Black Sabbath ‘Six Tracks in’ to Recording New Album
Black Sabbath are in the middle of recording more than a dozen songs for a new album, guitarist Tony Iommi told Blairing Out in an interview. “We’ve written the 15 songs and we’ve played them all, but now at the moment we’re recording them,” Iommi said. He continued, “We’re about six tracks in now at the moment.”
Drummer Bill Ward isn’t a part of the Black Sabbath revival, and Iommi doesn’t foresee Ward rejoining the group anytime soon. “We’ll always have a heart for Bill, but I think it’s gone past that now, because it’s gone on so long, that I don’t see that happening at the moment,” Iommi said.
The guitarist also mentioned producer Rick Rubin and his creative process. “He’s just a vibe merchant, really. He vibes you up. He’s not one who gets involved hands-on,” said Iommi. “He leaves it to you to do it and he sort of says, ‘Yeah, I like it,’ you know, or, ‘I don’t like it.'”
As a cancer survivor, Iommi also shared some thoughts on the late Ronnie James Dio and his Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund. “It’s great that there’s somebody doing something about it and trying to get rid of this awful disease,” said Iommi. “You can’t praise it enough, things like this is what it needs to make people aware of what’s going on.”