Coming this month in the UK via Plexus Publishing is the new book, Cemetary Gates: Saints & Survivors Of The Heavy-Metal Scene, by Mick O’Shea. The following describes the upcoming illustrated paperback:
Between genius and madness, this world and the next, there’s nothing but the faintest flicker of a pulse and the cemetery gates.
Packed with as many egos as one book can hold, Cemetery Gates is the read that takes you inside the minds of the most twisted icons of heavy metal. Presenting, for their sins, the wild men of metal (many of them hitherto written out of music history): RONNIE JAMES DIO, BON SCOTT, JOHN BONHAM, PETER STEELE, CLIFF BURTON, DIMEBAG DARRELL, PAUL GRAY, LAYNE STALEY, JIMMY ‘THE REV’ SULLIVAN, LEMMY KILMISTER, OZZY OSBOURNE, NIKKI SIXX, DAVE MUSTAINE, AXL ROSE, TRENT REZNOR, SLASH, MARILYN MANSON, VARG VIKERNES, COREY TAYLOR.
Whatever their deadly sin – be it lust, greed, abuse of winged creatures or murder most foul – these prodigiously talented hellraisers have all come dangerously close to the edge. Tragically, not all of them have returned. Between tragic saint and raucous survivor, the line remains perilously thin.
“People ask me how I’m still alive and I don’t know what to say”, Ozzy once shrugged. Cemetery Gates provides the heaviest answer you’ll find this side of heaven.
After a 35-year break, heavy metal veterans BLACK SABBATH are back with a new album, 13, and a reinvigorated OZZY OSBOURNE returned to the helm. Equally exciting, however, was the man twiddling the magic knobs: legendary producer, Rick Rubin.
In the Euronews video below, Rubin explains: “I have been a fan of Black Sabbath my whole life and getting to come to work with them every day, and hearing Black Sabbath play it, stimulates something in me just like when I was 14 years old. The same thing that stimulated me when I was a kid listening to the vinyl. That same thing gets turned on and it’s a really good feeling.”
In other Sabbath news, Paul Lester of The Guardian recently interviewed Ozzy, along with guitarist Tony Iommi, and bassist Geezer Butler; an excerpt follows:
Questioned about faith after being confronted with his own mortality, Iommi says he believes in God. Butler, who still wears a crucifix round his neck, adds: “I do when I’m on a plane – the first thing I do is say my prayers.” As for Osbourne, who came up with the title for new track ‘God Is Dead?’, he is uncertain, even if he does talk with the conviction of a preacher.
“I’ve done a good job of trying to kill myself for 64 years,” he says over the phone from his home in LA. “But something’s kept me alive. I don’t know if it’s God, fate or whatever. I’m open-minded. But I don’t believe in organised religion at all.”
To read the article in its entirety, visit this location.
With the band’s much-anticipated 13 album less than a week away, the entire album is now available as a free stream via iTunes.
Confirmed dates on Black Sabbath’s North American tour (with Ozzy’s drummer Tommy Clufetos behind the kit) are as follows:
July
25 – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion – Houston, Texas
27 – Frank Erwin Center – Austin, Texas
29 – Florida State Fairgrounds – Tampa, Florida
31 – Cruzan Amphitheatre – West Palm Beach, Florida
August
2 – Cruzan Amphitheatre – West Palm Beach, Florida
4 – PNC Bank Arts Center – Holmdel, New Jersey
6 – PNC Bank Arts Center – Holmdel, New Jersey
8 – Mohegan Sun Arena – Uncasville, Connecticut
10 – Wells Fargo Center – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
12 – Comcast Center – Boston, Massachusetts
14 – Air Canada Centre – Toronto, Ontario
16 – First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre – Tinley Park, Illinois
18 – Klipsch Music Center Noblesville – Fishers, Indiana
22 – Rogers Arena – Vancouver, British Columbia
24 – Gorge Amphitheatre – Seattle, Washington
26 – Shoreline Amphitheatre – San Francisco, California
28 – Verizon Wireless Amphitheater – Irvine, California
30 – US Airways Center – Phoenix, Arizona
September
1 – MGM Grand Garden Arena – Las Vegas, Nevada
3 – Memorial Coliseum – Los Angeles, California
“13”, the first BLACK SABBATH record in 35 years to feature singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler all playing together, can be streamed in its entirety on the band’s iTunes page. (Note: If the link leads you to another webpage, make sure to click “Open in iTunes” to hear the stream.) The CD 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!”
Details of the album’s deluxe edition surfaced on April 19, with the band revealing that the eight-song effort will be accompanied by three bonus tracks called “Methademic”, “Peace Of Mind” and “Pariah”.
Several versions of “13” are available for pre-order, including a standard CD, a double CD that includes a second disc of exclusive bonus audio, a heavyweight vinyl album in a gatefold sleeve and a “Super Deluxe Box Set” containing the double CD, the vinyl album, an exclusive DVD documentary on the band’s reunion, 13 photographic prints and hand-written lyrics.
“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
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.
Osbourne went on the BBC in England to discuss the band’s new single, “God Is Dead?” and the inspiration behind the track. Ozzy explained, “I was in somebody’s office and there was a magazine on a table and it just said, ‘God Is Dead’, and I suddenly thought about 9/11 and all these terrorist things and religion and how many people have died in the name of religion. When you think about the tragedy that’s happened throughout time, it just came in my head. You’d think by now that their God would have stopped people dying in the name of, so I just starting thinking that people must be thinking, ‘Where is God? God is dead’ and it just hit me.”
Ozzy added that the question mark at the end of the title is his way of showing that he’s not sure about the answer himself, saying, “At the end of the thing, there’s still a bit of hope because there I sing that I don’t believe that God is dead. It’s just a question of when you see so many dreadful people killing each other with bombs, and blowing the tube trains up and the World Trade Center.”
Ozzy told an Australian radio station that “13” is “mind-blowing,” adding, “It’s better than my wildest dreams; it’s so good.”
SABBATH kicked off its world tour in support of “13” on April 20 in Auckland.
Fan-filmed video footage of BLACK SABBATH‘s entire May 7 performance at Adelaide Entertainment Centre in Adelaide, Australia can be seen below.
The band’s setlist was as follows:
01. War Pigs
02. Into The Void
03. Under The Sun
04. Snowblind
05. Black Sabbath
06. Behind The Wall Of Sleep
07. N.I.B.
08. Fairies Wear Boots
09. Symptom Of The Universe (instrumental)
10. Drum Solo
11. Iron Man
12. God Is Dead?
13. Dirty Women
14. Children Of The Grave
Encore:
15. Paranoid
According to The Pulse Of Radio, BLACK SABBATH frontman Ozzy Osbourne has provided perhaps his most candid comments yet on original drummer Bill Ward‘s decision to back out of the band’s reunion album and tour. In a new interview with Mojo magazine, Ozzy explained, “I guess it’s to do with finances or something. But there was also another side to it. When Bill came along, we all had to ask, ‘Can he do an hour-and-a-half, two-hour gig? Can he cope?’ My suggestion was that we run through a set and see how he got on because he was so out of condition and the drummer is the most demanding job in the whole band. We looked at Bill, and he couldn’t remember what the fuck we were doing.”
Ozzy added that it “would have been cool” for the band to tour with a back-up drummer or just have Ward play a portion of the set, but that Ward “didn’t come clean and say, ‘I can’t cut this gig.'”
Ozzy continued, “I get where he’s coming from, though. His pride was hurt and I get it. I really do get it. The guy will always be a dear, dear friend and a brother to me . . . I’m not gonna give Bill a hatchet job, but at the same time we haven’t got the patience to deal with it.”
Ward was on board for the reunion when it was first announced in November 2011, but backed out soon after, claiming that he was given contractual terms that were not fair.
SABBATH has used Ozzy‘s regular touring drummer Tommy Clufetos since then for live work. RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE‘s Brad Wilk laid down the drum tracks on the band’s upcoming album, “13”, due out June 11.
SABBATH finished the Australian leg of its world tour earlier in the month and played Japan’s first-ever Ozzfest on May 12. A North American trek begins on July 25 in the Woodlands, Texas.
BLACK SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne recently spoke to U.K.’s Metal Hammer magazine about “13”, the first SABBATH record in 35 years to feature Ozzy, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler all playing together.
“I’ve not been this happy about an album in years,” Ozzy said. “I’m not trying to sell my home. If this record was just OK, I’d fucking say it. But honestly, hand on heart, it’s one of the best things I’ve done in my entire life.”
Ozzy also offered some thoughts on the situation surrounding original SABBATH drummer Bill Ward, who backed out of the band’s reunion last year.
“It would have been great to have Bill — all of us said that,” said Ozzy. “But you can’t expect someone of Bill‘s age to be as agile as he used to be. He’s had heart attacks. If he’d turned up and played like he used to, or nearly as well, maybe we’d have worked something out… But we decided that if we were ever going to do this fucking album, you’ve got to be on the case. It got to the point where we said, ‘Are we just going to sit and wait for him to get off his fucking arse or what?’ We had to decide — we couldn’t just keep the fans waiting any fucking longer.”
In a recent interview with Mojo magazine, Ozzy offered more information about the reasons behind SABBATH‘s split with Ward. “I guess it’s to do with finances or something,” he explained. “But there was also another side to it. When Bill came along, we all had to ask, ‘Can he do an hour-and-a-half, two-hour gig? Can he cope?’ My suggestion was that we run through a set and see how he got on because he was so out of condition and the drummer is the most demanding job in the whole band. We looked at Bill, and he couldn’t remember what the fuck we were doing.”
Ozzy added that it “would have been cool” for the band to tour with a back-up drummer or just have Ward play a portion of the set, but that Ward “didn’t come clean and say, ‘I can’t cut this gig.'”
Ozzy continued, “I get where he’s coming from, though. His pride was hurt and I get it. I really do get it. The guy will always be a dear, dear friend and a brother to me . . . I’m not gonna give Bill a hatchet job, but at the same time we haven’t got the patience to deal with it.”
Ward was on board for the reunion when it was first announced in November 2011, but backed out soon after, claiming that he was given contractual terms that were not fair.
SABBATH has used Ozzy‘s regular touring drummer Tommy Clufetos since then for live work. RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE‘s Brad Wilk laid down the drum tracks on “13”, due out June 11.
SABBATH finished the Australian leg of its world tour earlier in the month and played Japan’s first-ever Ozzfest on May 12. A North American trek begins on July 25 in the Woodlands, Texas.
The July 2013 issue of Guitar World features BLACK SABBATH‘s amazing comeback, and Tony Iommi opens up about his fight with cancer, and the struggle to make 13, the group’s new record with OZZY OSBOURNE.
During the interview, Tony discusses his health status, stating: “When I’d finished the chemo and the radiotherapy, I went to see the doctor again for my regular blood tests. I said, ‘So it’s gone now?’ And he said, ‘No, it’s not going to go. You’re not going to get rid of it. But we can treat it and work with it.’ I got all dismal, because I thought it was gone. He said there was a 30 percent chance of it going away, but I was probably going to have this for life. Now I get treatments to keep it from spreading. So every six weeks I go in for an infusion of Rituximab, which is one of the four ingredients when they give you the chemo. It takes a few hours, and it makes you feel a bit crap inside and a bit sick. But a couple weeks after, I start perking up again. So that’s how we are working it with the shows. I go out, then come back and go into the hospital for more treatment, more blood tests and all the rest of the rubbish. And then we do it all over again.”
Guitar World’s July issue also has LED ZEPPELIN’s official photographer Neal Preston, who reveals what went on behind the scenes in Led Zeppelin: Sound And Fury, his new, innovative digital book featuring more than 100 previously unpublished images of the classic rock band.
THE ROCK ALCHEMIST – Italian Rock Band from Turin with a strong sonic identity that blends modern rock with progressive, hard, alternative, and pop elements!
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
