Black Label Society and their bearded leader unleash their first album in four years.
The world was introduced to Zakk Wyldeās 6-string wizardry on Ozzy Osbourneās 1988 No Rest for the Wicked album. Now, after a quarter century as an award-winning guitar hero who can lay claim to having had the longest stint of any of the Ozzmanās guitarists, the Black Label Society founder still has few chances to rest.
Our first interview with Wylde to discuss Black Label Societyās latest release, Catacombs of the Black Vatican,was scheduled for 8 a.m.āyes, 8 a.m.āthe morning after his last show as a headlining guest on the Experience Hendrix 2014 tour (where he shared the stage with such icons as Eric Johnson, Buddy Guy, Dweezil Zappa, and Brad Whitford, and sadly, had a guitar and vest stolen from the tour bus). Just as we reached him, we were informed that the interview had to be rescheduled because Wyldeās Europe flight got bumped up. It would be several weeks before he had another free moment. We finally caught up with Wylde at a four-star hotel in Istanbul, Turkey, of all places, shortly after he took part in one of the Metal All Stars concerts. āI just did two shows in this small club that had no barricade,ā said Wylde. āPeople were putting their hands on the stage and the whole nine yards. I havenāt played a gig like that in a while. It was like Mad Max and Thunderdome.ā
While that gig might have presented some unexpected twists, Catacombs of the Black Vatican offers no unwelcome surprises. Wylde often jokes that the only difference between his albums is their titles, and Catacombs is chock-full of classic BLS songwriting formulas and guitar theatrics, like Wyldeās signature pinch harmonics and machine gun pentatonic riffing.
Itās been almost four years since The Order of the Black. Why so long?
It was the same between Shot to Hell and Order of the Black, but itās not intentional or anything. Weāve been busy working. We toured for over three years on that album. Itās not like weāve been sitting home stockpiling riffs for four years.
Did you write any of the Catacombs songs on the road? The album was written after we got done doing the Gigantour. I was like, āHow much longer till the fellas get out here?ā It was 25 days, so I had 25 days to write a record. Every day Iād plug into my Marshall and just write riffs. It was like, āCoolāgot another song. Got another one. Got another one.ā You just keep digging until you get something you like, you know?
Zakk Wylde's Gear
Guitars
1957 Gibson Les Paul Jr.
1981 Gibson Les Paul Custom (āThe Grailā)
2012 Gibson Les Paul Custom (āMaple Vertigoā)
1989 Gibson Les Paul Custom (āThe Rebelā)
2009 Gibson ZW BFG
Gibson Zakk Wylde Moderne of Doom
Gibson J-200 acoustic
Epiphone Masterbuilt acoustic
Amps
Marshall JCM800 2203ZW head
Marshall 1960A ZW cab
Marshall 1960B ZW cab
Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus
Effects
Dunlop MXR signature ZW38 Black Label Chorus
Dunlop MXR signature ZW44 Overdrive
Dunlop signature ZW90 Phase 90
Dunlop signature ZW357 Rotovibe
Dunlop signature ZW45 Cry Baby Wah
Strings and Picks
Dunlop signature strings .010ā.052 or .010ā.056 (depending on tuning)
Dunlop Ultex Sharp 1 mm picks
Monster cables
Is that your usual writing process? The way I write is, first I get a cool riff. Say itās āMiracle Man.ā [Sings āMiracle Manā riff]. After I have the riff, then it goes into [sings next āMiracle Manā riff], and thereās the vocal. Thatās where the verse is going to be. Then the pre-choruses and this and that, then the guitar solo.
Did anyone else in the band take part in the songwriting? Nah, I just write it from the beginning to the end, man. Iām the Salvador Dali. Iāll paint the picture and put the frame around it as well. Obviously, Iām producing the record, but with JD [bassist John DeServio] and [engineer] Adam [Klumpp] there mixing it, Iāll come in and do the taste testing at the end of the night. Iāll be like, āCan we bring the kick drum up a little bit?ā But the guys pretty much nail it. The way we make the Black Label Krispy Kremes, weāve pretty much got it down to a system. After we get the music recorded, I take a CD of it and sit out in the truck, crank it, and start singing melodies.
Do you ever rewrite a riff because itās hard to sing over? No. A lot of times I record the music, and when I like the song structure and the way a riff sounds, I approach it like a singer, just singing something over it without a guitar in my hands. Then I go back and relearn it. So itās not like Iām singing and playing at the same time while I write. Usually if you approach it that way, it dictates a certain way to sing.
Nick Catanese, who has played rhythm guitar with BLS since near the beginning, has recently been replaced by Dario Lorina. What prompted the change? Well, Nickās not out of Black Label. Heāll always be a Black Label brother. He wants to write and do his own thing. He was like, āZakk, I really want to get knee-deep in this project.ā I was like, āKnock it out, brother. We all love you and wish you the best.ā Thatās what I always tell the guys. You always have freedom to do anything you want within Black Label. With Ozzy, Iām not going to write lyrics or come up with melodies or album art. Iām not producing the record. Iām not involved in the mixes. So you need outside stimulation. The whole thing is about freedom, man. If JD wanted to make a funk record or something like that, he can stay within Black Label, but obviously some things arenāt going to fit. So itās like, āDo the funk record, and then youāve always got a home here.ā
How did Dario Lorina get the gig? Iām sure a lot of guitarists would have wanted to audition for the gig. I know. Iāve got lots of buddies who are phenomenal guitar players as well. But Dario just worked out great. My buddy Blasko [Rob Nicholson] turned me on to him. I watched a couple of videos of him playing Black Label tunes and solosāthe whole nine yardsājust shredding it. Itās Darioās gig until he doesnāt want to do it anymore. Until heās like, āI got my own band going.ā Then Iāll be like, āGreat, man. Knock it out.ā
Zakk Wylde in full headbang-mode at The Fillmore Detroit in Detroit on November 7, 2010. Photo by Ken Settle.
On the ballad āAngel of Mercy,ā your solo is thematic, and it builds dramatically. Did you work out the structure before recording it? Thanks. That solo is written out. The intro is like a āStairwayā-type thing with a bend, A minor pentatonics, and then some Al Di Meola scales. All of them are written. I can play any one of them for you note-for-note, back-to-back.
What goes on in your mind as you craft your solos? I just sit down with the boom box and do my homework. Iāll have Adam burn me a CD of the backing tracks. I like putting the solos on after the vocals so I get a feel for the songs. When the solos come up, itās like, āWhat do you want to hear here?ā Whether itās a slow thing or a fast thing. Itās just whatever fits the song.
On the other slow number, āScars,ā your solo is mellower and less flashy. Yeah, totally. Itās like a Dickey Betts-type thing. It just fit the vibe. I didnāt even change the amp that I played all the heavy stuff on. I used āBlue Ballsāāthe guitar that got stolen in Chicagoāon that and the āAngels of Mercyā solo. I just turned the guitar down, turned the distortion pedal off, and did the solo. I put it on the neck pickup, I think. I did a couple of passes until I got something I liked, and then I said, āLetās record the solo.ā
YouTube It
Zakkās take on the iconic āPurple Haze,ā during the Experience Hendrix tour in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, features a ridiculously blazing, extended solo with a dizzying display of nonstop alternate picking fury. Between 4:13 and 4:29 Wylde steps outside the tonality, briefly indulging in some tritone madness before wailing with the guitar up behind his neck at 5:54, and then with his teeth at 6:21. Jimi wouldāve approved!
Wylde replaces the original piano part with some off-the-charts guitar pyrotechnics in the intro of this live version of āIn This River,ā a tribute to his friend, the late Dimebag Darrell.
Armed with a Randy Rhoads-inspired Polka Dot Flying V, Wylde shreds for six minutes straight before segueing into the Black Label Society hit āStillbornā during the bandās 2005 European tour.
What other guitars did you use on Catacombs?
On this album, all the rhythm parts are pretty much done with my Gibson Les Paul Custom āMaple Vertigo.ā I also used Blue Balls on a bunch of solos, and I used my Gibson Firebird on one of the solos on āDamn the Flood.ā Then I used the Moderne [Gibsonās Zakk Wylde Moderne of Doom] on āEmpty Promisesā because it has the whammy barāI got the Floyd on that one. The clean parts on āShades of Greyā were done with a ā58 Junior double-cutaway that [producer] Michael Beinhorn got me when we did the Ozzmosis record. I have a ā57 tobacco sunburst Les Paul Jr. that Ozzy got me for my 20th birthday when we were doing No Rest for the Wicked. When I do clean stuff, thatās my go-to-guitar. Itās got P-90s, and it sounds really round and warm.
What about amps? I use my Marshall JCM800 signature heads. We were working on a prototype, and thatās on the majority of the record. For a lot of super-clean stuff, I use a Roland Jazz Chorus as well. Theyāre just amazing amps, especially for clean stuff.
What special features are on the prototype? Transformers. You know, the design of a JCM800 is amazing. Itās simple, and itās like a pair of Leviās. It really only has one function, and itās great at it. It doesnāt do a million different thingsāit just does the dishes, and the dishes come out amazing. It doesnāt have all these buttons and knobs. Itās like, āJust turn it on, and itāll clean the dishes.ā Thatās why itās such a great amplifier. As far as experimenting with tubes, 6550s and KT88s are kind of in the same family. One is a little bit smoother and the other is a little boxier sounding. It depends on what you want. Do you want the handling of a Mercedes, or do you want the handling of a Cadillac? Theyāre both great ridesāit just depends on your preference.
Whitman Audio introduces the Decoherence Drive and Wave Collapse Fuzz, two innovative guitar pedals designed to push the boundaries of sound exploration. With unique features like cascading gain stages and vintage silicon transistor fuzz, these pedals offer musicians a new path to sonic creativity.
Whitman Audio, a new audio effects company, has launched with two cutting-edge guitar pedals, the Decoherence drive and Wave Collapse fuzz. Combining science and art to craft audio effects devices, Whitman Audio aims to transcend the ordinary, believing that magic can occur when the right musician meets the right tool.
Delivering a solution for musicians looking to explore a wide range of sounds, each pedal offers a unique path to finding your own voice. The Decoherence drive injects a universe of unique saturation into your music arsenal while the Wave Collapse fuzz takes you to uncharted sonic territories.
Decoherence features include:
- Cascading stages (Gain A > Gain B) each with a unique sound and saturation character
- Gain A - Medium to high gain stage with a mid focus for clear articulation and punch
- Gain B - Low to Medium gain with a neutral EQ that compliments and expands Gain A
- G/S Toggle - Selects the clipping diodes for Gain B (NOS Germanium or NOS Silicon)
- Tone Knobs (H & L) - Tuned active Baxendall style EQs that boost or cut Highs and Lows
- True bypass switching, accepts standard 9V DC power supplies (does not accept battery)
Introducing: Decoherence Drive -Ā YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.Wave Collapse features include:
- Vintage Silicon transistor fuzz that goes from vintage clean to doom metal mean
- Buffered input and pickup simulation ensure it sounds great anywhere in your chain
- Bias Knob - Allows for a huge range of texture and response in the pedals gain structure
- Range and Mass Toggles - Provide easy access to three diverse bass and gain ranges
- Filter Knob - A simple-to-use tilt EQ enhanced by the Center toggle for two mid responses
- True bypass switching, accepts standard 9V DC power supplies (does not accept battery)
The Decoherence drive and Wave Collapse fuzz pedals carry retail prices of $195.00 each.
For more information, please visit whitmanaudio.com.
Introducing: Wave Collapse Fuzz - YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.In our third installment with Santa Cruz Guitar Company founder Richard Hoover, the master luthier shows PG's John Bohlinger how his team of builders assemble and construct guitars like a chef preparing food pairings. Hoover explains that the finer details like binding, headstock size and shape, internal bracing, and adhesives are critical players in shaping an instrument's sound. Finally, Richard explains how SCGC uses every inch of wood for making acoustic guitars or outside ventures like surfboards and art.
We know Horsegirl as a band of musicians, but their friendships will always come before the music. From left to right: Nora Cheng, drummer Gigi Reece, and Penelope Lowenstein.
The Chicago-via-New York trio of best friends reinterpret the best bits of college-rock and ā90s indie on their new record, Phonetics On and On.
Horsegirl guitarists Nora Cheng and Penelope Lowenstein are back in their hometown of Chicago during winter break from New York University, where they share an apartment with drummer Gigi Reece. Theyāre both in the middle of writing papers. Cheng is working on one about Buckminster Fuller for a city planning class, and Lowenstein is untangling Austrian writer Ingeborg Bachmannās short story, āThree Paths to the Lake.ā
āIt was kind of life-changing, honestly. It changed how I thought about womanhood,ā Lowenstein says over the call, laughing a bit at the gravitas of the statement.
But the moment of levity illuminates the fact that big things are happening in their lives. When they released their debut album, 2022ās Versions of Modern Performance, the three members of Horsegirl were still teenagers in high school. Their new, sophomore record, Phonetics On and On, arrives right in the middle of numerous first experiencesātheir first time living away from home, first loves, first years of their 20s, in university. Horsegirl is going through changes. Lowenstein notes how, through moving to a new city, their friendship has grown, too, into something more familial. They rely on each other more.
āIf the friendship was ever taking a toll because of the band, the friendship would come before the band, without any doubt.āāPenelope Lowenstein
āEveryone's cooking together, you take each other to the doctor,ā Lowenstein says. āYou rely on each other for weird things. I think transitioning from being teenage friends to suddenly working together, touring together, writing together in this really intimate creative relationship, going through sort of an unusual experience together at a young age, and then also starting school togetherāI just feel like it brings this insane intimacy that we work really hard to maintain. And if the friendship was ever taking a toll because of the band, the friendship would come before the band without any doubt.ā
Horsegirl recorded their sophomore LP, Phonetics On and On, at Wilcoās The Loft studio in their hometown, Chicago.
These changes also include subtle and not-so-subtle shifts in their sophisticated and artful guitar-pop. Versions of Modern Performance created a notion of the band as ā90s college-rock torchbearers, with reverb-and-distortion-drenched numbers that recalled Yo La Tengo and the Breeders. Phonetics On and On doesnāt extinguish the flame, but itās markedly more contemporary, sacrificing none of the catchiness but opting for more space, hypnotic guitar lines, and meditative, repeated phrases. Cheng and Lowenstein credit Welsh art-pop wiz Cate Le Bonās presence as producer in the studio as essential to the sonic direction.
āOn the record, I think we were really interested in Young Marble Giantsāsuper minimal, the percussiveness of the guitar, and how you can do so much with so little.āāNora Cheng
āWe had never really let a fourth person into our writing process,ā Cheng says. āI feel like Cate really changed the way we think about how you can compose a song, and built off ideas we were already thinking about, and just created this very comfortable space for experimentation and pushed us. There are so many weird instruments and things that aren't even instruments at [Wilcoās Chicago studio] The Loft. I feel like, definitely on our first record, we were super hesitant to go into territory that wasn't just distorted guitar, bass, and drums.ā
Nora Cheng's Gear
Nora Cheng says that letting a fourth personāWelsh artist Cate Le Bonāinto the trioās songwriting changed how they thought about composition.
Photo by Braden Long
Effects
- EarthQuaker Devices Plumes
- Ibanez Tube Screamer
- TC Electronic Polytune
Picks
- Dunlop Tortex .73 mm
Phonetics On and On introduces warm synths (āJulieā), raw-sounding violin (āIn Twosā), and gamelan tilesācommon in traditional Indonesian musicāto Horsegirlās repertoire, and expands on their already deep quiver of guitar sounds as Cheng and Lowenstein branch into frenetic squonks, warped jangles, and jagged, bare-bones riffs. The result is a collection of songs simultaneously densely textured and spacious.
āI listen to these songs and I feel like it captures the raw, creative energy of being in the studio and being like, āFuck! We just exploded the song. What is about to happen?āā Lowenstein says. āThat feeling is something we didnāt have on the first record because we knew exactly what we wanted to capture and it was the songs we had written in my parentsā basement.ā
Cheng was first introduced to classical guitar as a kid by her dad, who tried to teach her, and then she was subsequently drawn back to rock by bands like Cage The Elephant and Arcade Fire. Lowenstein started playing at age 6, which covers most of her life memories and comprises a large part of her identity. āIt made me feel really powerful as a young girl to know that I was a very proficient guitarist,ā she says. The shreddy playing of Television, Pink Floydās spacey guitar solos, and Yo La Tengoās Ira Kaplan were all integral to her as Horsegirl began.
Penelope Lowenstein's Gear
Penelope Lowenstein likes looking back at the versions of herself that made older records.
Photo by Braden Long
Effects
- EarthQuaker Westwood
- EarthQuaker Bellows
- TC Electronic PolyTune
Picks
- Dunlop Tortex 1.0 mm
Recently, the two of them have found themselves influenced by guitarists both related and unrelated to the type of tunes theyāre trading in on their new album. Lowenstein got into Brazilian guitar during the pandemic and has recently been āin a Jim OāRourke, John Fahey zone.ā
āThereās something about listening to that music where you realize, about the guitar, that you can just compose an entire orchestra on one instrument,ā Lowenstein says. āAnd hearing what the bass in those guitar parts is doingāas in, the E stringāis kind of mind blowing.ā
āOn the record, I think we were really interested in Young Marble Giantsāsuper minimal, the percussiveness of the guitar, and how you can do so much with so little,ā Cheng adds. āAnd also Lizzy Mercier [Descloux], mostly on the Rosa Yemen records. That guitar playing I feel was very inspiring for the anti-solo, [a technique] which appears on [Phonetics On and On].āThis flurry of focused discovery gives the impression that Cheng and Lowensteinās sensibilities are shifting day-to-day, buoyed by the incredible expansion of creative possibilities that setting oneās life to revolve around music can afford. And, of course, the energy and exponential growth of youth. Horsegirl has already clocked major stylistic shifts in their brief lifespan, and itās exciting to have such a clear glimpse of evolution in artists who are, likely and hopefully, just beginning a long journey together.
āThereās something about listening to that music where you realize, about the guitar, that you can just compose an entire orchestra on one instrument.āāPenelope Lowenstein
āIn your 20s, life moves so fast,ā Lowenstein says. āSo much changes from the time of recording something to releasing something that even that process is so strange. You recognize yourself, and you also kind of sympathize with yourself. It's a really rewarding way of life, I think, for musicians, and it's cool that we have our teenage years captured like that, tooāon and on until we're old women.ā
YouTube It
Last summer, Horsegirl gathered at a Chicago studio space to record a sun-soaked set of new and old tunes.
Featuring torrefied solid Sitka Spruce tops, mahogany neck, back, and sides, and Fishman Presys VT EQ System, these guitars are designed to deliver quality tone and playability at an affordable price point.
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