Interview: Randy Blythe Dives Into New Book + Ozzy’s Final Show

“I would say the overarching theme of the book is perspective — trying to alter your perspective for the better.”

Lamb of God‘s Randy Blythe joined Loudwire Nights on Tuesday (Feb. 25) to discuss his brand-new book, Just Beyond the Light: Making Peace with the Wars Inside Our Head. Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

The idea of altering your perspective for the better is personal to Blythe and something he hopes his readers pick up on for their own sake.

“It’s no big secret that I’m an alcoholic and that I used to be a train wreck,” Blythe said to host Chuck Armstrong.

“I’ve been sober 14 years now. I was not able to do that by myself. I needed outside help, people who had gone through what I had gone through before.”

The experience of finding outside help for his recovery is part of Just Beyond the Light, not simply as a message of hope to others, but also as a reminder that help — and hope — can often come from places you may not expect.

“I got sober on tour,” he said.

“The people who helped me weren’t like addiction specialists. I didn’t go to some fancy rehab in Malibu and do yoga or any of that shit. I asked a bunch of sweaty, tattooed, grimy guitar techs and musicians because I knew they had experience and they had successfully altered their life for the better — they had altered their perspective.”

Lamb of God Gets Ready For Ozzy Osbourne’s Final Show

In addition to celebrating Just Beyond the Light and a few upcoming live performances for Lamb of God, Blythe and Chuck talked about what it means for Blythe’s band to be part of Back to the Beginning, the final shows of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath.

“That is a big fucking deal,” he said with the utmost confidence and clarity. “Make no doubt about it, it’s a huge fucking deal.”

Blythe recalls getting a message from a friend who told him Tom Morello wanted his phone number. Morello reached out and asked him if Lamb of God would be interested in playing a Black Sabbath song and an original song at Ozzy’s final show with the original lineup of Black Sabbath.

“Let me check with my band real fucking quick,” Blythe said, laughing.

“This is the band that created heavy metal. Every time we’re in Birmingham, England, every single time without fail onstage, I thank them individually. Thank you, Tony Iommi. Thank you, Bill Ward. Thank you, Geezer Butler. Thank you, Ozzy Osbourne, for creating heavy metal and giving me a fucking job.”

Those aren’t mere words to entice a crowd. For Blythe, and for most of his peers, he knows that he will forever be indebted to Ozzy and Sabbath.

READ MORE: Tom Morello Says the ‘Greatest Gift’ He Ever Received From the Music Industry Was Failure

“We certainly wouldn’t be here without Sabbath,” he said.

“No fucking way. None of us would.”

And because of that, for fans who may be critical of Back to the Beginning — whether they think Ozzy should even be doing it or the ticket prices are too high or whatever it might be that irks them — Blythe had a very clear message: “Fuck you. It’s for charity … Ozzy wants to do this shit, dude. He wants to do it. He wants to say goodbye. Let him. Let him.”

What Else Did Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

• What he wants to work on next as a writer: “I want to write fiction. I really do, because I’ve got all these crazy ideas and I’ve thrown a few of them past some pretty respected fiction writers I know and they’re like, that’s a solid idea, you should dip into it.”
• How Lamb of God’s career is part of Black Sabbath’s history: “The last time we played with the original lineup of Sabbath was Ozzfest 2004. That was a big, pivotal sort of thing in our career. Ashes of the Wake came out while we were on that tour. We were one of the non-rotating headliners on the second stage of Ozzfest. It was us and Hatebreed and Slipknot. It was a magic time.”
• What else is on the horizon for Lamb of God: “We’re decompressing a little bit and pulling together and we’ll see what comes.”

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below

Randy Blythe joined Loudwire Nights on Tuesday, Feb. 25; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.