Ozzy Osbourne Talks New Album 'Scream,' Ozzfest and Biopic

Ozzy Osbourne may rest, but he doesn't quit. On June 22, the heavy metal godfather will release 'Scream,' his first album since 2007's 'Black Rain' and his tenth studio album overall.

"I kind of took it easy for the last couple years," said Osbourne from atop a throne at Toronto's regal Casa Loma, a setting fit for the Prince of Darkness. "I have a love/hate relationship with touring. When I'm on the road I want to be at home and when I'm at home I want to be on the road. I'm ready to get back into it now."

In Toronto for a press conference and listening party for his new album 'Scream,' Osbourne fielded questions from fans and local media and previewed the tracks, 'Let Me Hear You Scream,' 'Let It Die,' and 'Soul Sucker.' The songs hit with a heavier energy than most of his most recent output, but include a noticeable absence: the guitar work of longtime collaborator Zakk Wylde.

"I want to make one thing clear," Osbourne stressed. "Zakk Wylde and I are not at war. We haven't fallen out. He's got his own band, Black Label Society, and it was time for me to get a permanent replacement. Zakk is more than music with me. He's part of my family and I'm part of his. I'm the godfather to his son."

Although 'Scream' will be his first album without Wylde since 1988, Osbourne is optimistic about his replacement, Firewind guitarist Gus G.

"He's a great player. He's one of those guys, he plays the songs as they're written and he plays them with ease. I'm not comparing him to Zakk and I'm not comparing him to all the other guitar players [I've worked with], but I've got high hopes for him."

In addition to the new album, Osbourne will soon re-release his legendary first two solo albums 'Blizzard of Ozz' and 'Diary of a Madman' and resume his place as the headliner of his namesake festival, the resurrected Ozzfest. To top it all off, his life story will eventually become the subject of a motion picture, which, despite Osbourne's tongue-in-cheek assertion that it will be Denzel Washington, has yet to find a star.

"Actually, I don't really want to get an American," he said. "Americans don't do a very good English accent."

This is a far cry from earlier rumours that placed Johnny Depp in the lead role, but Ozzy's wife Sharon Osbourne has an explanation: "We had a meeting with Johnny about playing Ozzy six years ago and the next day Ozzy was in intensive care, so that didn't go anywhere. When you see famous people playing other famous people, you still think of them as who they are. I think it should be somebody totally unknown."

But if you think a biopic signals an end to Ozzy's career, think again.

"By all accounts I should have been dead a long time ago," he says. "Fortunately enough for me, I've survived. I can't take too much for granted any more. Who wants to retire on life?"