A new video on their official website confirms the worst kept secret in the rock world for months, which you can see below.
One surprise is the confirmation of a brand new album, their first in 33 years, to be released in fall 2012.
Speaking at a press conference on November 11, bassist Geezer Butlers says the new songs are "back to the old Sabbath style and sound. The stuff that Tony [Iommi] has been playing is absolutely brilliant."
Iommi is said to have finished seven or eight songs, which they will take to producer Rick Rubin for completion. The band credit Rubin for encouraging to make another record, with Iommi joking: "He phoned us every give minutes!"
"[Rubin] was the obvious choice," said Ozzy Osbourne of the producer who has worked with Metallica, Slipknot, Slayer, System Of A Down and leading artists from other genres.
The band will headline Download festival on June 12 next year, before commencing on a worldwide tour, which will earn them a share of more than Ј100 million ($160 million), according to The People (via NME).
Over their career, Black Sabbath have sold over 70 million albums, and were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2006.
They have reformed several times over the years, but the rumours of a new reunion were less expected because of their age and the gruelling requirements of a large scale tour. When guitarist Tony Iommi was asked if they were fit enough to continue, he answered "Who knows? I mean, somebody might keel over."
Are you excited about hearing new material from one of the greatest metal bands of all time? Share your excitement or otherwise in the comments.
Speaking at a press conference on September 11, bassist Geezer Butlers says the new songs are "back to the old Sabbath style and sound. The stuff that Tony [Iommi] has been playing is absolutely brilliant.
I will pay ANY amount of money to see them. There is no force that can prevent me from making it to this show. By the way, who the hell gets picked to open for Sabbath? Thoughts?
What's the point? Do you honestly think any new output is going to sound like classic Sabbath? Do you care more for the music or more for the excitement of knowing that a legendary band is back together? Considering past reunions of this magnitude, I am extremely cynical.
I consider this a huge dick-move.
I finally got done waiting for Skyrim, then Sabbath announce a new album! Will they never allow me to sleep soundly?!?!
Seriously though, looking forward to it immensely, especially the chance to see BLACK F*CKING SABBATH live.
Can't wait to see what they come up with. They used to be my favourite band along with Blue Oyster Cult when I was a kid, this brings me back good memories!
I saw a tour coming, but an album would be amazing. Can't wait! Would definitely be going to the shows if they come to Australia. In my eyes, they're the most metal thing to walk the earth. Most metal of today or yesterday can be deciphered back to something Iommi has played.
This afternoon I was playing "Children of the Grave" and it gave me a good hard metalgasm. You can get louder, heavier or faster, but you'd be hard pressed to be more 'metal' than that song.
Oh Christ Rick Rubin. We all know what this is going to sound like.
BZZZZZ THUD THUD THUD BZZZ
Too bad for Sabbath that Rick Rubin is one of the most amazing producers alive. Yea he may hire retards to mix the album, but he himself is a complete genius.
Ok, someone please tell me the songs they're playing at 40 seconds and 1:18 (in the first video). I feel ashamed to even ask, but I have to know. Thank you.
I love Black Sabbath but I'm not looking forward to this album. As influential as they are to all heavy music, they're not relevant any more as far as new music is concerned and any new album will likely be a disappointment. I do look forward to a tour though.
On another note: Sabbath's best albums where made when they had a $500 dollar recording budget and 12 hours in the studio. Rick Rubin isn't even close to what they need.
I mean I absolutely love old Black Sabbath, even though I liked their material with Dio better, but after Ozzy's recently stale albums, I can't get too excited over this. Hopefully Tony can add some spice to this album.
i found the promotional video pretty funny...those 'facts' from VH1,MTV and Rollin Stones...i mean its Sabbath.... not Dokken !! do u seriously need to say all that !!!
Worst decision Tony has ever made as an artist. This is clearly nothing but a cash grab. Their website says "Reunited. 33 years in the making". I'd really like someone to clarify what band I saw in 2005 then, as I'm under the impression that I saw Black Sabbath. The album will be subpar because Ozzy's vocals will need to be autotuned to hell, and the shows will be subpar as they'll be once again playing 70 minute headlining sets, with the same dozen songs they played to death from 1997 to 2005.
All of the Sabbath fans who care solely about the quality of the music as opposed to just seeing a legendary line-up regardless of how bad they sound seem to agree; the right path to take would have been to get Tony Martin back for another new album and tour, with either Bill Ward or (more likely) Vinny Appice on drums. Tony still has a killer voice, and he can do pretty much anything from Ozzy, Dio, Gillian, or Hughes, sometimes better than the original vocalists did.
Alright. I found the songs that I asked about.. they were Faeries wear boots and Under the Sun... can't believe I never heard these songs. Good shit.
I bet that Sharon is behind all of this. I'm worried of the quality of the next album, Ozzy's voice is ruined and Bill Ward is not drumming as good as he did (I think that his addictions greatly affected his body)
Worst decision Tony has ever made as an artist. This is clearly nothing but a cash grab. Their website says "Reunited. 33 years in the making". I'd really like someone to clarify what band I saw in 2005 then, as I'm under the impression that I saw Black Sabbath. The album will be subpar because Ozzy's vocals will need to be autotuned to hell, and the shows will be subpar as they'll be once again playing 70 minute headlining sets, with the same dozen songs they played to death from 1997 to 2005.
All of the Sabbath fans who care solely about the quality of the music as opposed to just seeing a legendary line-up regardless of how bad they sound seem to agree; the right path to take would have been to get Tony Martin back for another new album and tour, with either Bill Ward or (more likely) Vinny Appice on drums. Tony still has a killer voice, and he can do pretty much anything from Ozzy, Dio, Gillian, or Hughes, sometimes better than the original vocalists did.
Dude do us all a favour and just keep your negative pms comments to your self. Not only is the mighty Black Sabbath reuniting they're making another album... this is amazing news!!! Also money grab? what? you think they're going to travel around the world for free? come on man people need to eat, they all have families they need to feed. I'll gladly pay to see them.
Worst decision Tony has ever made as an artist. This is clearly nothing but a cash grab. Their website says "Reunited. 33 years in the making". I'd really like someone to clarify what band I saw in 2005 then, as I'm under the impression that I saw Black Sabbath. The album will be subpar because Ozzy's vocals will need to be autotuned to hell, and the shows will be subpar as they'll be once again playing 70 minute headlining sets, with the same dozen songs they played to death from 1997 to 2005.
All of the Sabbath fans who care solely about the quality of the music as opposed to just seeing a legendary line-up regardless of how bad they sound seem to agree; the right path to take would have been to get Tony Martin back for another new album and tour, with either Bill Ward or (more likely) Vinny Appice on drums. Tony still has a killer voice, and he can do pretty much anything from Ozzy, Dio, Gillian, or Hughes, sometimes better than the original vocalists did.
Dude do us all a favour and just keep your negative pms comments to your self. Not only is the mighty Black Sabbath reuniting they're making another album... this is amazing news!!! Also money grab? what? you think they're going to travel around the world for free? come on man people need to eat, they all have families they need to feed. I'll gladly pay to see them.
Did I ever say I expect them to play for free? No. I said this tour is fueled by money, it's evident even in the way they're promoting it so far. It's propaganda; they're trying to make people feel like they NEED to see this, and it has never happened in decades and it will never happen again. I don't care how legendary they are; they're simply not a good live band anymore. Ozzy's voice is shot and he's too scared to try singing any deep album cuts, and Bill Ward already had to simplify his drumming parts during the last reunion tours; his health hasn't gotten any better in the past 6 years.
If they go out and start sounding great and playing deep album cuts like Symptom Of The Universe, Changes, Under The Sun, Planet Caravan, etc, I'll be the first to admit I was wrong. But it's just not gonna happen; history has proved it time and time again.
This album has all the potential to be better than what ozzy has put out recently. Ozzy's black rain album and his last one were nothing special (Gus's playing style doesn't really fit ozzy in my opinion). I hope I get to make it to one of their shows if they tour the U.S. I've been playing ozzy and black sabbath songs since I started playing guitar 9 years ago.
It's cool that they're back and stuff.... and I will be eager to see them play..... but last time I saw them, after I'd got over the novely of "OMG!, OMG!, OMG! it's black ****ing Sabbath" they turned out to be just disappointing. I thought their performance was limp. There didn't seem to be any power in the songs and Ozzy was, to be frank, bloody awful.
Oh well, may be they were just on a bad night. Better luck next time.
I will pay ANY amount of money to see them. There is no force that can prevent me from making it to this show. By the way, who the hell gets picked to open for Sabbath? Thoughts?
I think The Sword should open for them, it seems like a natural choice
I wish people would get off of Rubin's back about sound quality. HE DIDN'T MIX DEATH MAGNETIC! God, he produced it. The MIXER compressed it all to hell and made the quality horrible.
Ok, someone please tell me the songs they're playing at 40 seconds and 1:18 (in the first video). I feel ashamed to even ask, but I have to know. Thank you.
00:40 "Under The Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes" (From volume 4)
01:18 "Fairies Wear Boots" (From Paranoid)
Knowing how Tony Iommi writes his music, the new albumn is gonna sound like Black Sabbath. Bill Ward is gonna sound like Bill Ward drumming. With all of the original members on board, this is gonna be Sabbath at its best! Now hopefully it will be a dry mix and not overly glossy sounding with ball removing reverb. Make it sound ballsy!
Oh God. lol. So many typos. Geezer BulterS. Hahaha
'every give minutes'
Anyway. Sabbath is my favorite band of all time. I may or may not have soiled my underpants when I heard the news the other day. It's true that Iommi is a bad liar and we all may have seen this coming, but I'm thankful to hear it from the horse's mouth.
Worst decision Tony has ever made as an artist. This is clearly nothing but a cash grab. Their website says "Reunited. 33 years in the making". I'd really like someone to clarify what band I saw in 2005 then, as I'm under the impression that I saw Black Sabbath. The album will be subpar because Ozzy's vocals will need to be autotuned to hell, and the shows will be subpar as they'll be once again playing 70 minute headlining sets, with the same dozen songs they played to death from 1997 to 2005.
All of the Sabbath fans who care solely about the quality of the music as opposed to just seeing a legendary line-up regardless of how bad they sound seem to agree; the right path to take would have been to get Tony Martin back for another new album and tour, with either Bill Ward or (more likely) Vinny Appice on drums. Tony still has a killer voice, and he can do pretty much anything from Ozzy, Dio, Gillian, or Hughes, sometimes better than the original vocalists did.
Get back in your hole and stay there untill the world tour ends, and your not allowed to buy the cd either.
Lots of hate for Rick Rubin on UG. Mostly from clueless idiots that are basing their opinion of him off of one album, Death Magnetic. The final outcome of that albums quality wasn't his fault you know.
Rick Rubin is one of the most talented and reverred producers of the last 20-30 years. His also one of the very few that has crossover success in the hip hop genre as a producer. Hes worked with Jay Z and helped discover and produced The Beastie Boys.
SOOOOO pumped for the new album. The original crew that made the metal magic, "The Wizard"s, if you will (see what I did there?). Time for real metal to make its glorious comeback.
Now we just need to resurrect Rick Wright and have Floyd reunion....
I will pay ANY amount of money to see them. There is no force that can prevent me from making it to this show. By the way, who the hell gets picked to open for Sabbath? Thoughts?
Hopefully not Van Halen. We know how that went last time.
Lots of hate for Rick Rubin on UG. Mostly from clueless idiots that are basing their opinion of him off of one album, Death Magnetic. The final outcome of that albums quality wasn't his fault you know.
Lots of hate for Rick Rubin on UG. Mostly from clueless idiots that are basing their opinion of him off of one album, Death Magnetic. The final outcome of that albums quality wasn't his fault you know.What about Californication?
I hope Ozzy's vocals are a little less processed then on his solo releases. And damnit, I guess no Dio era songs at the festival. Hmmmm crap. Those classics are gone I guess.
Isn't your country in massive debt with austerity measures being put in place? I don't think they'll let people pay for their concert tickets with I.O.U.'s
haha, jk.
Lots of hate for Rick Rubin on UG. Mostly from clueless idiots that are basing their opinion of him off of one album, Death Magnetic. The final outcome of that albums quality wasn't his fault you know.What about Californication?
What about it? Californication was a great album.
Yes, but the production quality was horrible. The clipping was really bad. I'm not saying it's Rubin's fault, but maybe Californication is another reason people don't like Rubin, he was credited as producing that album and it sounded like shit.
Worst decision Tony has ever made as an artist. This is clearly nothing but a cash grab. Their website says "Reunited. 33 years in the making". I'd really like someone to clarify what band I saw in 2005 then, as I'm under the impression that I saw Black Sabbath. The album will be subpar because Ozzy's vocals will need to be autotuned to hell, and the shows will be subpar as they'll be once again playing 70 minute headlining sets, with the same dozen songs they played to death from 1997 to 2005.
All of the Sabbath fans who care solely about the quality of the music as opposed to just seeing a legendary line-up regardless of how bad they sound seem to agree; the right path to take would have been to get Tony Martin back for another new album and tour, with either Bill Ward or (more likely) Vinny Appice on drums. Tony still has a killer voice, and he can do pretty much anything from Ozzy, Dio, Gillian, or Hughes, sometimes better than the original vocalists did.
In some parts I agree with you. This whole thing is being announced as "the first Sabbath studio album in 33 years", but hey, didn't they release Forbidden in 1995?
Like what happened a few years ago with the great RJD, I would rather see a reunion with Gillan or Hughes. Martin isn't a bad singer, it's just that he sounds a bit too "generic" to me when compared to the others that held the mic in Black Sabbath.
But we all know this is just a fan's (fool's?) dream.
Not Rick Rubin... he's ruined so many good artists with his constant battle to make the tracks as loud as possible... brickwall compression is not a "metal" thing.
de-fexxx666 wrote:
Their website says "Reunited. 33 years in the making". I'd really like someone to clarify what band I saw in 2005 then, as I'm under the impression that I saw Black Sabbath.
doomplant wrote:
In some parts I agree with you. This whole thing is being announced as "the first Sabbath studio album in 33 years", but hey, didn't they release Forbidden in 1995?
I believe the 33 years refers to the amount of time since the original line-up has recorded together.
are people really just now hearing about this? most of us knew a week before they announced it. way to be 3 days late UG, alright thats a record for you guys.
Such good news.
Honestly, I love them all, but Bill Ward is what gives the original line up their unique side. No other drummer does what he does.
Geezer is IMHO 1 of the 3 best rock bass players ( with John Paul Jones and Entwistle)
Iommi - my favorite rock guitarist by far.
Ozzie - If he is on form, it will be cool.
As far as opening bands go, I think it'd be really cool to have a band like Mastodon open for them. Or someone else who was clearly influenced by their heavy sound. Or even Tool who influenced another generation of rock and metal.
I'd say Electric Wizard too, but I don't think they have a big enough following.
I love how the guys says "... from Bermingham!" as if Bermingham was a special place... evidently that man has never been anywhere even near Bermingham :P
Worst decision Tony has ever made as an artist. This is clearly nothing but a cash grab. Their website says "Reunited. 33 years in the making". I'd really like someone to clarify what band I saw in 2005 then, as I'm under the impression that I saw Black Sabbath. The album will be subpar because Ozzy's vocals will need to be autotuned to hell, and the shows will be subpar as they'll be once again playing 70 minute headlining sets, with the same dozen songs they played to death from 1997 to 2005.
All of the Sabbath fans who care solely about the quality of the music as opposed to just seeing a legendary line-up regardless of how bad they sound seem to agree; the right path to take would have been to get Tony Martin back for another new album and tour, with either Bill Ward or (more likely) Vinny Appice on drums. Tony still has a killer voice, and he can do pretty much anything from Ozzy, Dio, Gillian, or Hughes, sometimes better than the original vocalists did.
Dude do us all a favour and just keep your negative pms comments to your self. Not only is the mighty Black Sabbath reuniting they're making another album... this is amazing news!!! Also money grab? what? you think they're going to travel around the world for free? come on man people need to eat, they all have families they need to feed. I'll gladly pay to see them.Did I ever say I expect them to play for free? No. I said this tour is fueled by money, it's evident even in the way they're promoting it so far. It's propaganda; they're trying to make people feel like they NEED to see this, and it has never happened in decades and it will never happen again. I don't care how legendary they are; they're simply not a good live band anymore. Ozzy's voice is shot and he's too scared to try singing any deep album cuts, and Bill Ward already had to simplify his drumming parts during the last reunion tours; his health hasn't gotten any better in the past 6 years.
If they go out and start sounding great and playing deep album cuts like Symptom Of The Universe, Changes, Under The Sun, Planet Caravan, etc, I'll be the first to admit I was wrong. But it's just not gonna happen; history has proved it time and time again.
...how has history proven it when it's the first time in 33 years the original lineup is back?
And yeah, artists need money. They just do. They get money by playing shows and selling albums. What's your problem?
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