Ozzy says Black Sabbath to record new album
New York (AFP) - Some 45 years after pioneering heavy metal, Black Sabbath will return to the studio for a new album that could be the band's last, frontman Ozzy Osbourne says.
Osbourne, in an interview published Monday, said Black Sabbath had a "great" experience with last year's comeback album "13" and a subsequent tour.
The heavy metal godfather, 65, said he told his wife and manager Sharon Osbourne that he wanted to return to his solo work unless Black Sabbath came together for another album.
"I said, 'Sharon, I ain't fucking 21 anymore. If we're going to do it, I want to do it before I'm 70! Time isn't on our side,'" he told Metal Hammer magazine.
"So she made the call and came back and said 'Yeah, the record company wants another album,'" he said.
Osbourne said Black Sabbath has not yet written new music but plans to return to the studio in early 2015 for what would be the band's 20th studio album. He said the band members had not decided whether to record in their native Britain or in Osbourne's adopted Los Angeles.
But Tony Iommi, Black Sabbath's lead guitarist and driving force behind the music, in a recent message on his website said he has "been in the studio writing and listening to some of my earlier ideas for songs."
Osbourne acknowledged that Iommi's health could affect the next album as the guitarist has been treated for cancer.
"Obviously a lot of it is coming down to Tony's health," Osbourne said.
He said that the band planned to work again with Rick Rubin, the influential producer whose work has spanned genres from hip-hop to metal. Rubin produced last year's "13," which was Black Sabbath's first album in 18 years and reached number one on album charts in both the United States and Britain.
The band helped pioneer heavy metal, starting with its self-titled first album in 1970. Black Sabbath incorporated elements of the blues into a heavier guitar sound, accompanied by themes of the occult, which often alarmed religious groups.
