Black Sabbath - 13

13...

The name set for the highly anticipated release from legendary BLACK SABBATH.  So since the info is limited at this point and this will be continuously updated, let's get down to the basics of what we already know.

- Black Sabbath has recorded well over 15+ songs for the new album.  How many songs will make the cut is yet to be determined.  Song titles set to appear on the CD include "God Is Dead", "End Of The Beginning" and "Age Of Reason", the latter two of which stretch out to as long as eight minutes.

- The new album "13" will be released on June 11th, 2013 via Vertigo/Universal Republic Records

- For their 19th album (ninth with Ozzy), Black Sabbath will be returning to Vertigo, their original record label.



- Brad Wilk (drummer from Rage Against the Machine) will be replacing Bill Ward for drum tracks on the album.  Ward dropped out of the Black Sabbath reunion projects in May due to personal and label conflicts.

- The band will be making their first 2013 touring in New Zealand, Australia and Japan before the release of the album, with additional dates to come.



- Black Sabbath has tapped popular producer Rick Rubin to helm the project.  When asked about Rubin's involvement with the album and band, guitarist Tony Iommi replied with:

"He's just a vibe merchant, really. He vibes you up. He's not one who gets involved hands-on.  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.'" -Iommi

And how about that great new promo they got running for the album.  Finally enough chat and now we are getting to see what the album is actually about.  The new single "God Is Dead?" sounds great despite the many years the guys have been separated.  Iommi, Osbourne and Butler still got the groove, as you can see for yourself:




"We wrote 16 songs ... and I put it on my CD player expecting me to be unhappy with the end result, but this big grin came on my face and my hair on the back of my neck [stood up]. It's better than my wildest dreams; it's so good.  It's very, very heavy, there's no getting away from the fact that it is Black Sabbath, and you can hear every instrument and everything clearly. It's so heavy. I'm so excited about it." -Osbourne

So if you didn't catch wind yet, Black Sabbath invited a small list of music elites to a listening party for their upcoming album.  Out of the reviews and [sometimes] mixed emotions, the album structure was won over and some great insight came from the sessions, as you can see below:

1. End of the Beginning (8:07). Too long a track for an opener but otherwise very good. Very heavy. Ozzy’s vocals don’t evoke dragons and knights and the soaring evil of Dio…rather, they have a melodic but, unsettling quality to then. Not operatic bombast, but understated, melodic eeriness. But it works. This is not the uninspired songwriting of those two songs from the Reunion album — this is real songwriting with some good riffs from Iommi. A very good song.


2. God is Dead? (8:54). This song slays. Very cool riffing and a good melody line. The B section is evocative of the Holy in the Sky riff but it still works really well. This is an excellent song, worthy of standing with anything in the Ozzy catalog (thought it lacks the instant memorability of Iron Man or Paranoid).

(*God Is Dead will be the first single released by the band.  It will be available April 19th, 2013.  You can check out the artwork here.*)

3. Loner (5:06). Sounds a LOT like a heavy, modern-production version of NIB (I even sang “Oh yeah” after the appropriate riff). Lyrically and mood-wise it mixes in some Johnny Blade. It’s a good song, but not as good as the previous ones.

4. Zeitgeist (4:28).  Mellow, and somewhat evocative of Planet Caravan. It’s fine, but I anticipate skipping this on CD.

5. Age of Reason (7:02). This song kills. My notes (again, scratched in there by keys) are unintelligible. But this one had people pretty fired up.

6. Live Forever (4:49). Has a Children of the Grave / Hole in the Sky Feel once again. A good song, if not as ambitious as some of the others.

7. Damaged Soul (7:43). Very heavy blues. Too bluesy for my tastes. Blues blues and more blues, and when you are done with the blues, it shoves another does of blues up your ass. This is overstated — it’s plenty heavy. It just is too (wait for it) bluesy for my tastes. Others enjoyed it more than me. Still, this is not a throwaway, just not one of my favorites.

8. Dear Father (7:06). A great song to finish with, again quite heavy with a lot of energy. The B section is the one featured in the video with Rubin telling Ozzy to try again (“…the victims of the sins you devise.”) The main section is beefier than that part. There is a recurrent tritone riff that is very evocative of the first notes played in the song Black Sabbath. It’s so evocative that one wonders if it’s purposeful…and the riffs appears again at the very end of the song…and then the song ends…with rain…and church bells. Very cool. Very cool indeed.

The album will see a release in a variety of formats including:

• Standard CD album

• Deluxe double CD album in a deluxe soft-pack (includes a second disc of exclusive bonus audio material)

*9. Methademic
*10. Peace Of Mind
*11. Pariah
*12. Naïveté In Black (Best Buy exclusive track)

(*track names and exclusives are not verified and therefore only rumor)

• Vinyl: a 12-inch heavyweight (180g) vinyl album in a gate fold sleeve

• Super Deluxe Box Set comes in a limited-edition 12-inch clam shell box set which contains a deluxe double CD album, a 12-inch heavyweight (180g) vinyl album in a gate fold sleeve, an exclusive DVD containing “Black Sabbath – The Reunion” documentary (+ plus five behind-the-scenes videos), download card containing exclusive track by track interview with Black Sabbath, “13″ exclusive photographic prints and handwritten album lyrics.




No onto some touring.  The band has announced shows left, right and centre across various parts of the world.  While we are still waiting the full details of their North American stint, AFGM found (through Universal Music) that August 14th, 2013 is the date set for their triumphant return to Toronto!

There have also been some talks of what the set list is going to look like, considering they have a new album with new material on the way.  Are they going to tour with all the hits?  Some new tracks?  Entire new album tour (that would sound awesome BTW, even though the hits would sound great as well)?  Well the lucky bastards over at Metal Forge conducted a great interview with Geezer Butler about tours, new material a bunch of other great areas of interest:

TMF: With decades of hits to choose from for a concert setlist, how difficult has it been to whittle down the songs you'd like to play, to fit within the set time frame?

GB: Well, since all our albums date back to the 1970’s, that is the decade we will be dealing with. We always have to play the staples, such as Iron Man, Paranoid, Black Sabbath, War Pigs, Children Of The Grave, but it’s good to include a more obscure stuff.

TMF: Continuing from the previous question, without giving too much away, will Black Sabbath be performing songs previously never performed live before? What information can you give to your Australian fans when you arrive here in 2013?

GB: Hopefully, we’ll be doing one or two new songs from the new album.

You can read the full interview here.

More info to come folks so stay tuned!



And finally, we can add some f**king tour dates to these guys!  Here is the full North American itinerary for Sabbath's "13" tour:

July
25 - Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion 
27 - Austin, TX - Frank Erwin Center 
29 - Tampa, FL - Live Nation Amphitheatre 
31 - W. Palm Beach, FL - Cruzan Amphitheatre

August
2 - Bristow, VA - Jiffy Lube Live 
4 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center 
6 - Detroit, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre 
8 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena 
10 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center 
12 - Boston, MA - Comcast Center 
14 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre 
16 - Tinley Park, IL - First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre 
18 - Indianapolis, IN - Klipsch Music Center 
22 - Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena 
24 - Seattle, WA - Gorge Amphitheatre 
26 - San Francisco, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View 
28 - Irvine, CA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre 
30 - Phoenix, AZ - US Airways Center 

September
1 - Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Garden Arena 
3 - Los Angeles, CA - Los Angeles Sports Arena