Latest news with #ZakkWylde
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Zakk Wylde says Black Sabbath's farewell show will be "special for everybody", but hopes it won't be Ozzy's last gig
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Zakk Wylde says that Black Sabbath's farewell Back To The Beginning gig in Birmingham will be "special for everybody", but hopes that it won't be Ozzy Osbourne's final time on stage. Talking about the Birmingham band's homecoming show, which is set to feature performances from Metallica, Slayer, Mastodon, Alice In Chains, Tool, Guns N' Roses and many more, plus one-off super-groups featuring the likes of Tom Morello, Sammy Hagar, Wolfgang Van Halen, Billy Corgan, Fred Durst and more, Wylde told Riff X's Metal XS show (as reported by Blabbermouth), "Considering all the bands that are on that thing and everybody's gonna be playing Sabbath songs, it's gonna be pretty mindblowing. It's gonna be pretty awesome. And then to see Ozz get up there and do a song with 'em and then watch Sabbath play. I think for all the bands that are gonna be there, 'cause if it wasn't for Sabbath none of us would exist. You know what I mean? So I think it's gonna be special for everybody." The guitarist also expressed his hope - "you always gotta stay on the bright side of life" - that the show on July 5, which is also intended as Ozzy Osbourne's farewell bow as a solo artist, will not actually be his very final show. "Hopefully we'll just do this, and then Ozz will go, 'Let's just fire up the machine again and we'll do another tour.' You know what I mean?" he says. "With Ozz and his throne that just flies over the stadium or whatever - shoots out buckets of water and does everything like that. So, yeah, if Ozz has a great time, whatever, and it's just, like, 'I wanna go out on the road again,' it's like, Good. Let's do it again." "I mean, what else is he gonna do?" Wylde continues. "It's like Keith Richards said. He [was asked], 'When are you going to retire?' He goes, 'Retire from what?' If you like reading a book and having a cup of coffee, it's, like, why am I retiring from this? I enjoy it. I play music. I mean, what am I retiring from? It's something I enjoy, something I love doing. So hopefully that's what happens." Osbourne's producer, collaborator and sometime guitarist Andrew Watt says that the Prince of Darkness has been hitting the gym as the countdown to July's Back To The Beginning show continues. Speaking to US broadcaster Howard Stern on Stern's SiriusXM, Watt discussed working with Ozzy, and says that the singer's voice is "as good as it's ever been.""He's okay," Watt stated. "His body is not doing what doing what he wants it to do all the time, but I talked to him a couple of days ago, and he's starting to get in the gym again a little, to get himself ready for this last concert. He is the real life Iron Man. And nothing has happened to his voice, his voice is as good as it's ever been." Watch Zakk Wylde chose his five favourite guitar riffs of all time exclusively for Metal Hammer, below.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Paging all 'shred warriors,' Wylde Audio's Berzerker takes the shape of metal guitar to new extremes
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Wylde Audio has unveiled its latest made-for-metal electric guitar for current Pantera reunion shredder, Black Label Society founder and Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, and it looks like something straight out of the encyclopedia of medieval weaponry. Immediately assuming the opposite end of the aesthetic spectrum as the Hello Kitty Stratocaster, the evocatively titled Berzerker is a metal guitar through and through. No jazz, please. Ration those blues licks, and if you must play them, play them through a high-gain metal amp. Come on, just look at this thing. 'Crafted for the true metal enthusiast, this axe embodies the soul of legendary guitarist Zakk Wylde,' says Wylde Audio. 'Equipped with high-output EMG active pickups, the Blood Skull Berzerker delivers an iconic tone with unparalleled clarity and sustain.' Where do you start with a body shape like this? Well, maybe with the finishes. Wylde Audio is offering this in Blood Skull graphic finish, a Slayer fan's fever dream if ever we've seen it, and in this raw-topped Corridors finish, which has an Escher-esque vibe. Nose to tail the design of this is brutal. It is with some satisfaction to see that this has a reverse six-in-line headstock. And being a Zakk Wylde production, you've got a pair of active EMG humbuckers to help put some weight – not to mention clarity – behind those riffs. There is an EMG 81 at the bridge and an EMG 85 at the neck. These are controlled by dual volume controls plus a master tone knob, with a three-way pickup selector mounted… Well, it's kind of hard to see on this model but you'll find it on the lower horn. For all intents and purposes, this is a double-cutaway. But really it's a quadruple cutaway. It will be interesting to see how this feels on a guitar strap, or played seated. As for the fundamentals, the Berzerker has a mahogany body – the Corridors has some maple on the top to give it that surrealist look. Image 1 of 4 Image 2 of 4 Image 3 of 4 Image 4 of 4 The neck is three-piece maple, fashioned into Wylde's signature C shape, and joinis the body with a deep-set, glued-in neck joint. The fingerboard is ebony, inlaid with runes, and has a 14' radius. There's some Gibson-esque DNA here, what with Wylde a former user and abuser of the Gibson Les Paul Custom. We have a Tonespro Locking Tune-O-Matic bridge and tailpiece, and the guitar has a 24.625' scale length. The black Speed Knobs are perhaps a nod to his old Custom, too. Other details include Grover tuners, the frets are extra-jumbo, the nut is a Graph Tech Tusq XL and the nut width is 43mm. Schecter is listing this at $1,699, and the price does not include a guitar case. For more details head over to the Wylde Audio page at Schecter Guitars.
