Firewind guitarist / founder and sometime Ozzy Osbourne axeman Gus G. is featured in a new interview with TrueMetal.it. During the conversation he discusses his new solo album, Fearless, and his time working with Ozzy. Gus has since be replaced in Ozzy's band by Zakk Wylde, whom he originally replaced for Ozzy's Scream album in 2010. An excerpt from the interview is available below.

Q: I read some comments on the video of "Mr. Manson" where people were saying that it sounds like you wrote that song for Ozzy, and I must say I agree; is it what actually happened with that song?

Gus: "The original idea was, yeah, was to give it to Ozzy. I had the main riff which was very Sabbath, very 'N.I.B.' style. Yeah, I wrote it originally with the intention of showing it to him, but obviously nothing came out of that. I had this, and a couple of other riffs actually, on my hard drive for years, just sitting there; I sent it to Dennis and I said, 'Hey listen, this is what happened, I have this,' I think he was just inspired by that and he wrote the lyrics to 'Mr. Manson'."

Q: Talking about Ozzy, a year ago it was announced that Zakk Wylde was back with him, what was your reaction when you heard the news? Was it in any way a relief that you could now focus fully on Firewind and on your solo career?

Gus: "I cried myself to sleep for two months (laughs). Honestly it was a little bit of a relief, yeah, because I was just kind of tired of waiting around for all these years, not hearing anything. Of course he was very busy with Black Sabbath, I understand that, but then there was that in between of all that there were these one-off shows popping up and I had to make myself available for all that, but there was never any…I felt like there was no…I didn’t see stuff coming up for the future, you know? So, as much as I love being in that band and working with him, in a way it was a little bit of a dead end for me, speaking personally; of course now he’s gonna go on a big tour again, do his farewell thing and…that’s great for him, but it wasn’t a creative thing for me, so…"

Q: You anticipated my next question: prior to that news you hadn't been very active recently with him because of the Black Sabbath tour; how did that work? He told you, "I'll be busy for 4-5 months now, do whatever you want"?

Gus: "No, obviously the tour was announced, so…but no, there was never any definite announcement like, 'Hey guys, I’m gonna see you next year' or something, it was always like 'We’ll see what happens.' That’s a bit of uncertainty right there, and of course I have my own band, I had stuff to do, but I could never really book stuff too far ahead into the future just in case something came up. It was really hard to get some info at some point…anyways, you know, that’s how it is, that was the situation so, yeah, like I said in a way it was a relief because now I can totally control what I’m gonna be doing, and that’s a much nicer feeling."

Read the complete interview here.

Gus G. has released a video for "Fearless", the title track of his new solo album, out now. Watch the new video below, and order the album at this location.

Fearless is the successor to 2015’s Brand New Revolution and marks the Firewind mastermind’s first release since exiting Ozzy Osbourne’s band in 2017. On Fearless, Gus joins forces with vocalist/bassist Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69, Unisonic) and drummer Will Hunt (Evanescence, Black Label Society).

“Dennis and I have collaborated very closely for a number years, he produced the current Firewind album Immortals, among other things. We’re on the same musical wavelength and simply continued our cooperation after the Firewind production,” Gus describes his relationship with the multitalented German-American. “I sent him demos of and ideas for my new songs and once we had enough material and started to think about vocalists, Dennis suggested recording the album as a trio. A lot of people don’t realise that Dennis is not only a brilliant songwriter, bassist and producer, but also an excellent singer. I immediately liked his suggestion because this would be very different from everything else I’ve done before.”

It was only a short step from the enlistment of drummer Will Hunt. Gus: “Will was at the very top of my wish list. Fate smiled on me because we played at the Frankfurt music fair 2017 during my tour with Steve Stevens, and Will stayed at the same hotel. So I approached him, we talked for a while and he agreed. Last August he came to the studio and recorded the drum parts for the whole album within two and a half days. A real pro with a great groove and an awesome punch.”

Which applies not only to Hunt and Ward, but of course also to Gus G. himself, who once again proves to be a phenomenal guitarist on Fearless, presenting technical skills which exclude all possibility of doubt and a compositional talent that allows his fellow musicians to shine.

Hard-as-nails metal tracks such as the opener "Letting Go’, "Mr Manson", which is driven by a dark bass/guitar riff, and the subsequent melodic "Don't Tread On Me" immediately propel the new album into the desired direction. At the same time, the three instrumental songs give listeners an idea of the outstanding talent of the 37-year-old.

“A lot of fans have asked me to record more instrumental tracks. Voilà, here they are,” grins Gus. Last but not least, the successful cover versions of the Dire Straits classic "Money For Nothing", which surprises with an unusual change of key after the noteworthy intro, deserves a mention. But it’s certainly not the only surprise that this amazing album holds in store.

Tracklisting:

"Letting Go"
"Mr Manson"
"Don't Tread On Me"
"Fearless"
"Nothing To Say"
"Money For Nothing"
"Chances"
"Thrill Of The Chase"
"Big City"
"Last Of My Kind"

Bonus tracks on digipak/vinyl:

"Little Ain't Enough"
"Aftermath"

"Fearless" video:

"Letting Go" video:

Track-by-track video:

Live dates:

May
8 - Hamburg - Knust
9 - Aschaffenburg - Colos-Saal
10 - Munchen - Backstage
11 - Essen - Turock

Lineup:

Gus G. (Guitar)
Dennis Ward (Vocals/Bass)
Will Hunt (Drums)