Madame Ozzy proves that woman’s got the power

When Madonna was chided by some scribes for exuding sexuality after turning 64 in August, Paulette Kasal, aka Madame Ozzy, bristled.

“That was ridiculous since it’s a double standard in our society,” Kasal said while calling from her Los Angeles home. “If a 64-year-old man has a child with a 29-year-old woman, that’s just fine, but for Madonna to be sexualized at her age, that’s an issue.

“It’s ridiculous but the music business has been and is such a male-dominated industry.”

Kasal speaks from experience since she belts out Black Sabbath tunes, as well as Ozzy Osbourne tracks, as Madame Ozzy. Kasal, who has been singing songs by her favorite band since 2002, when she formed the all-female Sabbath band, Mistress of Reality, has heard the male cat calls.

“I learned to rise above all of that being in bands with talented chicks, who are playing Sabbath songs instead of guys, who perform with wigs,” Kasal cracked.

Madame Ozzy, which is part of the Night of the Rocking Dead on Sunday at Northern Quest Resort and Casino, which also features a Guns N’ Roses tribute band, Paradise Kitty, and an AC/DC cover act, Thunderstruck.

“It’s an evening of all-female bands,” Kasal said. “We all can rock.”

Playing covers was never Kasal’s dream. The mother of a 10-year-old son who also loves classic metal, crafts original material and is also an in-demand vocal coach.

“Music is my life,” Kasal said. “I get to write my own songs but I’m doing Madame Ozzy and I enjoy it. I never wanted to be in a tribute band but if I was going to be in a tribute band, it would be a Black Sabbath tribute band.

“Sabbath is the godfathers of heavy metal. (Sabbath guitarist) Tony Iommi’s riffs are amazing. (Sabbath bassist) Geezer Butler wrote so much of their material and he was a guitarist who became one of rock’s greatest bassists. Sabbath just hits you with this wall of sound. They are like no other band.”

Sabbath retired from touring in 2017.

“Someone has to keep the sound of Sabbath alive,” Kasal said. “It’s been an honor to play Black Sabbath tunes since Mistress of Reality formed. We were the first all-female Black Sabbath tribute band in the world.”

Kasal has received the thumbs up from the Sabbath camp.

“They’re very well aware of what I do,” Kasal said. “I met (Ozzy Osbourne’s wife) Sharon and gave her some (Madame Ozzy) G-string panties and she loved them. I’ve been able to talk with Ozzy and Tony Iommi. They’re amazing people who wrote and recorded some of the greatest songs of all time.”

“War Pigs,” “Paranoid” and “Diary of a Madman” are some of Kasal’s favorite cuts to perform.

“I think that ‘War Pigs is the national anthem,’ ” Kasal said. “It’s such an amazing song. People don’t understand what it’s about.

“Sabbath pays tribute to veterans. ‘War Pigs’ was written during the Vietnam War. That song is so powerful. The bass line is so epic. Black Sabbath stood for peace and they were always about making the world a better place. So many people miss out on that message and that’s unfortunate.”

Kasal can’t be as outrageous as Osbourne but she’s fine with that limitation.

“I can’t go out and moon the audience like Ozzy liked to do,” Kasal said. “That’s not acceptable for a woman and I wouldn’t want to do that anyway. I’m fine with just being able to present Black Sabbath songs.

“It’s a great gig and I’m looking forward to coming back to Spokane to play these songs. I’ve played the Knitting Factory and I loved it and now I’m coming back to play Spokane on a bill with two other all female bands. It’s going to be amazing.”