For the uninitiated, Zakk Sabbath is the Black Sabbath cover project of longtime Ozzy Osbourne (and his own band Black Label Society) guitarist Zakk Wylde (also the current touring guitarist in Pantera), founded in 2014. Following up 2020’s Vertigo, a track-by-track reinterpretation of Black Sabbath’s 1969 debut Lp (originally released on the Vertigo label, hence the title), here is a double album featuring reinterpretations of Sabbath’s 2nd and 3rd Lps, 1970’s Paranoid and 1971’s Master of Reality.
As such, one can cynically wonder what the point of that is since the original recordings are perfect landmarks of heavy metal, hard rock, and rock music in general, but hearing Zakk (with his voice sounding more like Ozzy’s this time around, eerily so at times) play this material lovingly with a great backing band this time around featuring drummer Joey Castillo (Queens of the Stone Age, Danzig, Circle Jerks, etc.) and bassist Rob “Blasko” Nicholson (Ozzy, Rob Zombie) is an aural delight for longtime fans.
While remaining faithful to the original recordings (a wise move, in this case), Zakk and his band do manage to put some of their individual touches on this material, particularly on some of the quieter Master of Reality material such as the instrumental “Embryo” and the ballad “Solitude” while playing it more straight on the Paranoid cuts, though many were inspired by live versions as much as the original studio versions as well. All that said, this is clearly a passion project and one can hear the love in the grooves. Bring on their takes on Vol 4, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Sabotage, Technical Ecstasy, and Never Say Die!
