Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde has been making some thunder of his own for the last several years with his band, Black Label Society, and just signed an exclusive deal with Roadrunner Records. On September 12, he and Roadrunner released %Shot to Hell%. This is the most Ozzy-sounding record that Wylde has written for BLS, and it maintains all the crunch and assault that has made BLS’s biker metal sound one of the most unique and original to come along in years.

      Shot to Hell has all the extras that you would want from a great songwriter like Wylde. Melodic, harmony-driven piano parts layered with electric guitar volume swells, big dueling guitar riffs, speed, aggression and powerful lyrics give this release the full-blown texture of an album that is going to shoot BLS to the next level.

      Wylde just finished another summer playing Ozzfest, where he once again did double-duty: playing and headlining the second stage with Black Label Society, and on the days that Ozzy performed, playing a full set with him. I was fortunate enough to get a few moments of time during his busy day for a heart-to-heart discussion about the new BLS CD on the day Ozzy gave the fans a treat at New York’s Randall’s Island show and headlined the second stage in broad daylight. The prince of darkness showed us the light and Zakk Wylde shredded his way through two blistering sets back to back in the summer heat.

     InsideCx: How is the double-duty going?

     ZW: Kick-ass! We get up there with Black Label and knock it out and then back on the bus, have another cold one, and before you know it I’m back out on the stage. It’s pretty damn funny!

     InsideCx: How many shows in total is Ozzy actually going to perform in select cities?

     ZW: Twelve or 13 in total; otherwise, we headline the second stage and it’s off to another Irish tavern.

     InsideCx: It must be nice to headline the second stage with 55 minutes and get more set time.

     ZW: Oh yeah, without a doubt. When you are up there 25 minutes, it’s like we just get warmed up and we are done.

     InsideCx: Last time we spoke you had just signed with Artemis Records and released Mafia. Now you are on Roadrunner. A lot has changed since then. You are also the most branded artist on the scene, with more product endorsements than anyone else.

     ZW: It defiantly kicks ass. The cool thing about it is that everything I’m endorsing I actually use. [laughs] I can’t stand seeing other guys playing that this week and next week they are using something else. Unless you are getting screwed, there is no reason to move on. I’ve been with the same companies forever.

     InsideCx: Every artist likes to think that their newest CD is their best, but in your case you have outdone yourself. What was the vibe like writing this CD?

     ZW: It’s like a box of Crackerjacks: you never know what you are going to get. At the end of the day, it’s all about the tunes. We listen to Zeppelin and Sabbath on the road trips and it depends what kind of mood we are in. Once you get done wailing one of them out, it flows. I just want [it] to be [sonically] huge. We have the whole Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin catalogue out here with us, but we listen to the obscure stuff, not "Paranoid" and other songs that have been pounded into the pavement. I jam everything on the bass, then you are forced to have the right riffs along with it.