Yeah, yeah, yeah, they’re calling themselves “Heaven & Hell”. Sod that – it’s “Black Fucking Sabbath”, and they’re putting out new studio tracks. I’m all over that shit, especially considering this is the incarnation of Black Sabbath that was current when I started listening to them in 1981. Anyway, now that my excitement (and swearing) is out of the way, I wanted to point out a Hard Rock Haven interview with Vinny Appice where he talks about a bunch of things, but most importantly for this website, the new Sabbath tracks are discussed. Vinny seems really excited about them, and this seems to jibe with what my own sources have told me who have heard the new tracks. I’m really excited. :)
Here’s what Vinny had to say:
Hardrock Haven: Well, the big news is you just got back from recording with the group HEAVEN AND HELL, featuring Dio, Butler, Iommi and yourself, for the “Black Sabbath: The Dio Years” release. Your involvement was sort of a last-minute thing, correct?
Appice: It was not the last minute, probably the middle minute, haha. They were working with Bill Ward before. I’m not quite sure why the decision was made, but I got a phone call basically saying, “Can you come to England tomorrow?” So, I hopped on a plane and went to England, to Birmingham, hit the studio and did a couple tracks for a release that’s going to be called “Black Sabbath: The Dio Years”. And they are going to put a couple new songs on the CD. And then there is a tour starting in March.
Hardrock Haven: I think everyone wants to know what the new music is going to sound like.
Appice: It sounds … I was blown away when I heard the songs. They sound very SABBATH-y, you know, really evil songs. And very, very heavy, but a little bit more modern. Ronnie did some absolutely killer melodies, and vocals and lyrics on it. It just fit so well together. I heard the original tracks with just the drum machine, you know, and once we put the drums on it, it completed the puzzle. It just came alive. The songs are absolutely kick ass.
On Bill Ward:
Appice: I would like to say, to go on the record, I really love Bill Ward. I was always influenced by Bill’s playing from all of the old stuff, you know, and I’m honored to always be affiliated with Bill. I think he’s a great drummer and a great person too.
The full interview is available as a streaming wma file from Hard Rock Haven. You can listen to that by clicking here.
Thanks to Blabbermouth for the transcription.
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