. Like some old-timers always say, ‘give it all you’ve got on stage because it might be your last show!’” Wylde adds, “Also, get inspired. Every time I see or hear a great player, I still think, ‘I’ve got work to do … time to make the donuts!’”

2. Be disciplined

“Even during my drinking years, I still enjoyed finding the balance between the dedicated discipline of Al Di Meola and John McLaughlin and the complete chaos of Keith Richards and Jimmy Page. No matter how crazy those berserker, Animal House years were, you always had to answer the bell when it was show time. It wasn’t until the very end, when the wheels were falling off, that I went, ‘Man, I think this debacle is coming to an end!’

“If you want to be as good as people like, say, Dime or Yngwie,” Zakk continues with a much more serious and assertive tone, “you need to be totally disciplined about practicing and the relentless pursuit of getting better. You either strive for greatness or you go home. It’s all or nothing - there are no participation medals in this game, son!

“When I’m practicing, I like to start off with a few chromatic exercises, using all four of my fret-hand fingers and strict alternate picking.”

To demonstrate this, Zakk cranks out FIGURES 2 and 3 with impressive speed and accuracy.

“And, I’ll often take both of them all the way up the neck, from the 1st fret to the 15th, and then back down again. That’s a great workout for both hands.” To illustrate his point, Zakk starts playing the ascending pattern in FIGURE 4, which is the “full meal deal” version of FIGURE 2.

“Another thing I’ll often do is run through the five minor pentatonic [five-note] ‘box’ patterns all over the neck in a few keys.” FIGURE 5 shows the five box shapes for the A minor pentatonic scale (A, C, D, E, G).

“As you’ll see - each pattern is only two notes per string. I’ll also do the same for the diatonic [seven-note] natural minor scale too. This time we’ll be playing three notes on each string, and there are seven patterns for this one.”

FIGURE 6 shows the seven three-notes-per-string box shapes for the A diatonic natural minor scale (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) also known as the A Aeolian mode.

“I realize this kind of stuff can be boring as hell, but stick with it and it’ll pay off. When you really know all these scale patterns back-to-front and inside-out, all over the neck, you’ll be able to solo anywhere on the fretboard with confidence. In my opinion, these patterns form the basic framework you need to know, so that you can rip out some killer leads.”

3. Connecting the dots

Zakk is a great believer in “connecting the dots.” This requires knowing the patterns presented above so well that you can link them together without thinking about it. “This is important because it opens up the whole neck, so that you can move freely and smoothly all over it,” Zakk says. “Up and down the fretboard, as well as just across it.”

FIGURE 7 is an A minor pentatonic “connect-the-dots” run that ascends the high E and B strings, while FIGURE 8 is the descending version of the same idea using 16th notes. FIGURE 9 is a three-notes-per-string A diatonic minor run that climbs up the low E and A strings then moves across the neck before ending with a short descent to the A root note at the 14th fret on the G string.

Zakk recommends you try playing these kinds of runs over your favorite songs. “Doing this will make them sound more interesting and, more importantly, it’ll teach you how to use them within the context of a real song,” he affirms.

4. Pentatonic and blues hardcore

“When I first got the gig with Ozzy, I immediately thought: ‘Kick ass! Now how the hell am I going to sound like me?!’” Zakk recollects with a hearty laugh.

“I was like, ‘What do I need to do to become Zakk Wylde?!’ The first thing I did was make a list of all the stuff I felt I shouldn’t do. I decided I wouldn’t do any tapping or whammy bar antics because that’s Eddie’s thing. And I obviously wasn’t gonna be doing any sweep picking either, because Yngwie owns that domain.

“I also felt I couldn’t do any classical guitar, as that was Saint Randy’s thing - and so were harmonic minor scales and diminished arpeggios. I was already a guy with long blonde hair and a blonde Les Paul, so that was the last thing I wanted to do! That’s why I put the Bullseye on my guitar - which, using 20/20 hindsight, wasn’t a particularly smart move, as it made me an even easier target to throw stuff at on stage! [Laughs]

“Anyways, once I’d made this list, I looked it over and went, ‘Damn, what’s left?’ And the only things were the pentatonic and blues scales [minor pentatonic minor with the b5 added: see FIGURE 10]. So, I had to use my noggin and see what I could come up with, using a limited amount of crayons.”

As revealed in his celebrated lead playing with Ozzy and BLS, Zakk’s furiously fast, alternate-picked, trademark pentatonic fury, peppered with muscular vibrato proved not only that he was extremely adept at doing “more with less,” it also deservedly made him a global guitar hero. Here are a few examples of Wylde’s brilliant use of these two seemingly simple scales.

FIGURE 11 is an E minor blues-scale run in 12th position that requires some rather wide fret-hand finger stretches in the opening bar.

FIGURE 12 is another wide-stretch E minor run that combines or, perhaps I should say, stacks, the two overlapping minor pentatonic box patterns together, as illustrated in FIGURE 13.

FIGURE 14 is yet another sinewy, E minor-blues excursion with a very symmetrical vibe.

5. Start out slow and easy

“Whether it’s Gary Moore, Paul Gilbert, Michael Schenker, Rusty Cooley or any of the players that we know who have insane technique, they’ll all tell you the same thing — always start slow. The same is true of warming up, especially if your hands are cold.

“My warm-up routine before a show? Some female growth hormones, a pedicure, a couple of lunges and I’m ready to go. Nothing’s really changed since that first Ozzy show I did at Wormwood Scrubs Prison, England, in 1987 [Note: Zakk’s not joking about the prison concert. That really took place]!”

6. Clock it

“A metronome is always a perfect point of reference, because you can see if your bench press is getting bigger. Even if you’re only putting two pounds more weight on the bar, it’s like, ‘Oh, man! That’s an achievement.’

“Pretty much any serious player will tell you that a metronome is essential for honing a technique, because it objectively gauges your speed and accuracy. Even if it’s only just a smidgen faster but you’re playing it clean, that’s a win in my book.”

7. Play it again

“Repetition is the mother of skill … always. Is it boring? Yeah, it can be boring, but if you want results, you gotta deal with it. And once you start seeing those results and start playing better, it’s the coolest thing in the world.”

8. Practice at every opportunity

“Without a doubt. Even if you can only get 10 minutes in today, you’ll still be 10 minutes better than you were yesterday. So cram in as much as you can, and do it consistently.”

9. Try out new things

“If you’re in a rut or just bored, trying something new is always great because it helps break the monotony. It’s also good if it’s one of those, ‘I’ve always wanted to try this’ things. And eventually, if you stick with it, it’ll probably find its way into your playing.

“It’s just another crayon in your coloring box, or a new seasoning in the kitchen that you might use one day. It can’t hurt — it’s now in your ‘Rolodex of Knowledge,’ so it’s all good.”

10. Make it musical

“When you listen to Al Di Meola, yes, he’s using scales! We know that and we also know he has an incredible knowledge of the instrument. But, when he’s playing, it’s all about what he’s feeling - it’s musical ... it’s emotional.

“I mean, when you hear David Gilmour playing his Comfortably Numb end solo, you know it’s pentatonic for the most part, but you’re not thinking scales, you’re just going, ‘wow’ because what he’s doing sounds so monumental. And it’s the same when you hear Randy playing Mr. Crowley - you know it’s minor pentatonic and diatonic scales, but it’s the way he played them. You feel it.

“For me, adding things like slurs [hammer- ons, pull-offs and slides], bends, vibrato and passing tones into my playing helped make it more musical. A passing tone is merely a note that would sound wrong if you stopped on it, but it sounds killer if you just briefly touch on it on your way to another note. Frank Marino is a master of using passing tones - whenever I listen to his playing, I still get inspired. He’s one of my Top 3, without a doubt.”

FIGURE 15 is a great example of Zakk making effective use of passing tones in an E minor-blues passage.

11. Follow greatness

“Always try to surround yourself with musical greatness that you love because it’ll inspire you and take you to new places. That’s how I got into chicken pickin’ [using the bare fingers to aggressively pluck the strings, either in conjunction with or in opposition to the pick/plectrum].

“I saw Albert Lee play and was blown away; he literally gave me goosebumps. I just love the sound of country guitar. Those guys have incredible technique and always sound so musical. I bought Albert’s VHS video teaching tape back in the day, which was great because he broke ‘building that engine’ down into ‘that piece goes here, and that part goes there.’

“Being able to use my middle and ring fingers to pluck the strings, as well as my pick makes double- stops [two notes played at the same time] and string-skipping licks so much easier to play than trying to use only the pick for everything.”

FIGURES 16 and 17 are simple introductions to the chicken pickin’ technique. FIGURE 18 is a string-skipping ditty that Zakk calls the “clown show lick”, and FIGURE 19 is a brief, bluesy burst that employs string-skipping and double-stops.

12. Climb Mount Riffmore

“There are different ways to write songs, but I always gravitate toward riffs because you immediately know what the song is without having to hear the vocal melody.

“The guys on Mount Riffmore would obviously be Lord Iommi, Pope Page and Sorcerer Blackmore. Iron Man, Smoke on the Water and Whole Lotta Love - that’s the Holy Trinity of classic hard rock/metal riffs, man. If you want to know how to build a car, that’s how it’s constructed. You can tweak it all you want, but that’s the basic construction.”

13. Play efficiently

“When I was 15 and trying to learn other people’s stuff, until I started really breaking it down, I was invariably playing it the hardest way possible! It was like I was trying to climb a steep mountain when there’s an elevator right there! That skill comes with time, I guess. It’s all about being as efficient as you can. Everything I do is geared for that.”

To this end, even though Zakk is a pretty staunch advocate of strict alternate picking, he also employs economy picking whenever it makes sense and will often tweak a lick or run accordingly. [Note: Economy picking is a technique that involves using either two consecutive downstrokes or upstrokes in a row when crossing to an adjacent string.]

FIGURE 20 is a signature, Wylde-style E minor run played with strict alternate picking, and FIGURE 21 is the same riff but with slight fingering and picking adjustments made for economy and efficiency. Compare the two and all will be revealed.

14. There is no 'right' way, just your way

“Everybody’s different, man. Just compare the picking techniques of amazing players like Eddie Van Halen, Steve Morse and Marty Friedman. It’s like a batting stance - whatever works best for you, your style and body type.

“It also depends on what you want to hear, too. There’s no right or wrong way to play; whatever feels good to you is the right way for you.”

15. Be true to your music and yourself

“Never follow a trend just because it’s popular, unless it truly moves you. When a kid asks me for advice about what they should play, I always ask ’em what they like. And if they say, ‘I love Dimebag and Slayer, I tell ’em, ‘then you should do stuff that’s in that ZIP code.’ Stick to your guns and play what you love.”

Back in January, Black Label Society announced that they would be releasing Sonic Brew - 20th Anniversary Blend 5.99 - 5.19, a “reimagined” version of their 1999 debut, Sonic Brew. 

Now, the band has premiered the music video for the album's opening cut, "Bored to Tears." You can check it out above. 

“With the new Black Label super-exciting technicolor dream coat, high-calorie-burning video for 'Bored to Tears,' I told Black Label director o' doom & delight, father Justin Reich, that I wanted to do an 'exciting' and 'tough' looking video in the movie genre style of Clint Eastwood & Charles Bronson,” Black Label Society leader Zakk Wylde said.

“After seeing the video, apparently father Justin Reich doesn’t know who these legendary film icons are or has them confused with two other actors named Clint Eastwood & Charles Bronson, Wylde continued. "Every time I watch this video I’m more confused than I was during the previous viewing.“

In conjunction with the release of their new album, the band is also currently in the midst of their "20 Years of Sonic Brewtality Tour" of North America. 

You can check out the group's full itinerary below.

For more information, head over to BlackLabelSociety.com.

Back in January, Black Label Society announced Sonic Brew - 20th Anniversary Blend 5.99 - 5.19, a “reimagined” version of their 1999 debut, Sonic Brew. 

Today, the band has premiered the music video for the first of the album's two new bonus tracks, an "unplugged" version of "A Spoke in the Wheel." You can check it out above. 

“The original recording back in 1997 was mastered with high volume, alcohol and dance," Black Label Society leader Zakk Wylde said of the album. "We went in and worked off the existing performances and focused on the high volume and dance while replacing the booze with Viagra and anabolic steroids.” 

In conjunction with the release, the band will also head out on the "20 Years of Sonic Brewtality Tour" of North America. 

For the upcoming tour, Black Label Society will play two shows in each market—the first night will feature Sonic Brew in its entirety, while the second date will see the band play a set of greatest hits. Support will come from Conan and the Atomic Bitchwax. Dates begin April 24 at the Oriental Theater in Denver and wrap up in Los Angeles at the El Rey Theater for two nights ending on May 23. See below for all shows. 

For more information, head over to BlackLabelSociety.com.

Black Label Society will release Sonic Brew - 20th Anniversary Blend 5.99 - 5.19, a “reimagined” version of their 1999 debut, Sonic Brew, on May 17. In conjunction with the release, the band has announced the "20 Years of Sonic Brewtality Tour," a new 2019 North American outing.

Said Black Label Society leader Zakk Wylde of Sonic Brew, “The original recording back in 1997 was mastered with high volume, alcohol and dance. We went in and worked off the existing performances and focused on the high volume and dance while replacing the booze with viagra and anabolic steroids.” 

The new “re-blended” version of Sonic Brew will feature two bonus tracks, a full band/piano version of “Spoke in the Wheel” and an acoustic take on “Black Pearl.”

For the upcoming tour, Black Label Society will play two shows in each market—the first night will feature Sonic Brew in its entirety, while the second date will see the band play a set of greatest hits. Support will come from Conan and the Atomic Bitchwax. Dates begin April 24 at the Oriental Theater in Denver and wrap up in Los Angeles at the El Rey Theater for two nights ending on May 23. See below for all shows. 

For more information, head over to BlackLabelSociety.com.

How does it feel to be labeled a Guitar Hero?

ZAKK: It just goes to show that payola and prostitution is alive and well! My friends have always said, “Zakk, you might not win any awards, but if you hold in there long enough there’ll be nobody else to vote for. Hang in there long enough and there’s no one left, you’re the winner!”

LZZY: If somebody calls me a guitar hero, I immediately look behind me and try to see who they’re talking to [laughs]. I’m still in this mode where I know I’ve worked hard and I know I deserve to be here — but it’s still really weird, and in the back of my mind my 13-year-old self is saying, “You don’t deserve this, you have everyone fooled!” But it’s an honor.

BEN: It’s a surreal thought. I started playing guitar when I was really young — I was probably about 12. But, even before then, when I was four, I’d pick up tennis rackets and pretend to play guitar. A lot of people don’t think playing guitar is a journey in life — it’s more of a hobby for a lot of people — but, I knew from day one that that’s what I wanted to do with my life; so it’s nice to look back now at when I started and what I had to go through to get to where I am now. It’s nice to be recognized in my field; it’s an incredible feeling.

LZZY: Yeah, I meet so many kids, a lot of them are becoming teenagers now, and they’re sending me photos of them getting their first guitar. They’re like, “My first concert was Halestorm,” or, “I’ve never seen a girl that played guitar before,” and to me, that’s cool, that makes it all worth it.

ZOLTAN: We write the songs that become soundtracks to people’s lives. I never even considered myself a “guitar hero,” though. A guitar hero, to me, is a hero to other guitarists. The guy that all of us are looking up to. When you listen to somebody like Eddie Van Halen or Yngwie Malmsteen or Vinnie Moore, then you’re listening to them as an instrumentalist — that’s versus, let’s say, a “rock star.”

Can you remember the first time you were enraptured by someone playing guitar?

LZZY: A Cinderella VHS!

BEN: The first band I ever saw live was Deep Purple. I was living in Dubai at the time and it blew my mind, to see all these people turn up in a tennis stadium to watch these guys play heavy metal music. I think, for me, that was it: I was like, “This is what I wanna do with the rest of my life.”

ZOLTAN: It was Iron Maiden for me. To this day Dave Murray’s lead tone is still one of my favorite guitar tones. The guy just fucking nailed that, you know? And so I got into all that. After Iron Maiden, that’s when I really got into metal, and that’s what launched me on the path to become a musician.

ZAKK: Actually, what really got me interested was the guy I took lessons from. When I was eight years old I started playing, but I wasn’t serious about it. My parents had introduced it to me, I guess, and I just wanted to hang out with my friends; so I didn’t dedicate myself to practicing or whatever. When I was 14 I got really serious, and I saw who eventually became my teacher, Leroy Wright. To physically see someone’s hands playing all these songs, just watching his fingers doing scales... I thought it was the most interesting thing I’d ever seen in the world. To hear songs is one thing, but to see it just blew me away.

Zakk, you emerged in an era where the larger-than-life, superhero-level guitar player was a huge part of the metal scene. What was that like?

ZAKK: I had all these great guitar heroes I wanted to beat! There were so many amazing guitarists. For those older guys, the second you heard them you knew, instantly, who they were and that still holds true today. Whether you were Steve Vai or Nuno Bettencourt, the minute they pick up the guitar and I hear a vibrato in, like, two notes, I know instantly who is playing. That’s the true mark; as soon as you know who they are within the first two notes.

LZZY: That’s the era I’m a huge fan of, of course. It’s my parents’ fault, because that was the kind of music that they loved, and I’m very thankful to have parents who actually liked rock music.

BEN: When you think back to that era, the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties: Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen...they were at the forefront of all these bands, and then that sort of dwindled away and people would only care about the singer.

ZOLTAN: See, that’s what I meant at the beginning about “guitar hero” versus “rock star.” You have to separate the two. The rock star is larger than life, they live the life that everyone dreams of. The guitar heroes are not necessarily... a Vinnie Moore or a Marty Friedman is not a flashy person, they can just play your eyes out. And of course, there are many guitarists coming through, in bands, that are fucking amazing players. But in a time where heavy metal and hard rock isn’t as big a focus, it’s hard to have the kinds of guitar heroes that we had back in the day — the flashy guys that could play and were successful. Metal and hard rock was the center of the music world back then. So the “rock star” and the “guitar hero” were together.

Now, it’s separate, because there are only a few bands that can live the rock star life.

LZZY: Honestly, I think that some of it is that bands, especially rock bands, started taking themselves a little too seriously. If I can burst the bubble: the reason that we’re all into this music is that we’re not cool, so we’ve got to stop trying to be cool. You should not be trying to be flamboyant if you’re not.

ZAKK: There’s still great players today, it’s just a different thing. Everything’s always moving, morphing and changing, which is the way it’s always been. There are still guitar heroes, but they don’t wear capes – because it’s too much of a giveaway!

Ben, Asking Alexandria were one of the few prominent bands of your scene to proudly don that cape and be a little more flamboyant…

BEN: I just remember thinking that it was such a shame that guitarists being at the forefront of metal bands had died out, and it was always my goal to bring back that persona: to have the guitarist and the singer be the frontman. It sounds selfish because that’s my position, but I missed that about rock.

Is it fair to say Asking’s image also played a massive part in what made the band stand out?

BEN: I think it was hugely important, and I don’t think there’s anything embarrassing about that. People go, “It’s all about the music” but it’s always been about the image as well, since the beginning of rock and roll and heavy metal. Elvis Presley went onstage and his image was important to him, Led Zeppelin went onstage and their image was important to them... Same with Ozzy —he has a look and an image — so when people go, “Oh, this band just looks good,” well, yeah! That’s part of the package. It’s part of the appeal and I don’t think that that’s a sad thing to say.

LZZY: It’s a blurry line. I wear a leather jacket in everyday life because I keep all my stuff in it. So it’s really not that farfetched! [laughs] But I was a very shy child, and when music was introduced into my life, and I saw those guys that were able to put on these clothes and be able to walk out and command the stage, it was like, “Oh my god, they’re superheroes!” It gave me an outlet. So, in that aspect, I’ve become the person I’ve wanted to be through music.

How did you all start to find your own style?

ZOLTAN: It was around the summer of 2000. I wasn’t a fan of nu metal, but I liked the sound. That big, ferocious sound.

BEN: That’s when I was growing up. It was guitarists like Wes Borland, Mick Thomson and Jim Root that were at the forefront. Slipknot, Papa Roach, Linkin Park—these were all of the big guitar bands.

ZOLTAN: I was kind of like, “OK, I like this sound, but I also like the sound of traditional heavy metal.” I switched to baritone guitars, so there was a bit of a longer neck, much heavier strings. But also, I grew up in Europe, which is influenced by classical music, so therefore you’re listening to melodies and harmonies. Then in America, they are more blues and rhythms based, so it’s more groove-oriented. So there’s the American, groove-based guitar-playing, mixed with the European background. That’s where my sound came together.

LZZY: See, I actually started on keyboards. I went on guitar when I was 16 and we lost our first guitar player. I got my dad to teach me a couple of chords, then I got really impatient and discovered Drop D, and decided to play along to our songs that we already had. And I’ve been doing that ever since.

ZAKK: My pinch harmonics came from when I was with my guitar teacher and we were learning how to play “La Grange” [by ZZ Top] and stuff like that. Billy Gibbons, to me, is the forefather of the whole pinch harmonic thing, for sure. But I’m a huge Sabbath fan and the Black Label Society stuff isn’t too far from that. Pride & Glory was obviously more Southern rock with slow, heavy vibes, but Sabbath is always the dominant ingredient. The riffs are inspired by the guys I love, and it’s an exploration of that love. It’s where we were from, you know? Whatever music it is you love, that’s what you should build. Not what everybody tells you, like, “This is popular and if you don’t do this, you’re not going to succeed,” it just doesn’t work that way. You have to be true to who you are and what you love playing, and it will naturally come back.

LZZY: Yes, you have to always remember: “This type of music made me feel so good that I wanted to start a band.” It’s such a no-brainer. You have to keep that as your focal point, your North Star. I think that as soon as you start straying and comparing yourself to other people – and being like, “Well, those people are cooler than I am, so maybe I should be like that” – that’s when things can start getting confusing. I’ve seen really good people in good bands fall off because of that. I’ve seen bands get confused to the point that you can’t even recognize who they are album to album.

ZOLTAN: You have to follow your own rules. If you’re like, “I’m gonna learn some Yngwie, some Steve Vai, a little bit of Dimebag Darrell,” then you’re gonna have something, but you’re still gonna be a sum of all those guys. And because I never really had a guitar teacher, I had to figure out my own shit.

Do you think you need to carry a bit of an ego to be a guitarist in a heavy metal band?

LZZY: Well, with social media, there’s so much music and so much content, honestly it’s become about selling ourselves, too. Yes, you have to know your songs, you have to play well, you have to go out there and kill it – but if you aren’t out there letting the audience know that you’re out there and you’re having a great time... it’s kinda hard to stick out if you’re a wallflower up there.

ZAKK: I think the whole thing is just about wanting to go up and do it. It’s all about live, ass-kicking shows. You know who you are and what you’re capable of doing, so you gotta go out there and do the best you can. As far as ego goes, I remember not too long ago I’d just got back from tour and the kids had locked the door to my house. I just stood there, like, “Open up this door! It’s me, your Dad! Do you know who I am and what I’ve done?!” They were just like, “Yeah, we know...” [laughs]

ZOLTAN: The better you get, the more humble you get, because the more sophisticated you are, the more you realize what you can’t do. At the beginning, a guy learns three chords and thinks, “Man, I’m a rockstar!” The reason you think that is because you just don’t know how far you are from an Yngwie, in terms of ability. You have to be very sophisticated to understand the little mistakes you make.

Do you think guitar music has become overshadowed by electronic music in the mainstream?

BEN: EDM and pop have definitely taken over for now. Music is forever evolving and changing, and this is just another evolution in music that’s popular now. People get really upset and offended by it, but if you really listen — and I noticed this when we were writing our latest album — there’s been a lot of guitar in these songs. It’s just used in a different way. I had a DJ called Crank approach me and ask me to play on one of his songs, and he’s an EDM artist. I was like, “How is this gonna work?!,” but I went to his studio, I wrote licks over this thing and thought, “This stuff is here!” And then there’s just the magic in a studio where you can manipulate the notes and change the tone. So, I think, a lot of times, people don’t even realize there’s guitar there, but there still is. It’s going back to that nu metal thing: people are just trying to find new ways to present it and do different things with the guitar than what people usually associate the guitar with. If people opened their eyes and their ears, they’d notice that guitar isn’t disappearing, it’s just being utilized in a completely different way right now.

ZAKK: You have to remember that when disco was huge, there were lots of people hugely into that. But that still didn’t stop Led Zeppelin, didn’t stop Al Di Meola, still didn’t stop Sabbath, or any of those guitar-driven bands. It’s just another form of people looking at what else is going on. I think the guitar is still alive and well—you just have to go on social media to find some amazing players. And I think they’re great! I think it’s awesome that they’re inspiring others, which is what it’s all about.

What modern players are still kicking ass, then?

LZZY: I love the fact that there are people like Synyster Gates that aren’t afraid to come out and do solos and play like that.

BEN: I think there are legends among us, like when I mentioned Wes Borland and Jim Root, and yes there’s Synyster. Those guitarists, I think they do rightfully belong in that same league as Slash, Eddie Van Halen... and Zakk!

ZAKK: Yeah, Avenged are doing great. They are inspiring a whole generation of 15-year-old kids to pick up a guitar.

LZZY: Also, Reba Meyers from Code Orange, she’s my hero right now. She has approached metal in her own way, staying true to herself. I don’t even wanna call it a “look,” because you can tell that it’s genuinely her. And she’s a whole new voice for the girls that I grew up with in the Pennsylvania scene; we all liked heavy music, but we were an absolute rarity in the crowd, as well as onstage. She represents the way that we felt when we went to see a metal show, and what we wanted to be and what we wanted to see onstage. It’s just so great that that’s there.

So the future of guitar music is safe for now?

LZZY: Everything in rock and metal is a little confusing right now; everyone is trying to find out where they fit. What I love about a band like Code Orange is that it’s almost like they’re saying, “We don’t give a fuck if we die young.” They’re just going at it 125 percent, do-or-die, ‘We’re gonna give you everything and leave blood on the stage,” and that is really needed right now.

BEN: When someone like Motörhead or Black Sabbath first put distortion on guitar, everyone went, “Wow!” But, I guarantee, when that happened people were asking, “What are they doing to the guitar? This isn’t what the guitar was made for.” They pushed the boundaries then and I think people are continuing to push the boundaries further now. Everything goes in cycles. Trends come and go. But, like I said, I think there are legends among us. In 20 years’ time, people will look back on Synyster Gates, Wes Borland and Tom Morello like, “He’s a guitar god!”

ZAKK: If you’re truly a musician, it’s all in your DNA anyway. If I didn’t have Ozzy and Black Label Society, I’d be in a wedding band, or a cover band, or I’d own a music store, I’d teach... Everything would still revolve around music. I wouldn’t have a crummy job I couldn’t stand. So long as there’s a me and you to keep the light bills on and maybe buy a record every once in a while, I’d still do it. We’re all still playing music — we’re doing what we love doing and making money doing it. For any musician, that’s a win.

Black Label Society have premiered the music video for their song, "Trampled Down Below." You can check it out above.

The video—which was directed by Dan Sturgess—was shot during the band's recent European tour at London's legendary Royal Albert Hall. "Trampled Down Below" is taken from the band's latest effort, Grimmest Hits, which was released in January.

In an interview with Guitar World back in May, Black Label Society's mastermind, Zakk Wylde, reflected on Grimmest Hits' distinctly radio-unfriendly nature. He recounted a phone call he received from one of his record label reps when he was cutting the album. The exec asked, “Are there any hits?” Wylde let out a sad sigh and said, “I don’t think so. It’s looking rather grim.”

“This way, when somebody listens to the record and says, ‘I don’t hear any hits,’ I’ll go, ‘Exactly, jackass. That’s why it’s Grimmest Hits and not Greatest Hits.’ ”

To read our entire interview with Wylde, step right this way.

Zakk Wylde's a busy man. Between his upcoming six-string duties on Ozzy Osbourne's farewell tour and Black Label Society's new album, Grimmest Hits, he certainly has plenty to talk about.

In a recent interview with Eon Music though, Wylde opened up about another subject, his legendary audition with Guns N' Roses in 1995.

"Axl was telling me that he and the other guys were talking about getting another guitar player," Wylde said. "He said they were just talking about guys and this and that, and Axl just said, 'Well what about Zakk?'"

"I know all the guys, but I'd never met Axl before, but I knew Duff and I knew Slash, so it was just kind of just throwing it around as a joke, and then it was, 'Why don't we just ask Zakk what he's doing and have him come down?' So, I just went down to jam with the guys. It's not even like an audition at that point; Jimmy Page is not going to audition for The Rolling Stones, it's just like, 'Jimmy, do you want to come down and jam with us?' 'Yeah, okay, no problem.' So, it was more that—just a bunch of clowns getting together and jamming."

When asked how far the sessions went, Wylde said "We jammed a bunch of things, but nothing was happening at the time with the fellas. It was Slash, Axl, Duff, Matt, Dizzy was down there—so all the guys, and then I just came in, and it was jamming. We did demos and stuff over at Duff's house in the studio. We just had a bunch of riffs and stuff like that, but nothing was going on; it was in limbo, it was just laying there, and I was like, 'I've got such an outstanding booze bill, I've got to pay this debt off,' so I said, 'Fellas, I’ve got to get back to work, just let me know what's going on.'"

"I remember Ozzy was just like, 'Zakk, are you going to be jamming with the fellas, or are we going to do this,?'" Wylde recalled. "And I said, 'Oz, I have no idea. I've got to ask the guys, and I'll see if I can get you an answer.'"

"Then it kept going, and then it prolonged, and Ozzy was like, 'Zakk, I'm just going to get somebody else, dude. I can't be sitting around, because I'm getting ready to tour,' and I was like, 'I completely understand.' That's when Father Joe [Holmes] came in and was playing with the boss. And then I'd got all these riffs laying around, and I thought, 'To hell with it, I'll just do it myself,' and that's when Black Label was born, and here we are 20 years later."

If you happen to draw up a list of blazing fast pentatonic players, odds are, Zakk Wylde will be one of the guitarists on it. Wylde has given us a massive amount of pentatonic-fueled shred over the years, so let’s learn a few of his licks.

In this video, guitar instructor Robert Baker demonstrates five of Wylde's most rocking licks from the Ozzy Osbourne era of his career.

Check the lesson out above, and be sure to grab the tabs for the lesson down below.

For more of Robert’s lessons, stop by his YouTube channel.

You’ve got to give Zakk Wylde this much—he can never be accused of overhyping himself. When asked if his latest Black Label Society album, Grimmest Hits, is a greatest hits set, he scoffs, “No. That would imply that I had the one essential ingredient for a greatest hits album: hit songs.”

He recounts a phone call he received from one of his record label reps when he was cutting the album. The exec asked, “Are there any hits?” Wylde let out a sad sigh and said, “I don’t think so. It’s looking rather grim.” Just like that, the album’s title was born, and the guitar star thinks it makes perfect sense. “This way, when somebody listens to the record and says, ‘I don’t hear any hits,’ I’ll go, ‘Exactly, jackass. That’s why it’s Grimmest Hits and not Greatest Hits.’ ”

Despite Wylde’s low-key selling approach, Grimmest Hits is one of his strongest BLS releases yet, packed with punishing, end-of-days metal and poignant, Southern rock–flavored ballads. The Black Label gang has been through numerous iterations since Wylde formed the outfit 20 years ago, but the current lineup—longtime bassist John DeServio, along with relative newbies, drummer Jeff Fabb and rhythm guitarist Dario Lorina—clicks like a Swiss watch on the new album. “We get on great,” Wylde enthuses. “There’s no pressure or drama. I tell ’em, ‘I’m making a new album. Are you in?’ I like to keep things loose in the studio.”

Rifftastic rockers like “Trampled Down Under,” “Room of Nightmares” and “Seasons of Falter” form the backbone of Grimmest Hits, and Wylde stresses that the key to their power lies in their simplicity. “Great riffs shouldn’t be complicated,” he says. “Whether I’m writing for Black Label or back when I was coming up with stuff like ‘No More Tears,’ it all comes from what I learned at the University of Tony Iommi. All you need is a few notes played in the right combination. You’ve got ‘Iron Man’ or Ritchie Blackmore doing ‘Smoke on the Water’—they’re just a few notes, but they’re the right notes.”

Wylde dials the brutality down on lush, mid-tempo cuts such as “Nothing Left to Say” and “The Only Words,” which reflect his ongoing affection for the Allman Brothers Band and other staples of classic rock. “When I make a record, it’s like I’m making a soup of everything I’m listening to,” he observes. “With those songs, you dip a spoon in the soup and say, ‘I’m tasting some Allmans, and there’s a little Black Crowes, a little Stones…’ And then I’ve got some Purple, some Zep and Sabbath in the rest of the thing. That’s a nice recipe.”

On tunes both sinister and sensitive, Wylde’s choice of guitars are all from his line of signature Wylde Audio models (“I’ve got the Barbarians, the Odins and the Warhammers”), each one fed into one of his Wylde Audio Master 100 heads. “I use the same amp no matter what kind of song I’m doing,” he says. “If I need some grit, I just fire up the volume and let it rock, and if I need some clean stuff , I turn the guitar down and I get a nice liquidy tone. And with the Wylde Audio guitars, I can go from a full-on humbucker to a single-coil, so I don’t have to switch guitars. It’s all good.”

Did you ever wonder what your guitar heroes would say if they could watch you play their songs? Well, wonder no more! The gang at MetalSucks recently got Zakk Wylde to watch YouTube videos of guitarists playing some of his best solos—including everything from Black Label Society's "Room of Nightmares" and "Suicide Messiah" to Pride & Glory's "Losin' Your Mind" to Ozzy Osbourne's "No More Tears." You can see his reactions in the video above.

By the way, keep an eye out for Ozzy and Zakk in the flesh! They'll be on the road together this spring as part of Ozzy's No More Tours 2 Tour, which kicks off April 27 in Jacksonville, Florida. You can check out all the dates right here.

A couple years back, Black Label Society frontman and Ozzy Osbourne axeman Zakk Wylde stopped by Guitar World HQ to shred through a bluesy chromatic lick in E minor.

Wylde—who's playing one of his Wylde Audio guitars in the video—was promoting his then-new solo album, Book of Shadows II.

You can watch the video above, and be sure to watch out for more Guitar World coverage of Wylde (and Ozzy!) in the near future....

Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society have premiered a new song, "Trampled Down Below." The song—which you can listen to below—is the third offering from the group's new album, Grimmest Hits, following "Room for Nightmares" and "All That Once Shined."

Aside from Grimmest Hits, this year also will see Wylde's return as Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist—a role he has served on a number of occasions—during Ozzy's lengthy farewell world tour, which is set to begin this May.

Grimmest Hits is set for a January 19 release via Entertainment One (eOne). You can preorder it here.

For more on Black Label Society, stop by blacklabelsociety.com.

Zakk Wylde has a busy 2018 in front of him, with both a new Black Label Society album and Ozzy Osbourne's farewell tour on the docket for 2018. On Wednesday night, January 3, he got the year started with a bang.

The Chicago Bulls invited Wylde to perform "The Star-Spangled Banner" prior to their game against the Toronto Raptors at their home arena, the United Center.

Big BL thanks to the Chicago Bulls for inviting me to play our national anthem," Wylde tweeted after the performance. "Always a privilege and honor!"

You can watch the decidedly shred-heavy performance—quite possibly a nod to Jimi Hendrix's (whose music Wylde has always relished in playing) legendary rendition—here.

Have you ever read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and found yourself thinking, "man, this would be way better if it had about 100% more Zakk Wylde"?

Well, luckily for you, the folks over at Loudwire have solved this pressing issue for all time, filming the Black Label Society and Ozzy Osbourne guitarist reading the classic tale in their studio.

Of course, Wylde—rather than giving it a straight reading—puts his own spin on it.

You can watch it above.

Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society have premiered the music video for their new single, "All That Once Shined."

The video—like the band's most recent music video, for "Room for Nightmares"—was directed by longtime Black Label Society collaborator Justin Reich. It seems to be a tongue-in-cheek half-homage, half-parody of Bob Dylan's legendary "Subterranean Homesick Blues" music video.

The single is taken from the band's upcoming album, Grimmest Hits. The album—the band's tenth—is slated for a January 19, 2018 release via Entertainment One (eOne).

You can preorder Grimmest Hitshere.

For more on Black Label Society, stop by blacklabelsociety.com.

Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society are back.

The metal outfit have announced a new album, entitled Grimmest Hits, and unveiled the ridiculous music video for its first single, "Room of Nightmares."

Grimmest Hits will be available January 19, 2018 via Entertainment One (eOne). The "Room of Nightmares" music video was directed by longtime Black Label Society collaborator Justin Reich.

You can preorder Grimmest Hitshere.

For more on Black Label Society, stop by blacklabelsociety.com.

Black Label Society have premiered the music video for their ballad “Angel of Mercy.”

The track is off the band’s latest album, 2014′s Catacombs of the Black Vatican, which made Guitar World's list of "The 30 Best Albums of 2014 — So Far."

Check out the clip below and let us know what you think in the comments or on Facebook!

We recently tracked down BLS frontman Zakk Wylde to ask him about the new album.

"I think everyone can expect a lot of fun and excitement [laughs]! It was like what Chris Farley did in that one skit, where he was selling that hair-care product. Make sure you always use the word "fun" when you describe it," he said.

"Someone asked me what the difference was between this new record and the other nine. I told them that it’s basically all of the songs we used on the other nine records, except they've got different titles now [laughs]. It's fun and exciting for the whole family!"

For the rest of this interview, head here.

Last night at the Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts, former Pantera vocalist Philip Anselmo joined Zakk Wylde and Black Label on stage to perform Pantera's "I'm Broken."

You can check out a fan-filmed video below. Be sure to tell us what you think in the comments or on Facebook!

“We achieved quite a bit of success with Vulgar Display of Power, but we wanted to take our music to another level completely,” Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul told Guitar World about Far Beyond Driven, where "I'm Broken" originally appeared.

“People were expecting us to go the Metallica route and make something like the Black Album that was a little more mainstream and commercial. We didn’t want to do that, and we knew that our fans didn’t want us to do that. So we set out to make the most extreme album of our career.”

The decision seemed like it would be commercial suicide, but it proved to be the opposite. Far Beyond Driven debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200 Albums chart upon its release on March 21, 1994.

“We knocked Ace of Bass, Bonnie Raitt and even Soundgarden out of the top of the charts,” bassist Rex Brown proudly recalls. “Magazines like Billboard called us this overnight sensation, but we were a band for the people that had been around a long time. MTV and radio didn’t create us. We built a strong fan base over the years, and our fans came out in numbers and really put us on the map.”

Far Beyond Driven is quite likely the most heavy and extreme album to ever reach the Number One position on the Billboard charts, with later efforts by Tool and Slipknot coming a distant second.

For the rest of this story, check out the June 2014 issue of Guitar World — or continue reading our online excerpt here.

Last night — or was it early this morning? — Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society performed on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

Check out the official clip of "Angel of Mercy" below. The song is from Catacombs of the Black Vatican, the band's new album.

"Someone asked me what the difference was between this new record and the other nine," Wylde told us earlier in the spring. "I told them that it’s basically all of the songs we used on the other nine records, except they've got different titles now [laughs]. It's fun and exciting for the whole family!"

You decide!

Black Label Society have released the official music video for "My Dying Time," a track off their new album, Catacombs of the Black Vatican — and you can check it out below.

The album, the band's first disc of all new material since 2010’s Order of the Black, will be released April 8.

The video is almost NSFW — but not quite. You'll come across a sort-of-topless demon woman or two, not to mention a lot of "action-packed" camera work whenever the band is shown. So be on the look out for that!

"I think everyone can expect a lot of fun and excitement [from the album]," BLS frontman Zakk Wylde told GuitarWorld.com last month. "It was like what Chris Farley did in that one skit, where he was selling that hair-care product. Make sure you always use the word 'fun' when you describe it!"

You can check out the rest of that interview here.

In other news, Wylde — along with Joe Satriani — is on the cover of the new May 2014 issue of Guitar World. You can check out the cover — and read about the new issue — right here.

Black Label Society are streaming a track from their upcoming album, Catacombs of the Black Vatican. Check out "My Dying Time" below and tell us what you think!

The album will be released April 8 via Mascot Label Group.

"Someone asked me what the difference was between this new record and the other nine," Black Label Society front man Zakk Wylde recently told Guitar World. "I told them it’s basically all of the songs we used on the other nine records, except they've got different titles now [laughs].

"It's fun and exciting for the whole family!"

For the rest of this interview, head here.

For more information, visit blacklabelsociety.com. And be sure to check out the February 2014 issue of Guitar World, which features another interview with Wylde.

Zakk Wylde has announced the next chapter in the Black Label Society story, Catacombs of the Black Vatican.

The album, the first disc of all new material from the band since 2010’s Order of the Black, will be released April 8.

Wylde also has announced a new tour, "An Evening with Zakk Wylde." The 13-city Canadian trek will feature Wylde and new Black Label Society guitarist Dario Lorina performing intimate versions of some of BLS's most popular songs, plus readings from Wylde's 2012 book, Bringing Metal to the Children: The Complete Berzerker’s Guide to World Tour Domination. You can check out all the tour dates below.

I recently spoke with Wylde about the new BLS album and upcoming tour and got his thoughts on Black Sabbath's Grammy nomination.

GUITAR WORLD: What can fans expect from Catacombs of the Black Vatican?

I think everyone can expect a lot of fun and excitement [laughs]! It was like what Chris Farley did in that one skit, where he was selling that hair-care product. Make sure you always use the word "fun" when you describe it [laughs]!

Someone asked me what the difference was between this new record and the other nine. I told them that it’s basically all of the songs we used on the other nine records, except they've got different titles now [laughs]. It's fun and exciting for the whole family!

How does the idea for a new Black Label Society album begin?

It starts to happen as soon as we get off the road. Once we get to that last backstage is usually when I’ll say, "So, when are we going to start recording the record?" Then shortly after I get home, I’ll get into a writing mode. That’s when I know it's time to start writing a shit ton of fucking riffs.

Once I have something, I'll record it. By the time the fellows come out, I'll already have about 12 actual songs finished. I'll start playing them the songs on guitar, and they’ll come in with drums and the bass. Then we’ll go into a verse riff and start building that. We’ll go through it all a few times and then record it. The melodies will come later on and the lyrics always last.

Longtime BLS member Nick Catanese left the band late last year. What's the story behind his departure?

I had called Nick to tell him about the album and he told me that he was already knees deep into doing his own thing and wanted to stick 1,000 percent into it. I told him it was cool and that we loved him and that he'd always have a home here.

The thing is no one ever gets kicked out or fired. If you want to go, you're always able. Now we've got [guitarist] Dario Lorina in the band, and not only is he a kick-ass guitar player who can shred, but he's also a really cool dude.

How did you hook up with Dario?

We never do a cattle call or anything like that. With the amount of awesome players I know, it's more of a word-of-mouth kind of thing. I had him come out to the Vatican to meet him, and afterwards I said, "Cool. If you want to do it, you're in." It was as simple as that.

Will you be touring to support the album?

Without a doubt. When the album comes out in April, we'll be rolling for probably the next year and a half.

What excites you the most about the next chapter of BLS?

I love the whole process for each new album. The writing, the touring, everything. For me, it never gets old.

What can you tell us about your upcoming "Evening with Zakk Wylde" Canadian tour?

It's kind of like music meets George Carlin on steroids [laughs]. It'll be Uncle Zakk sitting around the campfire with the rest of the Black Label family and telling a bunch of goofy-ass stories from the book. And with the music business, you don't even really have to write these stories. They just happen. We’ll have the piano and the acoustic with us, which is a whole different thing from when we're firing up the Marshalls and the Walls of Doom.

Which performance style do you prefer?

I love them both. Just like I love [Led Zeppelin's] "Going to California" and I love "Black Dog."

What are your thoughts on Black Sabbath getting a Grammy nomination?

I think it's great. But I remember Ozzy said, "I'm kind of shocked and don't know quite how to take it." I remember saying, "Why's that, Ozz?" And he goes, "Because they actually LIKE us!"[laughs].

What would say was your greatest gig with Ozzy?

That first show I did with him in the prison, Wormwood Scrubs. Then there's the Moscow Peace Festival and the first arena tour we did in Pensacola, Florida. It was the first arena I had ever played. You've got to remember, up to that point I was always seeing Ozzy on the "other side" by being in the audience. Suddenly, here I was up on the stage with him. It felt like being the contest winner of doom getting the chance to jam with my hero.

For more information, visit blacklabelsociety.com. And be sure to check out the February 2014 issue of Guitar World, which features a new interview with Wylde.

Black Label Society's 2014 "Evening with Zakk Wylde" Tour Dates

• Thursday, February 13 | Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom
• Friday, February 14 | Duncan, BC Cowichan Theatre
• Saturday, February 15 | Kelowna, BC Level
• Monday, February 17 | Edmonton, AB The Ranch
• Tuesday, February 18 | Calgary, AB Flames Central
• Wednesday, February 19 | Medicine Hat, AB The Esplanade Arts Centre
• Friday, February 21 | Regina, SK The Exchange
• Saturday, February 22 | Saskatoon, SK Broadway Theater
• Sunday, February 23 | Winnipeg, MB Garrick Theatre
• Monday, February 24 | Thunder Bay, ON Crocks
• Wednesday, February 26 | London, ON London Music Hall
• Thursday, February 27 | Toronto, ON The Danforth Music Hall
• Friday, February 28 | Montreal, QC Corona Theatre

James Wood is a writer, musician and self-proclaimed metalhead who maintains his own website, GoJimmyGo.net. His articles and interviews are written on a variety of topics with passion and humor. You can follow him on Twitter @JimEWood.

Photo: Justin Reich

As we've reported, Black Label Society have been gearing up to release a new album in the spring. Today, however, the band announced its official release date.

Catacombs of the Black Vatican, their ninth studio album, will be out April 8.

The band also has released a brief video teaser for the new album, and you can check it out below.

The clip finds guitarist Zakk Wylde delivering the lines, “Face your fear. Accept your war. Destroy and conquer. Within the catacombs of the black vatican.” The clip also shows the words “Strength,’ “Determination,” “Merciless” and “Forever.”

Black Label Society recently parted ways with guitarist Nick Catanese and added a new guitarist, Dario Lorina of Lizzy Borden. “I’m excited to officially announce that I’ve joined Zakk Wylde in Black Label Society,” Lorina said. “I’d like to extend sincere and heartfelt gratitude to everyone for your continued support and warm welcome. It truly means the world.”

For more about the new Black Label Society album, check out the all-new February 2014 issue of Guitar World. For more info, head to the Guitar World Online Store.

As we reported exactly a month ago, Black Label Society recently parted ways with longtime guitarist Nick Catanese, aka "the Evil Twin."

It turns out the band has replaced Catanese with Lizzy Borden guitarist Dario Lorina.

Yesterday, Lizzy Borden frontman and namesake Lizzy Borden posted the following note on the band's Facebook page:

"We are extremely proud and happy for Dario Lorina on being selected as Black Label Society’s new guitarist. It’s been an amazing ride performing all around the world with Dario. He is a true professional and an incredible blues-driven artistic guitarist adding so much to the Borden sound.

"It was a privilege for me to have him on my left side for the last four years, and I know Zakk [Wylde], his band and their fans are going to love Dario as we all do. Dario will be missed in the Borden camp, but he will always be one of us and we wish him all the luck in the world — Lizzy"

Lorina released his first solo recording, Dario Lorina, on September 10 through Shrapnel Records. For more about the guitarist, visit his official website.

Wylde and the rest of Black Label Society have been holed up in Wylde's personal recording studio the past few months recording their much-anticipated new album, which is set for a spring 2014 release through EOne. For more about the new album, check out the all-new February 2014 issue of Guitar World, which you can check out HERE.

Stay tuned to blacklabelsociety.com or facebook.com/blacklabelsociety for more information.

According to announcement released today, Black Label Society have amicably parted ways with longtime guitarist Nick Catanese, aka "the Evil Twin."

The band, who "wish him the very best in his future musical endeavors," added that a replacement will be officially announced soon.

Zakk Wylde and the rest of the band have been holed up in Wylde's personal recording studio the past few months recording their much-anticipated new album, which is set for a spring 2014 release through EOne.

Stay tuned to blacklabelsociety.com or facebook.com/blacklabelsociety for more information.

Here's part of Guitar World's 2011 interview with Catanese, who discusses his role in the band and more. For the rest of this interview, head here.

For those not aware, you had sent your demo tape to Zakk in response to a magazine ad and subsequently did the Book of Shadows tour. What was on that tape?

No, there was no ad in a magazine. I saw his email address in Metal Edge magazine. It wasn't an ad that he needed a guitar player; that was just very good timing and fate (for people who believe in it ). I just emailed him and said, "If you need a guitar player, I'm in Pittsburgh," or something like that. He responded and said, "As a matter of fact, I do — for this Book Of Shadows tour." He said to send him a tape and a picture and I did the next day. The tape was just a demo of my old band.

Your role in Black Label Society is somewhat of a hybrid between a rhythm player and lead player. For the sake of a novice guitarist, can you talk what the role of the rhythm player does relative to bass and drums?

To me its the glue between the rhythm section and the lead guitar, just when Zakk goes into a solo, the song doesn’t drop out. But you have to have a good sense of rhythm and feel. I love it, keeping the song chugging along.

Conversely, what is the approach to your leads and dual leads with Zakk?

Well, when he plays piano he wants me to do all of the guitar work, which is awesome and always a challenge. Like this tour, we do "Darkest Days." The solo is amazing and the last lick he did is sick. I obsessed on that lick for a month and finally nailed it. I just dig making him proud when I do his solos and make them sound like the record. As far as doubling, we just jam it and have a blast.

Black Label Society's newest album, Unblackened, is out now. It's a live acoustic album recorded March 6 at Club Nokia in Los Angeles.

Today, GuitarWorld.com presents the exclusive premiere of "Can't Control It," a new song by the Infinite Staircase.

The track is from the band's just-released EP, No Amends.

Brothers Jeff and Lenny Cerzosie called on a little help from their friends — including Sevendust's Clint Lowery and Morgan Rose, plus Black Label Society's John "JD" DeServio — to create No Amends.

The EP's six new songs also feature collaborations with Lajon Witherspoon (Sevendust), Chris Caffery (Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra), Sean "Memphis" Hennesy" (Candlebox, the Gracious Few) and Troy Cromwell (Cycle Of Pain).

As a bonus, the band has included "The Pride," a song released earlier this year that features Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society), Kevin Martin (Candlebox, the Gracious Few), Rose and DeServio.

"For me, No Amends is a truly personal expression of my experience of living an existential life," Lenny Cerzosie says. "I hope that, through these songs, you can feel the power of staring directly into the abyss and striving to be great in spite of it."

For more about the Infinite Staircase, visit their official website and Facebook page.

Earlier today, Black Label Society released a new music video for their cover of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine."

Check out the clip — which features Zakk Wylde & Co. dressed in admittedly cool-looking horse masks — below, and be sure to tell us what you think of it in the comments!

The track is from the band's new live album, Unblackened, which will be available September 24. Enjoy!

Here's an interview with Zakk Wylde and Dimebag Darrell from the March 2003 issue of Guitar World.To see the cover — and all the GW covers from 2003 — check out our 2003 GW covers gallery.

“Okay, Zakk, it’s time!”

As the morning sun begins to break over the Texas hills, Dimebag Darrell thrusts the keys to a waiting sports utility vehicle in Zakk Wylde’s enormous hand.

All through the night, over countless shots of Blacktooth Grin — the particularly potent and tasty mixture of Crown Royal and Coca Cola that flows like water at Dime’s Arlington-area compound — the Pantera guitarist has been psyching up Ozzy Osbourne’s right-hand man for this very moment. Zakk once nearly destroyed a large metallic Christmas tree placed on Dime’s decked-out lawn, and now that the holidays are here again, Dime just won’t be satisfied until Zakk finishes the job.

While Zakk loudly and repeatedly plows the hulking vehicle into the tree, a bespectacled gent in tie and khakis looks on with resigned amusement. A driver for the local limo service, he’s been summoned to take Zakk to the airport in time for the first flight of the day back to Los Angeles. Unfortunately, Zakk is in no hurry to leave. He’s too busy shredding the bottom of the driver’s SUV on the tree’s twisted metallic corpse.

"My truck sure looked nice today," the driver says, "before I brought it over here." He shrugs. "Of course, this sort of thing happens all the time at Darrell's. It's okay — he always pays for it."

Crazy shit seems to happen whenever Zakk Wylde and Dimebag Darrell get together. Zakk's rough bark bears ample evidence of a New Jersey upbringing, and Dime's drawl is pure Dallas. But these guys are bonded by a mutual respect that's totally impervious to geographical differences — and each is impressively capable of egging the other on to perform incredible feats of derring-do, be they musical or alcoholic.

The two met in the late Eighties, around the time that Zakk signed on for his initial tour of duty with Ozzy, and Pantera were first wowing headbangers across the land with their vicious brand of Texas metal. But their hard-working, hard-rocking, hard-drinking, straight-shooting aesthetic still resonates deeply with metal lovers everywhere: not only was Zakk voted Most Valuable Player in this year's Guitar World Reader's Poll but Zakk and Dime finished in the two top slots of the poll's Best Metal Guitarist category.

Don't expect either of these longhaired wildmen to rest on their laurels, however. Having spent much of 2002 on Ozzy's most high-profile tour to date, Zakk has begun mixing a new album from his own band, Black Label Society; titled The Blessed Hellride, the record should hit the racks sometime in spring 2003. The follow-up to 2002's highly acclaimed 1919 Eternal, The Blessed Hellride, Zakk promises, will be "some serious sick shit."

With the future of Pantera currently in limbo (singer Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown have spent 2002 touring with Down, and Anselmo is preparing to return to the studio with Superjoint Ritual), Dime and drummer brother Vinnie Paul have busied themselves with New Found Power, a crushingly heavy project featuring the powerful vocals of former Halford guitarist Pat Lachman.

The brothers have also recorded Rebel Meets Rebel, a country-metal offering, with legendary country-western outlaw David Allan Coe. The album is due out in 2003, as is Riffer Madness, a veritable encyclopedia of Dime bag licks and lessons compiled by Guitar World contributing editor Nick Bowcott. "I just don't want anyone to think that ol' Dimebag Darrell's been sittin' here on his ass," Dime says, chuckling.

In an hour or so, Zakk will stroll down to Dime's garage studio to lay down an incendiary, off-the-cuff solo on one of New Found Power's latest tracks. "I didn't think it would be a problem or nothin'," Dime will say, admiring his pal's spontaneous string-bending display. "He's always so ready to go, man!"

But right now, as Dime's saintly girlfriend Rita pours a round of Zakktooth Grins (a Blacktooth Grin with ginger ale substituted for Coke, as per Zakk's preference), the two friends are convening in Dimebag Manor's memorabilia-packed living room for an animated Guitar World summit on guitar playing, the current state of rock and the future of Pantera. Pull up a chair, grab a cold beverage and try to stay out of the line of fire.

GUITAR WORLD: Guitar World's readers have voted Zakk Wylde Most Valuable Player and Zakk and Dimebag Darrell Best Metal Guitarists for 2002. What do you think that says about our readers?

ZAKK WYLDE: That they love heavy shit and drinkin' booze — that's why they like us!

DIMEBAG DARRELL: I say thanks a fuckin' million, right out of the chute. And I just want to say that Zakk Wylde is easily the best, most well-rounded player in every category, and he wholeheartedly deserves the Most Valuable Player award, hands down. He's the hardest workin' motherfucker in rock and roll, period. He does double duty — he does Black Label, he does Ozzy. He's been nonstop since he showed his face in the first place, and he keeps taking it to a new level. He's done scared everybody else the fuck off, so nobody else is even gonna try, you know? [

laughs

]

ZAKK: The first time I heard Pantera, I thought, Jesus Christ! I still think that, to this day, Pantera is the heaviest fuckin' band on the planet, but it's not just heavy for the sake of bein' heavy; it's got groove to it, and it's pure musicianship at the same time. And what I'd say about Dime is, you can't get that good unless you work at it. You can tell he put the hours in and the practice in, and drew from so many of the great players. You surround yourself with greatness — the Randy Rhoadses, the Van Halens, the Tony Iommis — and you'll be in the right ballpark. Or the right zip code, anyways!

DIME: Maybe that's kinda what ties us in — we come from pretty much the exact same school.

ZAKK: When I was growin' up, to be the big gun on the block you had to know how to play Randy's stuff, Eddie's shit, or anybody that was cool. I mean, I'm not a big Dokken fan, but I'll tell you right now: George Lynch can throw down. It wasn't like superheavy metal shit, but you listened to George Lynch's solos, his vibrato and everything, and it was like, "What the fuck's he doing?" Me and Dime came up at the end of the Eighties, when all that stuff was kind of fizzling out.

DIME: [laughs] The three-handed technique was goin' out of style!

ZAKK: Guitar, with Yngwie and everything like that, kind of hit a ceiling where it couldn't go any further and had to start over again. And that's when GN'R came out, and Slash brought it back to more feel and more rock and roll, you know? Which was awesome. And then, of course, the grunge thing came in, but Jerry Cantrell was still doin' solos. The guitar thing is comin' back around, too. I mean, you'll always have me and Dime playin' solos on our records. But what's gonna happen is, some 19- or 20-year-old kid is gmma come out with some cool kick- ass band, and he's gonna make some 15-year-old kid wanna pick up a guitar and learn how to do a solo.

When Van Halen first came out with "Eruption," every town had some kid who knew how to play the song in its entirety. Nowadays, no one seems to be coming up with solos that inspire kids in the same way.

ZAKK: Put it this way: I love Ozzfest because Ozzy and Sharon started the whole thing to promote metal. But two summers ago — I was actually laughing — I was telling Freddy McTaggart, who does my guitars," I think Dime and I are the only motherfuckers on this whole tour that actually can get up from low E to high E and back safely!" [laughs] We were sitting out there watching Pantera just blow the fucking stage up and Dime just shredding all sick and fucking insane. I was watching the other bands, and no one else was playing solos! And it's just like, why wouldn't you want to get better? I don't understand that.

DIME: I'm into the whole song-as-a-piece-of-music thing: if it literally doesn't call for it, if it already has enough stuff going on, then it's okay not to play a solo. I've tried to force a solo before, but sometimes it's like, "That thing don't really fit, man! " You know, you end up on a groove part that's powerful, I understand that. But let's have some fuckin' action out there! There's more to it than two or three strings on the low-end side, you know?

I mean, I could see how some people might hear some of the shit Zakk does and say, ''I'm not ever gonna catch up, so why even try?" And that's the wrong way to look at it, if you ask me, man. You ain't gonna catch him, but why not do your own thing? Like I always say, the thick strings are a fuckin' nut in themselves, what with all that chugging and grinding. But to really express yourself, you have to get out on them high strings and bend them motherfuckers. Get out there and play some shit! There ain't nothing wrong with it. I can never understand how a solo could ever be "uncool." Play something good and it won't be uncool, you know?

ZAKK: When you listen to Randy Rhoads do a solo, or Eddie, or Jimi Hendrix or Jimmy Page, it brings the song to another spot. It's not like he's just going, ''I'm the guitar player — I've gotta put a solo here."

DIME: That's not what we're saying — we're not saying, " Play the solo for the fuck of it, dude, just so you could say you did it!" But goddanm, you can't tell me that on a whole CD, from start to finish , there's no place for somethin' badass to be played over the top. And for music lovers, man, where we come from, I'm wantin' to hear some of that shit, you know'

This past year, a number of popular guitar bands like the Hives, the White Stripes and the Vines seemed to take pride in playing few, if any, solos at all.

ZAKK: The only thing I think is really cool about that stuff is that it's guitar based. They're not doing solos, but thank fuck it's not, like, tons of Pro Tools. The bands are actually performing live, and the shit's actually kind of a little out of tune, but that's how it is — that's how a fuckin' rock and roll band sounds, you know? It shouldn't be perfect.

At least the Hives have two guys plugging their guitars right into the fuckin' amp, and the bass player's got a P-Bass or whatever, and they're just grinding it out. It's just meat-and-potatoes shit, like the Kinks on steroids. But at least they're a band, and they're writin' their own shit, as opposed to songwriters writing their music for 'em. The whole joy of being a real musician is writing your own music, you know what I mean? Backstreet Boys, 'NSync, all those bands — in Black Label, we call 'em "skin puppets," man, because that's what they are. They ain't real musicians.

DIME: But that's for somebody else, man. It ain't something for real music lovers at all. It's just a form of entertainment for some kids, you know what I mean?

ZAKK: I agree. But you look at Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page… I mean, Jimmy Page wasn't exactly Al Di Meola, but you can't take his songwriting away from him. Like "The Rain Song" — you can't take the fucking "Rain Song" away from Jimmy Page! He wrote that! Or Randy Rhoads playing "Over the Mountain." Or Eddie Van Halen playing "Eruption" or "Hear About It Later" -- not only did he perform it, he wrote it and played it! That's a real fucking musician. Bach, Mozart — all the greats always write their own shit, I don't care what anybody fucking says.

In our poll, among the Biggest Disappointments of 2002 was “No new albums by Metallica, Pantera, Van Halen or Guns N' Roses." Discuss.

ZAKK: The Guns N' Roses thing: I think Ax! should call up the old guys. No disrespect to the new guys, but the original Guns N' Roses lineup was flat-out one of the greatest bands that's ever been. It's just like, call the guys. I mean, how hard could it be to get Slash on the phone? Get the original lineup together, and make a fucking album that pisses all over Appetite for Destruction, and get it on. End of story, you know? That would be my biggest disappointment for the past year, and now that he's canceled all the fucking shows… the world's waiting for it to happen, you know? I think he's a great guy, and I think it could be massive. But then again, it's up to him.

DIME: Well, all I can say is, it's a touchy thing for me. If it's a disappointment that there ain't a Pantera record, I just want to let everybody know that it ain't because Dimebag Darrell ain't sitting here with a fucking cocked-and-loaded shotgun, ready to pull the fucking trigger. I've been waiting, ready to roll; so's my brother. Them cats [Phil and Rex] want to go do their thing. I've got a prepared statement I wanna lay on you, and I'd appreciate it if you'd print it verbatim, just like it is. That'll clear up the situation.

ZAKK: Pantera is the heaviest fuckin' band on the planet, brother!

DIME: Man, it's the only goddamn thing I ever gave a fuck about in my life, and it's an odd situation right now. It's not me holding anything back, that's all I can say. I respect the Pantera fans with all my heart. They've been so great to us for so long. Tell you, this last year has sucked the fucking biggest dong in the world for me and my brother. Since 9/11, it's just not been a good time. There's been a ridiculous amount of horseshit, and we're just ready to let this year pass on by I've had to reach inside, find my strength, get my shit together, figure out what I've gotta do, what I was born on this earth to do. It sucks, man. I miss the fans, I miss the music. But that's all right; we're gettin' some shit rolling, and it's coming.

What are your hopes and dreams for 2003?

DIME: Hopes and dreams for 2003? To have a better year than 2002! I'm looking forward to a better year, period -- gettin' back out and fuckin' rippin', comin' out with a kick-ass new record with New Found Power, and not lettin' anybody down, just goin' out there and throwin' down, doin' what I fuckin' do. This is what I'm meant to do, you know?

ZAKK: You wanna tell them about the album we were talkin' about doin' with you, me and Eddie Van Halen?

DIME: Break it out, dude!

ZAKK: We were sittin' there talkin' one day, and my wife just goes, "Why don't you and Dime make a guitar record together? I mean, you are guitar players, you're old friends. Why don't you just make a record together?" I said, "Yeah, it'd be a fuckin' piece of cake. We could put this thing together and then tour venues like the House of Blues, or whatever. We'd need a third guy, though." And my wife goes, "You're gonna have to call Eddie Van Halen for this one!"

DIME: Zakk done rang his ass and woke his ass up in the middle of the night! [laughs]

ZAKK: When we were on the Ozzfest, I'd call him up loaded. [laughs] I called him, he hung up; called him, he hung up; called him, he hung up; called him, he hung up. Then finally he goes, "What the fuck do you want?" I said, "Dude! We're gonna do this fuckin ' album — me, you and Dime from fuckin' Pantera!" He just goes, ''I've gotta figure out what the fuck's goin' on. I don't even know what's goin' on here at the fuckin' house! What are you fuckin' talkin' about?" It'd be like, everybody writes four songs on the record, and I'll just go, "Dime, what key is this fuckin' thing in?"

DIME: Send things back and forth till the shit's put together.

ZAKK: [to Dime] You've got the studio. We could do it up here, for fuck's sake!

DIME: Hey, strap Eddie down in Dime's compound! Hey man, no disrespect to Ed; if it weren't for Van Halen, I wouldn't be here.

ZAKK: There wouldn't be a fuckin' Pantera, and there wouldn't be a Black Label.

So you're still waiting to hear back from Eddie on that one?

ZAKK: Yeah, but it'd be fuckin' awesome.

DIME [laughs] Let's call him right now!

Black Label Society — who are on the road with Megadeth, Newsted, Hellyeah and Device as part of Gigantour 2013 — have released the first in a series of behind-the-scenes Gigantour webisodes.

Be sure to check out the video, which features a lengthy Zakk Wylde guitar solo that kicks off around the 1:49 mark, below.

The pro-shot video, which is subtitled "Doom Trooping with the crew on Gigantour 2013," was directed and edited by Justin Reich and produced by Blasko.

In another entry from his classic Guitar World column, "Brewtality," Zakk Wylde shows you how to connect the dots and move up the neck while playing pentatonic patterns.

Welcome to Brewtality No. 3. I’m writing this month’s installment while out on the road on the Merry Mayhem tour, with Ozzy Osbourne and Rob Zombie, and I’m having a total blast. Ozzy is singing his ass off and the band is slamming so goddamned hard it’s beyond brewtal!

Last time we started playing “connect the dots” by checking out some licks that combine notes from the first three of the five A minor pentatonic scale patterns we learned in Brewtality No. 1. In this lesson we’re gonna connect all five scale patterns together. Once again, we’re gonna be utilizing strict alternate picking (down, up, down, up, etc.) on every run, so grab a pick and let’s get to it.

FIGURE 1 illustrates the five A minor pentatonic scale patterns we’ve been working with in the last two lessons, with the notes on the top two strings circled. This will serve as a visual reference for the following exercises. Now check out the first bar of FIGURE 2, which shows a repeated picking sequence of 16th notes on the top two strings in scale pattern 1.

What we’re going to do is continue this picking sequence while moving up the neck through the other four scale patterns, as depicted in the remaining six bars of the run. Start off playing this figure slowly, then build up speed as you see fit. As you’ll hear, the faster you play it, the cooler it sounds. FIGURE 3 is basically the same deal as FIGURE 2, but here you just play the picking sequence once in each scale position and then move up to the next one until you get to the 17th position.

FIGURE 4 uses the same picking pattern as FIGURES 2 and 3 but with different rhythmic phrasing, which gives the run a completely fresh vibe.

FIGURES 5 and 6 are more phrasing variations based on this picking sequence. They both sound pretty rippin’ when played fast. FIGURE 5 is an especially good alternate picking exercise.

Like I said earlier, all we’re doing here is connecting the A minor pentatonic notes on the B and high E strings and using them to climb up the neck. This is a pretty simple concept, but as you’ve probably just realized, when these kinds of licks are played at a fast tempo, they sound pretty fuckin’ kick-ass! Being able to quickly shift positions from one scale pattern to another like this is also a great way of moving up or down the neck without leaving any “holes” in your lines.

Now that I’ve shown you a few examples of this concept, try experimenting with it on your own by finding a picking pattern you dig and then moving it up the neck through the scale patterns we’ve learned. It’s also good to practice this in different keys. I’m sure you’ll come up with a million different combinations of patterns before you know it. Time for a brew…see ya next time.

In anticipation of the upcoming Rock & Roll Roast of Dee Snider, we're taking a look back at some highlights from last year's roast of Zakk Wylde.

Here's the second of two photo galleries from that star-studded night. Check out the first one right here.

Want to attend the live taping of this year's Rock and Roll Roast of Dee Snider — sponsored by Epiphone and Monster — on Thursday, January 24, at the Grove in Anaheim, California? The Roast is open to the public this year and will air live on AXS TV at midnight ET (9 p.m. PT).

A portion of the proceeds will benefit MusiCares, a nonprofit organization of The Recording Academy that provides emergency financial assistance and addiction recovery resources to music people in need. Snider was recently named one of the 100 greatest living rock stars by Revolver.

Click here for more info on this year's roast.

Photos: Jeremy Danger

In anticipation of the upcoming Rock & Roll Roast of Dee Snider, we're taking a look back at some highlights from last year's roast of Zakk Wylde.

Here's the first of two photo galleries from that star-studded night. Be on the lookout for part two later this week.

Want to attend the live taping of this year's Rock and Roll Roast of Dee Snider — sponsored by Epiphone and Monster — on Thursday, January 24, at the Grove in Anaheim, California? The Roast is open to the public this year and will air live on AXS TV at midnight ET (9 p.m. PT).

A portion of the proceeds will benefit MusiCares, a nonprofit organization of The Recording Academy that provides emergency financial assistance and addiction recovery resources to music people in need. Snider was recently named one of the 100 greatest living rock stars by Revolver.

Click here for more info on this year's roast.

Photos: Travis Shinn

In anticipation of the upcoming Rock & Roll Roast of Dee Snider, we're taking a look back at some highlights from last year's roast of Zakk Wylde.

With Zakk on the hot seat, it seemed a no-brainer to have him roasted by the man who eventually took his place as Ozzy Osbourne's lead guitarist, Gus G. Take a look at the video below to see how Gus went over with a tough crowd.

Want to attend the live taping of this year's Rock and Roll Roast of Dee Snider — sponsored by Epiphone and Monster — on Thursday, January 24, at the Grove in Anaheim, California? The Roast is open to the public this year and will air live on AXS TV at midnight ET (9 p.m. PT).

A portion of the proceeds will benefit MusiCares, a nonprofit organization of The Recording Academy that provides emergency financial assistance and addiction recovery resources to music people in need. Snider was recently named one of the 100 greatest living rock stars by Revolver.

Click here for more info on this year's roast.