Zakk Wylde and his Black Sabbath tribute band Zakk Sabbath have released a cover of Black Sabbath’s eponymous track.
The cover is part of a larger project helmed by Wylde to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Black Sabbath’s self-titled debut. Back in May 2019, Wylde announced that Zakk Sabbath would be “faithfully re-record[ing] the album in the spirit of the original recordings: live in a fully analog studio, direct to two-inch tape, in a single 24-hour period.” The album, titled Vertigo after the label the original was released on, was supposed to be released on February 13, 2020, exactly 50 years from the original’s release date, but was pushed back to September 4.
Wylde started Zakk Sabbath in 2014 with fellow Ozzy Osbourne solo band alum Rob “Blasko” Nicholson on bass and former Queens of the Stone Age member Joey Castillo on drums. Speaking to Rolling Stone, Wylde revealed why he created a Black Sabbath tribute band in the first place:
“If any of the guys in Black Sabbath get a gambling problem and go broke, then this band could actually give them more gambling money. When Black Sabbath went out on ‘The End’ tour, they signed contracts with promoters that they’ll never tour again, so we devised Zakk Sabbath so we could eventually do, ‘Zakk Sabbath, featuring Ozzy Osbourne.’ Then we’ll do, ‘Zakk Sabbath featuring Geezer Butler and Ozzy Osbourne.’ Then we’ll get Tony [Iommi] and Bill [Ward], and it will be ‘Zakk Sabbath featuring the original Black Sabbath,’ and they can go out and tour again, and we’ll be completely out of the band. That way everybody can still pay their light bills or support their gambling problem. [laughs]”
Limited Edition vinyl and CD pressings of ‘Vertigo’ are available for pre-order now. There are no plans to release it digitally as of yet.
In May, Zakk Sabbath announced that they will be appearing on the Rock Legends Cruise IX next year. Scheduled to set sail from Fort Lauderdale, FL on February 18, 2021, the festival at sea heads to Cozumel, Mexico before returning to Florida on February 22.
The very faithful rendition can be streamed below:
