Zakk Wylde recently shared an inside look at how Black Label Society crafted their upcoming studio album, Engines Of Demolition. The highly anticipated record is officially scheduled to drop on March 27 through MNRK Heavy.
Serving as the direct follow-up to 2021’s Doom Crew Inc., the new 15-track collection includes the previously released singles “Name In Blood“, “Broken And Blind“, “The Gallows“, and “Lord Humungus“. The album also features a special track titled “Ozzy’s Song“, which serves as a heartfelt tribute to the legendary Black Sabbath singer and his longtime friend, Ozzy Osbourne.
Sitting down for a recent chat on the “Get On The Bus” podcast, Wylde explained the initial timeline and how he prepares before the rest of the band arrives at his home recording studio.
“ We started working on it, actually — what was it? 2022, ’23? So we started working on it. ‘Cause usually when we get together for the big Black Label powwow, when we’re gonna do one of these records, Barb [Zakk‘s wife Barbaranne] will tell me, ‘Babe, the fellas are gonna come out in about a month.’ So, I got a month to come up with ideas. So, it’s just, like, you sit around, every day go in the gym where I got my little practice amp and just start coming up with riffs until you get something you like. And then when the fellas get out to [Zakk‘s home studio] the Black Vatican, when we’re gonna record, the guys will be out there for about a week or so.”
Even with a solid month of preparation, the guitarist admitted that some of the strongest material is born purely out of spontaneous studio jams.
“Once you start recording and it’s just an implosion of ideas and you’re getting inspired, you never know [what you’ll end up with]… ‘Cause you might come up with your best songs [in the studio]. These songs didn’t even exist until we got to the studio and you’re jamming on something … So if you get inspired, you can’t stop that.”
Breaking down his modern workflow, Zakk contrasted his current highly structured recording approach with how the group used to operate in their earlier days, highlighting the crucial role of their engineer, Adam Fuller.
“Back in the day, you’d record and everybody had to know the songs or whatever, but now I’ll just write the song. ‘Cause usually when I write, I write from the beginning, the middle, the end — I’ll just write it all in one shot when I’m sitting down. So now we’ll just go in the Vatican, and Adam Fuller — Adam makes the records with us, engineering and everything like that. I’ll just put it up to a click track… I’ll just start it with the intro and then we’ll go here. Then I’ll start with the main riff or whatever, and then this will be the chorus, then this will be the bridge, the breakdown. So it’s all on a click track. And then I’ll double the guitar. So it’s basically finished. It’s basically all drawn, but when the fellas come out, they could see it and go, ‘All right, we’ll just color it in.’ So it’s all done.”
When it comes to the actual composition of the tracks, he confirmed that the musical foundation always dictates the vocal melodies, leaving the lyrical content for the very end of the process.
“Usually the riffs are always — it inspires you to sing something over it,” Zakk explained. “And then for me, lyrics are always last. Once I figure out what I wanna sing about, then I’ll either sit in a truck and just crank it and sit there and think. But once I figure out what I wanna sing about, then the lyrics will just come out.”
To support the release of the new album, Black Label Society is currently on an extensive North American headline tour. In a unique twist celebrating the guitarist’s expansive career, his Black Sabbath tribute band, Zakk Sabbath, is serving as the opening act on select dates, pulling double duty for the guitar icon.
Engines of Demolition Official Tracklist:
- “Name in Blood”
- “Gatherer of Souls”
- “The Hand of Tomorrows Grave”
- “Better Days & Wiser Times”
- “Broken and Blind”
- “The Gallows”
- “Above & Below”
- “Back to Me”
- “Lord Humungus”
- “Pedal to the Floor”
- “Broken Pieces”
- “The Stranger”
- “Ozzy’s Song”
- “Name in Blood (Unblackened)”
- “Lord Humungus (Unblackened)”
Black Label Society Spring 2026 Tour Dates:
- Feb 27 – San Antonio, TX – Boeing Center at Tech Port
- Feb 28 – Dallas, TX – The Bomb Factory
- Mar 01 – Oklahoma City, OK – Diamond Ballroom
- Mar 03 – Chesterfield, MO – The Factory at the District
- Mar 04 – North Kansas City, MO – VooDoo at Harrah’s Kansas City
- Mar 06 – Denver, CO – Mission Ballroom
- Mar 07 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Union Event Center
- Mar 09 – Albuquerque, NM – Revel Entertainment Center
- Mar 10 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre
- Mar 12 – Funner, CA – Harrah’s Resort Southern California
- Mar 13 – Inglewood, CA – YouTube Theater
- Mar 14 – San Francisco, CA – The Warfield
- Mar 16 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre
- Mar 17 – Vancouver, BC – Orpheum Theater
- Mar 19 – Calgary, AB – Grey Eagle Event Centre
- Mar 21 – Edmonton, AB – Midway Music Hall
- Mar 23 – Winnipeg, MB – Burton Cummings Theatre
- Mar 25 – Prior Lake, MN – Mystic Lake Casino
- Mar 27 – Madison, WI – The Sylvee
- Mar 28 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit
- Mar 29 – Toronto, ON – Queen Elizabeth Theatre
- Mar 31 – Montreal, QC – MTELUS
- Apr 02 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena
- Apr 03 – Montclair, NJ – The Wellmont Theater
- Apr 04 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway
- Apr 06 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore Philadelphia
- Apr 07 – Norfolk, VA – The NorVa
- Apr 09 – Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle
- Apr 10 – Charlotte, NC – The Fillmore Charlotte
- May 10 – North Myrtle Beach, SC – House of Blues
- May 11 – Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore Silver Spring
- May 12 – Salem, VA – Salem Civic Center
- May 14 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
