BLACK SABBATH continue to roll out new music while they are out on the road – the latest airing of a 13 album track is the bonus tune ‘Methademic’, which can be heard live from Melbourne, Australia at Rod Laver Arena:
Black Sabbath’s first album in 35 years to feature singer Ozzy Osbourne, bassist Geezer Butler, and guitarist Tony Iommi (along with RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE drummer Brad Wilk) was recorded primarily in Los Angeles and was produced by Rick Rubin (SLAYER, METALLICA). The album will be released by Vertigo (worldwide) and Vertigo/Republic in North America on June 13th.
Black Sabbath’s new single, ‘God Is Dead?’, can be heard streaming below:
STONE SOUR performed a cover of the BLACK SABBATH classic “Children Of The Grave” for the first time this past Wednesday, April 24 at Marathon Music Works in Nashville, Tennessee during the “Road To The Golden Gods” tour. Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen below.
“House Of Gold & Bones – Part 2″, the second part of STONE SOUR‘s two-album series, “House of Gold & Bones”, sold 35,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 10 on The Billboard 200 chart. The record arrived in stores on April 9 via Roadrunner
The “House Of Gold & Bones” albums were recorded at Sound Farm Studios just outside of the band’s native Des Moines, Iowa with producer David Bottrill (TOOL, MUSE) at the helm.
STONE SOUR has issued a new music video for “Do Me A Favor”, the first official single from “House Of Gold & Bones – Part 2″. A four-issue comic book series adapted from singer Corey Taylor‘s story is coming out this spring, with the first issue arriving on shelves on April 17.
The official synopsis for the comic book reads, “Trapped in an alternate reality, the Human must make his way to the House of Gold & Bones as he is chased by a crazed mob and taunted by mysterious ally Allen. What the Human discovers on his journey will be his salvation . . . or his destruction.”
The second issue of the comic will arrive on May 22.
Following the overwhelming response to the initial announcement of just four tour dates, BLACK SABBATH has now confirmed a full 20-city North American trek. Launching July 25 in Houston, Texas, the tour will include shows in Philadelphia, Boston, Tinley Park (Chicago), San Francisco and other major markets, along with the previously announced stops in Holmdel, New Jersey (NY-area), Los Angeles, Seattle and Toronto.
Tickets for the newly announced dates will go on sale starting Friday, May 3 at LiveNation.com and Ticketmaster.com. Beginning today, fans can visit this location to RSVP for early access to presale tickets available Thursday, May 2. VIP Packages are also available at VIPNation.com.
The details are as follows:
Jul. 25 – Houston, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Jul. 27 – Austin, TX @ Frank Erwin Center
Jul. 29 – Tampa, FL @ Live Nation Amphitheatre
Jul. 31 – W. Palm Beach, FL @ Cruzan Amphitheatre
Aug. 02 – Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
Aug. 04 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
Aug. 06 – Detroit, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
Aug. 08 – Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
Aug. 10 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
Aug. 12 – Boston, MA @ Comcast Center
Aug. 14 – Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
Aug. 16 – Tinley Park, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
Aug. 18 – Indianapolis, IN @ Klipsch Music Center
Aug. 22 – Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
Aug. 24 – Seattle, WA @ Gorge Amphitheatre
Aug. 26 – San Francisco, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View
Aug. 28 – Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Aug. 30 – Phoenix, AZ @ US Airways Center
Sep. 01 – Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena
Sep. 03 – Los Angeles, CA @ Los Angeles Sports Arena
The members of BLACK SABBATH were interviewed earlier in the month by new Fuse correspondent Jack Osbourne, who, of course, had an inside advantage in landing the interview thanks to being singer Ozzy Osbourne‘s son. Ozzy, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler made a surprise appearance that evening at a Los Angeles listening party for “13″, where Jack asked if there was any nervousness about making a record together after 35 years.
His father replied, “The pressure was on us, because it had been so long since we’d worked together . . . it’s like now or never. This album, for me, was probably the most important of my career.”
Iommi discussed the writing process for the disc, saying, “I had a bunch of riffs on CDs and played it to everybody, and then everybody decided, ‘We like this one’ or ‘We don’t like that,’ and the ones we liked, we started work on them.”
The band was also asked about working with producer Rick Rubin, who has a reputation for actually not showing up very often to the sessions he is getting paid to “produce.” Iommi said, “It was funny at first, because coming to rehearsals, when we were actually writing the songs, he’d come down for like, five or ten minutes and then go. Then he’d go, ‘Call me when you’ve got another one.’ So it was really strange. We’d never worked with anybody like that before.”
“13″ comes out on June 11 and is the first SABBATH album to feature Ozzy, Iommi and Butler together since 1978′s “Never Say Die!”Brad Wilk of RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE provided drum tracks in lieu of original drummer Bill Ward.
SABBATH will make a rare TV appearance to perform a new song called “End Of The Beginning” on the season finale of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”. The episode is set to air on Wednesday, May 15 at 10:00 p.m. ET on CBS.
In a new interview with Artisan News, BLACK SABBATH‘s Tony Iommi talks tour setlist upon announcement of their North American shows and Ozzy Osbourne talks about the lure of substance abuse in rock and roll as he admitted he relapsed into addiction for the last 18 months.
Black Sabbath’s new single, ‘God Is Dead?’, can be heard streaming below. The track can be found on their upcoming album 13, Black Sabbath’s first album in 35 years to feature singer Ozzy Osbourne, bassist Geeezer Butler, and guitarist Tony Iommi. RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE drummer Brad Wilk replaces Bill Ward behind the kit for 13.
Expand your Sabbath collection! We’re giving away 4 signed books. Enter for a chance to have a copy of “Iron Man” autographed by Tony Iommi on your shelf: http://bitly.com/BlackSabbathMailingList
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The members of BLACK SABBATH took part in a press conference on Thursday (April 18) at The Langham Hotel in Auckland, New Zealand as they prepared for their two shows this weekend (Saturday, April 20 and Monday, April 22) at The Vector Arena. SABBATH‘s record company, Universal, invited a select group of music fans to get a first listen to the band’s upcoming album, “13″, and singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler were also on hand for a brief question-and-answer session after the playback had ended.
Radio New Zealand has uploaded an audio recording of the press conference at this location (Windows Media Player required).
According to The New Zealand Herald, Universal issued a request to media to refrain from any questions about Osbourne‘s personal life — specifically his rumored split with wife Sharon and being back on the booze and drugs — or risk being removed from the press conference. Ozzy did, however, joke about using cocaine during the recording of “13″. He also responded to a question about whether he was “okay” — in reference to his personal life and his admission on Facebook this week that he had been taking drugs and drinking after years of sobriety — by saying, “Okay with what? Life? I’m still breathing.”
Regarding “13″, the first SABBATH album to feature Ozzy, Iommi and Butler together since 1978′s “Never Say Die!”, after which Osbourne was fired because of his drug and alcohol use, Ozzy said, “I always felt like there was unfinished business, so to do this album is great. It’s rounded it off all very nicely.”
The first single from “13″, began streaming online Thursday and arrived at rock radio stations on Friday (April 19). The song, called “God Is Dead?”, is nearly nine minutes long and begins with a soft guitar, builds into a slow, doom-laden stomp, then switches halfway through into a more uptempo riff that comes the closest to the sound of the classic early SABBATH albums.
The Rick Rubin-produced “13″ comes out on June 11.
Brad Wilk of RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE provided drum tracks in lieu of original drummer Bill Ward.
SABBATH will also make a rare TV appearance to perform a new song called “End Of The Beginning” on the season finale of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”. The episode is set to air on Wednesday, May 15 at 10:00 p.m. ET on CBS.
Video below: BLACK SABBATH performing live on April 20 in Auckland, New Zealand
As reported earlier, BLACK SABBATH kicked off their 2013 reunion tour last night (April 19th) at the Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. Frontman Ozzy Osbourne, bassist Geezer Butler, guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Tommy Clufetos (OZZY OSBOURNE) stormed through a set of classic material and played two songs from the new album, 13: ‘End Of The Beginning’ and the first single ‘God Is Dead?’.
We’ve already heard ‘God Is Dead?’, but click below to hear the live version of ‘End Of The Beginning’:
Heavy metal icons BLACK SABBATH kicked off their 2013 reunion tour last night (April 19th) at the Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand.
Frontman Ozzy Osbourne, bassist Geezer Butler, guitarist Tony Iommi and RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE drummer Brad Wilk stormed through a set of classic material and played two songs from the new album, 13: ‘End Of The Beginning’ and the first single ‘God Is Dead?’.
According to Setlist.fm, Sabbath performed the following setlist:
‘War Pigs’
‘Into The Void’
‘Under the Sun’
‘Snowblind’
‘Electric Funeral’
‘Black Sabbath’
‘Behind The Wall Of Sleep’
‘N.I.B.’
‘End Of The Beginning’
‘Fairies Wear Boots’
‘Symptom Of The Universe’
Drum Solo
‘Iron Man’
‘God Is Dead?’
‘Dirty Women’
‘Children Of The Grave’
BLACK SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne spoke to BBC Radio 1‘s Zane Lowe on Thursday April 18, about the making of the band’s new album, “13″ — the first in 35 years to feature bassist Geeezer Butler, guitarist Tony Iommi and Ozzy. You can now listen to the chat for the next six days at BBC.co.uk (skip to 44-minute mark). A couple of excerpts follow below (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).
On the making of “13″:
Ozzy: “It’s pretty nerve racking, after so long, to go into a studio… I haven’t been in the studio with [the other members of BLACK SABBATH] in 35 years.
“When we first started writing the stuff, it came together relatively easy. Without trying, it just flowed out of us. In actual fact, we wrote and recorded 16 songs, so there’s another eight songs left over [to be used as] bonuses and things. We could have done a double album. And they’re all good songs; they all stand up, you know.
“Rick Rubin did a great job producing it… He wanted to go right back to the basics, when we did our first album. He was asking us questions about, ‘When you did this track, did you have this and that?’
“With today’s technology, you can sound like anybody. But what Rick Rubin did was he didn’t overdub everything, he didn’t make everything over the top, he just kept it like it was a live album. We were in the studio and we all recorded live. We would do a track a day and he knew when he had [a good take]. He wouldn’t tell us. He would say, ‘Try again. Try again’ Just in case we’d get one better than the one he thought he had. And I was singing along with it.
“You’ll notice on the album that I’m not singing in a range that I can’t sing live. Like in the old days, I used [studio] trickery — I’d do a verse and then I’d take a break, then do a chorus — and when it was all mixed together, I couldn’t do it live. And I could do every one of these tracks live on stage. [But Rubin] had me sing it in a range that was comfortable to sing.
“When I was doing my vocals, I was, some days, singing for four or five hours without a break, and it was great fun. People say, ‘So what? You’re a singer. But you go to your football or soccer game and you scream for five hours, anybody would be hoarse by the end of it. But I was fine with it, you know.”
On why now was the right time for BLACK SABBATH to record a new album:
Ozzy: “People, over the years, have been saying to me, ‘Will SABBATH do another album?’ I mean, we tried before, without any joy. Eventually, we got it together, you know. It’s really exciting.
“We tried it, like, ten years ago, but for some reason, it didn’t quite work. We tried going to the same places where we used to go and write in the old days. But it wasn’t the place; it was just that our heads weren’t in the same place, in the right place to write stuff. But this time, it was as if we all thought, ‘Well, it’s either now or ever. We’re have a real good go at doing it.’ We knew we haven’t got another ten years to wait, ’cause we’re all in our 60s now, and if we wait another ten years, we [may not] be around. Not only that; Tony Iommi was battling cancer — he had lymphoma — and I thought when that came around, ‘Here we go. Typical BLACK SABBATH.’ He was a hero. He just came every day. Not only was he in treatment for lymphoma, he was writing great stuff as well. It was unbelievable. We were all shocked that he could do it. We all thought, ‘That’s it. He’s gone.’ But he marched through it.
“It was a lot of fun. I’m really excited to see what people think about it. The people that have heard the album are really raving about it. Which is really interesting, because… It’s just that… we finally did it, you know.
On the album’s first single, “God Is Dead?”:
Ozzy: “How I got that title, I was at somebody’s office and there was a magazine on the table and it just said the words ‘God Is Dead.’ And I suddenly thought, with 9/11 and all these terrorist things in the name of religion and how many people have died [because of] religion, when you think about the tragedy that’s happened throughout time, it just came in me head. You would think by now their God would stop people [from] dying in the name of. So I just thought, people must think there ain’t no God, God is dead. And it just hit me. And I just started singing ‘God is dead’ [when I was laying down] rough vocals [in the studio] and Geezer gave me the lyrics about it. Geezer is the lyricist in BLACK SABBATH; I wrote a few sets of lyrics, but he’s the main lyricist. I come up with the ideas and he fills the blanks in. At the end of the [song], there’s still a bit of hope, because at the end, I sing, ‘I don’t believe that God is dead.’ It’s just a question of when you see something dreadful like people killing each other with bombs and blowing tube trains or the World Trade Center, you think people must go, ‘There is no God.’ [But] it’s a load of B.S., you know.”
On BLACK SABBATH‘s U.K. fans:
Ozzy: “I hope the British fans like it as much as everyone else. I’m sure they will. The tickets went on sale for our English tour, and they sold out in no time, so I’m really excited to come back. You know, England is my home and it’s great to have people in England still interested in us. They’re our No. 1 fans, really.”
The deluxe version of BLACK SABBATH‘s new album, “13″ — the first in 35 years to feature bassist Geeezer Butler, guitarist Tony Iommi and singer Ozzy Osbourne — will include three bonus tracks: “Methademic” (said to be about the scourge of methamphetamine addiction), “Peace Of Mind” and “Pariah”.
“13″ is now available for pre-order on iTunes. If you order either the standard or deluxe editions, you will be able to download the first single, “God Is Dead?” immediately.
“13″ track listing:
01. End Of The Beginning (8:05)
02. God Is Dead? (8:52)
03. Loner (4:59)
04. Zeitgeist (4:37)
05. Age Of Reason (7:01)
06. Live Forever (4:46)
07. Damaged Soul (7:51)
08. Dear Father (7:20)
Deluxe-edition bonus tracks:
09. Methademic (5:57)
10. Peace Of Mind (3:40)
11. Pariah (5:34)
Total running time (with bonus tracks): 68 minutes, 42 seconds
“13″ is due out June 11 on Vertigo/Republic. This marks BLACK SABBATH‘s return to Vertigo, their original label, and the group’s first studio album together since 1978′s “Never Say Die!”
The drum tracks on the album were laid down by RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE sticksman Brad Wilk following original drummer Bill Ward‘s decision to bow out of the reunion.
Ozzy told an Australian radio station that “13″ is “mind-blowing,” adding, “It’s better than my wildest dreams; it’s so good.”
BLACK SABBATH will make a rare television appearance when the band performs a new song on the season finale of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”. The episode is set to air on Wednesday, May 15 at 10:00 p.m. ET on CBS-TV. The band will world premiere a song called “End Of The Beginning” from “13″. The episode’s plot follows the “CSI” team as they investigate a series of murder that resemble the sins in “Dante’s Inferno”, with the trail leading the detectives played by Ted Danson and Marc Vann to attend a SABBATH concert.
