Black Sabbath Announce New Album, ’13,’ Due Out in June
Black Sabbath announced today that their new album will be coming out in June. Titled 13, the album features original Black Sabbath members Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, marking the Osbourne-fronted group’s first studio album together since 1978’s Never Say Die! Drummer Brad Wilk from Rage Against the Machine will be replacing Bill Ward, who dropped out of the Black Sabbath reunion projects in May.
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For their 19th album (and ninth with Osbourne), Black Sabbath will be returning to Vertigo, their original label. The album was mostly recorded in Los Angeles, with seven-time Grammy winner Rick Rubin producing. In a November interview, Iomi talked about Rubin’s creative process. “He’s just a vibe merchant, really. He vibes you up. He’s not one who gets involved hands-on,” Iommi said. “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.'”
The band will be heading to New Zealand, Australia and Japan to tour in advance of the album, with additional dates to come.