SO I GUESS GUS G. DIDN’T DO MUCH WRITING FOR SCREAM AFTER ALL

We’ve been wondering for a long time if Gus G. was actually gonna get to write anything for Ozzy Osbourne’s new offering, Scream, or if he was basically just a session player; we knew he came in fairly late in the process since Zakk Wylde had already done a bunch of recording for the album, but we hoped against hope that Gus would actually get to do something a little more substantial. The problem with the last however many Ozzy albums has been lackluster songwriting, and that hasn’t really been a problem for Firewind; it seemed like Gus could be just the shot of adrenaline Ozzy needed to pull a Megadeth and remind us all why we ever loved him so much in the first place.

But now Blabbermouth is exclusively hosting an EPK (that’s “electronic press kit,” in case ya don’t know) for Scream, and it contains the following quote regarding the song “Soul Sucker” from producer Kevin Churko:

“‘Soul Sucker’ was one that just really took off when that riff first started happening… then you know. You know, the heaviness of it, the tempo of it, the grindiness of it. But it really also started to happen when Gus, when Gus G. came in and started playing that riff.”

Now, unless I’m completely misinterpreting that statement, it sounds like Gus had nothing to do with the writing of that song. And while it’s not fair to therefore assume he had nothing to do with the writing of the rest of the album… I’m going to go ahead and assume he had nothing to do with the writing of the rest of the album.

Which is, for all the aforementioned reasons, a major, major bummer.

Of course, it’s entirely possible that Scream is still going to be good. I want it to be. I guess we’ll find out when Epic releases it June 22.

In the meantime, go here to watch the EPK in question.

-AR