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Sharon Osbourne once joked that Zakk Wylde is “a man who’s wonderfully mediocre at recreating other people’s songs on guitar.” Based on Vertigo, it may have been a warning. Zakk Sabbath’s debut album is a note-for-note recreation of Black Sabbath, celebrating the master-piece’s 50th anniversary. Outright, its existence is pointless, especially since Zakk’s riffs and vocals are so allegiant to those of Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne. Yet, Vertigo remains fun to listen to, in the same way low-budget Star Wars fan films on YouTube are fun to watch. You can feel the passion for the original oozing from every second and there’s something admirable in that. Overall, “wonderfully mediocre” is a scarily accurate summary.

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Prog and Metal Hammer, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Guitar and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.

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