Black Label Society has released a new single, “The Gallows.” The track arrives in the midst of a busy year for band mastermind Zakk Wylde, who has spent the bulk of 2024 on the road with both Pantera and his Black Sabbath tribute, Zakk Sabbath.
You can watch the video for ‘The Gallows’ below.
The song offers a preview of the next album from the band, and it’s a track which roars with the high energy fans have come to expect. “You know, if it needs to be a high caloric burning riff, that’s what it will become, it’s all based on that,” Wylde explains, discussing how “The Gallows” came together. “It’s all based on my powerlifting guru and life coach, Richard Simmons, the legend,” he adds with a humorous tone.
According to the guitarist, fans will have to wait a bit longer for a successor to 2021’s Doom Crew Inc., the most recent Black Label Society album. “I think in 2025, we’re going to be doing [more tour dates] with the Pantera celebration and I’ll be doing some Zakk Sabbath stuff as well,” he tells UCR. “With Black Label, we’re just going to keep writing and recording. Probably in 2026, we’ll put the new album out. But for [next year], it’s pretty much just going to be the Pantera celebration, us touring and doing that, honoring [Dimebag Darrell] and Vinnie [Paul]. I think in between that, we’ll do some Zakk Sabbath shows also.”
READ MORE: How Zakk Wylde’s Guns N’ Roses Jam Inspired Black Label Society Song
With the band celebrating its 25th anniversary, he marvels at how far things have come since his early moments working with Ozzy Osbourne, prior to forming Black Label Society. “It’s so funny, because when I think about the old days when we would track, when I first started with Ozzy, everyone would be in the studio. We’d write and go over these songs like we’re getting ready for a tour,” he recalls. “To me, it just sucks the living life out of them when you have a brand new song. I understand it fully, because it’s studio time, you want to get in there, knock it out and get out of there without being in there for a week to record half a song. But at the same time, the way we make the Black Label [songs], whether it’s “Stillborn,” Suicide Messiah” or the new one, “The Gallows,” I can just be jamming on this riff in my gym on my amp and then just go up to the Vatican [his recording studio] and track it.”
Wylde will return to the stage this weekend, hosting the debut edition of his own Berzerkus festival on Saturday, September 14 at Poconos Park in Bushkill, Pennsylvania. Black Label Society will co-headline the event with country star Cody Jinks. The inaugural run for Berzerkus will also feature performances by Clutch, Rival Sons, Black Stone Cherry and others.
READ MORE: Clutch and Rival Sons Launch Tour
Watch Black Label Society’s Video for ‘The Gallows’
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Gallery Credit: Eduardo Rivadavia