Zakk Sabbath

About Zakk Sabbath

Zakk Sabbath is what happens when Zakk Wylde decides to pay homage to the band that made him want to pick up a guitar in the first place. This is not a Black Sabbath tribute band in the traditional sense, where some guys in a bar dress up like Ozzy and run through the hits. It's Wylde and his rhythm section playing Black Sabbath's first two albums front to back, note for note, with the kind of reverence usually reserved for religious texts.

Wylde formed the project in 2014, recruiting bassist Blasko (Rob Nicholson, who's played with everyone from Ozzy to Rob Zombie) and drummer Joey Castillo (formerly of Queens of the Stone Age). The concept was straightforward: perform Black Sabbath's self-titled debut and Paranoid in their entirety, in sequence, exactly as recorded. No frills, no reimagining, no putting a personal stamp on it. Just three guys who can actually play trying to capture what made those records so crushing in 1970.

They started as a one-off thing for a small club show, the kind of project that sounds fun after a few drinks. But the response was strong enough that it became a recurring venture. Wylde has spent decades as Ozzy's guitarist and fronting Black Label Society, so he knows this material from multiple angles. Playing it with Zakk Sabbath is different from playing "Iron Man" at an Ozzy show for the ten-thousandth time. There's a purity to it, a chance to focus entirely on the DNA of heavy metal without any of the bombast that usually surrounds Wylde's work.

The band released their first studio recording in 2017, a fairly faithful take on Black Sabbath's debut album called Vertigo. They tracked it live in Detroit, trying to replicate the raw, spontaneous energy of the original sessions. It's not a carbon copy, you can hear Wylde's tone and touch throughout, but the arrangements stay true. "The Wizard," "N.I.B.," "Wicked World," they're all there, sounding like what they are: a great band playing great songs.

Zakk Sabbath still pops up for select shows, usually in smaller venues than Wylde would play with his other projects. That's part of the appeal. It's a chance to see a legitimately accomplished guitarist strip away the theatrics and just serve the songs. No solos that go on for five minutes, no pyro, no spectacle. Just the riffs that built the foundation for everything heavy that came after.

The project exists in that weird space between tribute act and legitimate artistic statement. Wylde isn't trying to be Tony Iommi, but he's also not trying to improve on what Iommi did. He's just keeping it alive for people who want to hear it played right.

Zakk Sabbath shows are packed with longtime metal fans who came to hear these songs done right. The crowd is there to feel the weight of the riffs, not to party. Wylde's intensity is unmistakable—he's locked in, sweating through every solo. The energy is heavy and reverent, almost ceremonial.

Known for Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Iron Man, War Pigs, Sweet Leaf

See Zakk Sabbath Live