Black Sabbath, who as fans of the band should be aware by now are set to release a new album later this year, has made available the first snippets of new music via a video of producer Rick Rubin discussing the project and showing clips of the band recording the album.
Of course, it is not known whether these snippets made it to the final cut of the album, let alone whether these particular recordings of said cuts are final. There is also, in fairness, not much to be learned from the brief passages that are included as background fodder for the interview segment with Rubin.
However, it is certainly something that many fans of the band are likely to be interested in hearing, as it is not only the first new Black Sabbath album since “Forbidden” in 1995 (excepting the Heaven and Hell album, “The Devil You Know”, from 2009); it is the first new album with original vocalist Ozzy Osbourne in 35 years, since the release of “Never Say Die” in 1978.
The basic tenets of the story are well-worn by now, but go something like this. Following months of rumor and speculation, the original lineup of Black Sabbat—Ozzy, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward—held a press conference on 11/11/11 to announce plans for a new studio album and a world tour.
Soon after, guitarist Tony Iommi was diagnosed with lymphoma, and his gradual recovery from the disease rerailed the band’s plans. Then contract disputes arose with drummer Bill Ward, who ultimately backed out, to be replaced with former Ozzy drummer Tommy Clufetos.
Brad Wilk, the former drummer of Rage Against the Machine, was used as a session drummer for the album recording. Wilk can be seen in the video included with this article (wearing a “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” shirt) playing drums and speaking about the album.
The album, dubbed “13”, is scheduled to be released on June 11th. A litany of format options can be pre-ordered via the band’s website.
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