All but one of the Black Sabbath songs that roared through the air Tuesday night were written more than 50 years ago. But they certainly didn’t sound dated in Zakk Sabbath’s jam-packed concert in their stop at the Roxian Theatre in McKees Rocks on the Doomed Forever Forever Doomed tour.
Most cover bands don’t come with the pedigree of Zakk Sabbath, notably fronted by singer/guitarist Zakk Wylde, who started this Black Sabbath tribute band in 2014.
The heavily bearded, kilt-wearing Wylde has worked on and off with Ozzy Osbourne since 1987, released 11 studio albums with his band Black Label Society and toured in 2023 for Pantera’s tour celebrating the band’s legacy and the memory of its two late members. Bassist John DeServio — filling in for Rob “Blasko” Nicholson (also a one-time member of Osbourne’s band) — has been in Black Label Society since 2005, while drummer Joey Castillo has played with Queens of the Stone Age, Circle Jerks and Danzig, to name a few.
On Tuesday, Zakk Sabbath took a trek through the early days of Black Sabbath — which featured singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward — with tracks from 1970’s “Black Sabbath” and “Paranoid,” 1971’s “Master of Reality” and 1972’s “Vol. 4” — plus one song from 1975’s “Sabotage. Wylde once called Black Sabbath “the Beatles of heavy metal,” with the concert showcasing the heavy metal pioneers’ legacy, influence and relevance.
Opening with “Supernaut,” Wylde took the first lyric quite literally — “I want to reach out and touch the sky” — throughout the rest of the night, as he strummed and then shot his hand to the air. Wearing a black and gold kilt, he commanded the stage, often stepping onto a raised platform as he channeled Iommi’s timeless riffs with flourishes all his own.
With Wylde playing Pittsburgh for the third time in less than 18 months — first with Black Label Society in August 2022 and Pantera in July 2023 — an opportunity to see the guitarist up close in a smaller venue created an elbow-to-elbow audience, with tempers occasionally flaring as latecomers tried to surge forward. Sometimes menacing or chugging, but always powerful, the music won out, however.
Wylde shredded on extended guitar solos on nearly every song, going behind his head for more than a minute at a time on “Snowblind,” “Into the Void” and “War Pigs.” (Wylde kissed the neck of one of his trademark bull’s-eye guitars after “Into the Void.”)
Other highlights included the roller-coaster pace changes of “Under the Sun,” Castillo’s pounding drums on “Tomorrow’s Dreams” and “Fairies Wear Boots,” which had the crowd singing and clapping along. The punishing riffs of anti-war track “Children of the Grave” sounded as urgent as ever, too.
Two of Black Sabbath’s heaviest hitters — “N.I.B.” and “War Pigs” — closed the show, with Wylde unleashing guitar fireworks on both. On the finale, he ventured into the balcony, while soloing, and played there for a few minutes before ending the solo and the song back on the main stage.
.@ZakkWyldeBLS with one of several melting guitar solos, this time on “War Pigs” in the balcony pic.twitter.com/Ng1J47M5et
— Mike Palm (@MikePalmMedia) January 10, 2024
Zakk Sabbath will release its latest effort, “Doomed Forever Forever Doomed,” on March 1. The double album covers “Paranoid” and “Master of Reality.” Much like their 2020 release of “Vertigo” — which covered Black Sabbath’s self-titled debut — the new album won’t be available for streaming, with the band’s focus solely on physical media, like vinyl, CDs and cassettes.
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Detroit’s The Native Howl opened the show, blending bluegrass with thrash metal — thrashgrass is what they called it — including their latest single, “Can’t Sleep.” They also played what they called the epitome of their style, a mashup of of Metallica’s “Harvester of Sorrow” and the Soggy Bottom Boys’ “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow.”
.@TheNativeHowl opening the night at the @RoxianTheatre ahead of @zakk_sabbath pic.twitter.com/zWSpNqTf8b
— Mike Palm (@MikePalmMedia) January 10, 2024
