Tony Iommi reveals he turned down offer for final Black Sabbath album with Bill Ward

The legendary Black Sabbath co-founder and guitarist Tony Iommi is currently promoting his upcoming album “From the Dark”, which already has the incredible single “World Alone” available. In an interview with Classic Rock magazine, the musician revealed that he turned down an offer to make a final Sabbath album with the original line-up, featuring Bill Ward who wasn’t part of the final one “13” (2013), replaced by Brad Wilk (RATM, Audioslave) in the studio.

According to him, the idea was to make the record with producer Andrew Watt, who worked with Ozzy Osbourne on his final records and more recently with Iggy Pop, The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney.

Tony Iommi reveals he turned down offer for final Black Sabbath album with Bill Ward

“I’d met Andrew Watt when he was producing Ozzy. He was very keen and a bit too excited. He also didn’t know what it was like working with the original Sabbath, working with Bill (Ward). Also, we’d done ’13’, and I didn’t like the idea of: ‘Now here’s another album,’” Tony Iommi said.

He also recently said that he was against doing the final show, which took place at the “Back to the Beginning” festival at Villa Park in their hometown of Birmingham, England. Iommi thought it would be better if they simply let the bands that were part of the festival play and pay tribute to them by performing their songs and then come out at the end to thank the fans. He was concerned about Ozzy’s health and whether he would be able to pull it off, but he is happy that everything worked out and that the late singer had the chance to say goodbye to his fans just weeks before he passed away at the age of 76.

Iommi’s complete album will be released next October 23 and was made with  Norwegian vocalist Jorn Lande (Avantasia and more), British bassist Becky Baldwin (Mercyful Fate, Hands Off Gretel, session work, and more), and British drummer Karl Brazil (Robbie Williams, James Blunt, and more). Both Baldwin and Brazil are from Birmingham, the hometown of all four original Black Sabbath members.

“From the Dark” tracklist

1. Over The Violent Sun
2. Black Times
3. World Alone
4. Beyond The Dead
5. Stormwatcher
6. Death Wake
7. Return Of The Arbalist
8. Legacy

Deluxe CD bonus tracks

1. Scent Of Dark
2. Deified (extended)

How the official press release describe some of the tracks: “From the opening notes of ‘Over The Violent Sun’, featuring a classic, driving down-tuned guitar riff from Tony Iommi and the dramatic vocal prowess of Jorn Lande, it is clear that From The Dark is an outstanding album that can hold its place amongst the impressive Iommi catalogue.”

“‘Black Times’ continues the journey, a sucker-punch strike that takes no prisoners, leading into the barn-storming first single ‘World Alone’, before fourth track ‘Beyond The Dead’ changes the pace, with a stately and sinister riff interwoven with epic orchestration.”

“The existential questioning of Lande’s lyrics, full of dystopian imagery and ruminations on the fleeting nature of the human experience is writ-large throughout the album, especially on ‘Stormwatcher’ with its nautical metaphors and dreams of new horizons. A brilliant centrepoint of this remarkable album, ‘Stormwatcher’ is matched in scope and drama by the subsequent ‘Death Wake’, both music and lyrics combining to create a vivid picture of the cruelties of a life without love and humanity.”

“From The Dark’s closing two songs, the furious passion of ‘Return Of The Arbalist’ and the truly epic kaleidoscope of ‘Legacy’ showcase the power and drama, the light and the shade that courses through the album.”