Zakk Sabbath live at The O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Words: Kahmel Farahani

Photos: Louise Phillips

If there is one thing you can never accuse Zakk Wylde of, it’s being work shy. Barely over a week since finishing Pantera’s UK and European tour, Wylde is out on the road again, this time with his own heavy metal passion project, Zakk Sabbath.

A special mention should be made for tonight’s opening band Lowen. Hailing from from London, the band play a fascinating mix of doom and death metal blended with traditional Iranian music. The best way to describe it might be imagine if Mastodon was playing a Nowruz event. Vocalist Nina Saeidi is an arresting figure on stage and guitarist Shem Lucas can lay down heavy riffs with the best of them. Songs like Ghazal For The Embrace Of Fire are truly impressive, multi segmented and epic songs.

Opening for a an established act with a gold plated songbook is never easy, but Lowen kept their heads held high and delivered a set to be proud of tonight.

With the looming spectre of the “final” Black Sabbath show to be held this summer in their home town of Birmingham, now seems like an ideal time to revisit and glory in those early records that created Heavy Metal itself. Playing a setlist drawn from Black Sabbath’s first four albums, Zakk Sabbath’s renditions are beefed up but incredibly faithful covers of those early Sabbath songs. The one major difference is added shredding and some extended solos from Zakk Wylde himself.

Opening the gig tonight with Supernaut from Black Sabbath Vol.4, Zakk is stomping from one side of the stage to the other, fist in the air while the other hand bending strings to breaking point on his guitar. For this tour Zakk has drafted his Black Label Society band mates Jeff Fabb on the drums and John DeServio on Bass. Keeping up with Black Sabbath’s rhythm section is no small task and they both do an excellent job capturing the force and power without losing any of the groove. Indeed, it’s sometimes not given it’s due credit how often Sabbath used to stray into the experimental and even jazzy in their early days.

The classic song Fairies Wear Boots off of Paranoid is a perfect example. A song with enough twists and turns to keep the finest band on its toes, Zakk and co blast through it with ease. Playing the guitar behind his head, with his teeth and doing walk abouts around the venue, it’s a mesmerizing sight to watch Zakk go. It’s a real treat to hear some Black Sabbath songs that the band themselves played rarely or haven’t played for decades, like Tomorrow’s Dream or Lord Of This World.

There has been so much written about Zakk Wylde’s jaw dropping ability on the guitar that it’s often forgotten what a fine singer he is. One can hear the countless teenage years spent listening religiously to those early Black Sabbath records in Zakk’s delivery tonight. Ozzy himself could not do any better and Wylde’s voice is the perfect fit. Taking a moment to introduce the band, Zakk and company take an extended jam during the brooding Hand Of Doom. While Zakk Sabbath push the room’s audio to the very limit of breakup, the feedback remains under control and sound is good tonight.

Avoiding the most obvious song choices like Paranoid or Iron Man, Zakk Sabbath end’s tonight’s gig with a glorious rendition of Sabbath’s own anti war anthem War Pigs. With the entire venue singing and trading verses, Zakk Wylde takes the opportunity to dash off stage and walk to the first level balcony, playing all the while. He then let’s rip several minutes of the most astounding shredding known to man. It’s a towering song and Zakk Sabbath do it justice.

Tonight, Zakk Sabbath paid tribute to their musical heroes in the finest way possible. Black Sabbath’s music is not only the founding cornerstone of a genre we all love so much, it has proven that it has power to transcend generations and even individual musicians. Zakk Sabbath led the way and carried the torch of heavy metal tonight, and there is no band around that could do it better.