Page 18 - RockRevoltMagazine-Fall2016

Gone but not forgotten
You cut me down just to watch me bleed
Hey, Zakk. How are you?
I’m doing good, brother. Just sitting in
the gym right now waiting for this hot
rockin’ call. I gotta stay sexy at all times,
you know?
I gave you the last word
And that’s the last thing you’ll take from me
I’ve always done my mellow thing on the
Black Label albums anyway. The whole
thing with the “Book of Shadows” is that
it’s mellow from beginning to end – if you
want to chill out, just put this thing on.
At this point, Zakk, you’re probably just as
well known for the mellow material just as
much as the heavy stuff. As you mentioned,
you’ve been sprinkling the mellow material
into Black Label Society all these years.
What’s it like for you writing the softer fare
– is it a different mindset for you going into
a project like this?
Not really. It’s like, I love Zeppelin when
they do “Whole Lotta Love,” and I love it
when they do “Thank You.” I love when
they do “Black Dog” as much as “Going to
California.” The heavy stuff is super-fun,
too. I love it all – I love playing piano just
as much as I love playing the guitar, and
stuff like that. Playing the piano puts you
that didn’t sound good enough. We were
like, “Let’s make it 20.” Because, the only
other guy that could probably go 20 years
I hear you (laughs). So, I have to ask you – without making another record would
be Richard Branson. So, regardless of
it’s been 20 years now since the first “Book of whether people didn’t like the record, or
Shadows” record. What made now the right they think it’s the best record since sliced
time to put out a follow-up to the first one? bread, the thing is – we now own that
record (20 years). You’ve gotta have goals
My whole thing was, it took Guns ‘n Roses (laughs), and you’ve gotta have a reason
Chinese Democracy 15 years to make. At to get out of bed.
that point, we were like, “We have to put The thing is, if somebody hadn’t
out this record.” When it got to 16 years, mentioned we were coming up on the
20-year anniversary, we would have made
another Black Label album or something.
I really couldn’t believe it had been almost
20 years. While I was knocking around
doing whatever crusade we were doing,
like the “Catacombs of the Black Vatican”
crusade or whatever, the Black Label
family in whatever town we were in would
ask me, “Are you ever going to do another
one of those “Book of Shadows” albums,
because I really dig the mellow stuff? I
was like, “Maybe if I get around to it, in
between changing diapers, world peace,
and curing syphilis and gonorrhea.” I
feel like I could knock that out before
brunch. We’ve been rolling, doing Black
Label since 1998, so it’s not like we’re
sitting around for the last 20 years, and
in a different mood; it’s a different color, a
different flavor of food. Instead of eating
the same thing all the time, I’d rather go
to an ass-kicking deli.
I’m listening to this record, and I love the
range of emotion on here; whether it be
the passage of life in “Autumn Changes,”
or the fighting through the tough times
in “Darkest Hour.” Where do you find the
inspiration for a lot of this stuff? Is there
any particular place that’s a hotbed of
inspiration for you?
It’s funny, I was talking to a guy who said,
“Well, I don’t know how to write songs.”
He could play, but he was talking about
writing songs. I said, “What do you mean
you can’t write a song?” “Knocking On
Heaven’s Door” is three chords – great
lyrics and a killer melody. As far as the
lyrics, it’s just like with anything. Like in
bodybuilding; you’re not going to start off