Metallica will play through The Black Album at Download 2012

Metallica recently raised a few eyebrows by deciding to play the Black Album backwards at the Synot Tip Arena in Prague, Czech Republic and on subsequent shows, and drummer Lars Ulrich has shed some light on their motives…

“If you like the idea, it was mine. If you don’t, it was James’ [Hetfield, guitar/vocals],” he told Rolling Stone magazine. “For better or worse, I’m the setlist guy. This is all subject to change if it doesn’t work. But the idea of starting off with the lesser-known songs buried down there and ending up with ‘Sad But True’ and ‘Enter Sandman’ seems like a winner. You finish with the money shot, which is the first song.”

Fair enough. Maybe we’ll be getting just that when the band play Download in June.

Metallica Czech Republic Setlist

01. Hit The Lights
02. Master Of Puppets
03. The Shortest Straw
04. For Whom The Bell Tolls
05. Blackened
06. The Struggle Within
07. My Friend Of Misery
08. The God That Failed
09. Of Wolf & Man
10. Nothing Else Matters
11. Through The Never
12. Don’t Tread On Me
13. Wherever I May Roam
14. The Unforgiven
15. Holier Than Thou
16. Sad But True
17. Enter Sandman

Encore:

18. Fuel
19. One
20. Seek & Destroy

Download tickets

Down: Smmmmokin'

Down play some of ‘Breaking The Law’ by Judas Priest. Nuff. Fuckin’. Said.

Nicely played. Meanwhile, we should be getting a new Down EP at some point later this year, which will feature the following tracks:

Levitation
Witchtripper
The Misfortune Teller
Open Coffins
This Work Is Timeless

Every Time I Die: Tache Talk

The brilliant Every Time I Die have announced a UK tour, with support coming from none other than Stray From The Path and Last Witness!

Every Time I Die UK Tour 2012

Wed 24 October Southampton, The Brook
Thur 25 October Bristol, The Fleece
Fri 26 October Plymouth, White Rabbit
Sat 27 October Brighton, The Haunt
Sun 28 October Cardiff, Solus
Mon 29 October London, Electric Ballroom
Tues 30 October Wolverhampton, Slade Rooms
Wed 31 October Manchester, Academy 2
Thurs 01 November Glasgow, Garage
Fri 02 November Newcastle, Academy 2
Sat 03 November Leeds, Cockpit
Sun 04 November Sheffield, Corporation

Tickets range from £14- £16

www.seetickets.com / www.livenation.co.uk

Every Time I Die also play Slamdunk this weekend, alongside Architects, Cancer Bats and more…

Black Sabbath slayed Birmingham. Bring on Download!

Basically, we went to see Black Sabbath play Birmingham’s O2 Academy on Saturday night, and it was a fucking blinder. Here’s five reasons why…

The Atmosphere Was Fucking Magic

The building was packed almost an hour before the band even got near the stage, and from the moment they launched into Into The Void to the final closing seconds of Paranoid, the sense of celebration, jubilation and rock ‘n’ fucking roll in the air was tangible.

Tony Got The Reception Of A Lifetime

There was, of course, a huge reception for Messrs Osbourne and Butler, but when Tony Iommi walked out on stage, the place went ballistic. “Tony!” chants echoed around the building all night, and when Ozzy pointed at the man himself and screamed “HE. IS. IRON. MAN!” it was a legendary moment in the making.

They Managed To Sound Even Heavier Than We Thought Possible

How do the godfathers of heavy itself manage to make their set sound even more bone-crushingly arena-collapsing than usual? Slow a few numbers down and put down a mix that could blow up a whale’s appendix.

They Rolled Out Some Rarities

They could have played for four hours straight and still left out some ragers, but airing the likes of Under The Sun, Wheels Of Confusion, Dirty Women and Tomorrow’s Dream was world-class.

They Had The Tony Stark Black Sabbath T Shirt For Sale

Tony Stark: Iron Man

So we bought twelve.

Seriously, it was a legendary gig and has only made us even more excited for Download in June. Bring it on.

Black Sabbath Birmingham O2 Academy Setlist

Into The Void
Under The Sun
Snowblind
War Pigs
Wheels Of Confusion
Electric Funeral
Black Sabbath
The Wizard
Behind The Wall Of Sleep
N.I.B.
Fairies Wear Boots
Tomorrow’s Dream
Sweet Leaf
Symptom Of The Universe (jam)
Iron Man
Dirty Women
Children Of The Grave
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (jam)
Paranoid

Download tickets

Yes, While She Sleeps! Yes!

To celebrate the release of raging new video This Is The Six, each member of While She Sleeps have sent us a list of their six favourite ever music videos!

Here’s Part 5 from bassist Aaran McKenzie.

“What makes a great music video? Passion in the performance. No half-arsed bullshit.”

AARAN’S PICKS

Michael Jackson – Thriller

Bring Me The Horizon – Alligator Blood

Thrice – Red Sky

Comeback Kid – Wake The Dead

Slipknot – Duality

Underoath – Paper Lung

Buy This Is The Six now

Free Dead Behind The Eyes track stream

Lady Starlight: We're over here, yeah?

We got New York-based rock ‘n’ roll superstar DJ Lady Starlight to blog for us while she toured Europe with the mighty Judas Priest! Here’s what went down…

Part One

Kiev

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Judas Priest. This includes travelling with over 250lbs of DJ equipment, records and costumes…by myself…in heels. I arrived in Kiev from NYC at what my internal clock said was 5am but the external clock said noon. My mind said this was worth every second, but my body respectfully disagreed, so I don’t remember getting off the plane or even going through immigration, but I guess that’s a good thing.

I was met by some of the amazing local production team who took me to where I longed to be most…a hotel, where there was a bed. The city is so beautiful. Unfortunately it was raining and Easter holiday weekend. So my plans to walk around the all day and shop were foiled. But I managed to at least see a bit of the city and window shop. My wallet thanked me.

Sharing a bill with Priest. Not bad.

Having been out on the road in US with the band and crew for 3 months last fall, I was beyond excited to see them all, so show day in Kiev felt like the first day of school! The day had an interesting start in that it was the first time I’d come across a runner who did not know where the venue was. Kind of an important detail if your job is to transport people to and from the venue….So what should have been a 10 min drive the Sportpalace arena ended being an hour. I only had 20 min to load in, set up and do a soundcheck! But thanks to the awesome crew, we made it happen.

The energy and enthusiasm of the crowd was unbelievable. They like their AC/DC here. Needless to say, Priest killed it. I have seen the show close to 50 times now, but every time Battle Hymn starts I become a screaming teenager. I wasn’t alone – security had to remove a female fan kicking a screaming for trying to storm the stage! Fabulous!!

The metal legions gather for Judas Priest

The show was early, the band went on at 7:30. So I should have got a reasonable amount of sleep, but awake at 2am for the gift that no opening act is usually ever given, I got to travel on the jet with the band! Early lobby call? Who cares! I was off to fly with Judas F**cking Priest!

Moscow

Arrived in one piece in Moscow after a traumatic airport security situation in Kiev. There was something wrong with my boarding pass, so they wouldn’t let me past the checkpoint. I got separated from the rest of the group, alone and terrified! But it was finally sorted and we were off. Everyone thought I was leisurely shopping in duty free! But at least I got a nickname out of it. Lady Start-Late.

Cool spear, bro

It was truly a thrill to be in Russia. As a kid in the 80’s, I had never imagined it would be possible to come here. And here I am, not only in Russia, but with my favorite band. To all drivers in LA and NYC who complain about traffic: Shut Up. You have never driven in Moscow. It took us 2 hours to get from the airport to the hotel. I got a chance to hang out and catch up with Rob during the drive, so actually I wouldn’t have minded if it was longer!

The hotel apparently used to be a KGB headquarters. Its the first time I’ve had to go through a metal detector to enter a hotel lobby..(if it was a true metal detector, none of us would be allowed in..haha) I’m not one to write about food, especially since I wear too many spandex Ray Brown catsuits to eat much of it, but Holy Christ, the breakfast at the hotel was the best I’ve ever eaten. In fact, I may have alienated several friends with incessant emails and texts regarding the deliciousness of dairy products.

I rode to the Stadium Arena with Glenn… I mean, what can you even say about that??!! He’s not just a musical genius, he’s an amazing person. His warmth put me at ease, and stopped me from going into crazy fan mode of: “Oh my god! I’m in a car with Glenn F-ing Tipton!”

No Limp Bizkit logo?

The gig was one of the best I can remember. My set went over like gangbusters. The crowd was cheering and singing along the whole time. Thank you Moscow! I can’t remember having more fun DJing. Rob majorly slayed this performance. Really in the moment of every song. I normally like to go and watch the show in the audience, since I spend so much time behind the scenes, I never want to lose the magic of seeing the performance how its meant to be seen.

But I watched the show by Richie on stage right. Richie and I met in 2009 extremely intoxicated at the Download festival. In my wildest dreams I couldn’t have imagined that the next time we met up, I would be DJing with Judas Priest, and he would be IN the band! We’ve come a long way, baby! Off to St Petersburg!”

Come back next week for Part 2…

This week: Trivium‘s Matt Heafy’s dog!

NAME: Miyuki Chihiro Heafy I
AGE: 4
LIKES: Apples, ice cubes, chasing lizards (eating when possible (frowned on by parents)), sunbathing, being covered in dirt, stolen coffee-licks, dinner time, sleeping in human-beds.
DISLIKES: Plastic bags, cats that live in our front yard, other dogs walking in front of her house, baths, people cleaning her feet, pedicures, vacuums.
FAVOURITE RECORD: Trivium – ‘Blue Demo’ (she said that’s the only good one before they “sold out”)
LIVES WITH: Ashley Ann Heafy, Matthew Kiichi Heafy

Check out the spec on this bad boy…

The all-new Mainstage is a pre-configured entry level kit that includes drums, pedals, hardware, cymbals and even a throne. The drums feature hardwood construction in a durable wrapped finish. Sabian cymbals and a full middle weight hardware pack complete the rig. Drum sizes are 8×10″ & 9×12″ toms, 14×16″ floor tom, 18×22″ bass drum and 5×14″ matching snare. The hardware pack includes a cymbal boom stand, straight cymbal stand, snare stand, hi-hat stand and a drum throne. The 4-piece SBR performance cymbal pack includes 14″ top and bottom hi-hats, 20″ ride and 16″ crash. Kit RRP inc cymbals is £830.

Presumably. if you know about drums, you know that’s pretty fucking badass – and all you have to do is head to our competitions page and answer a very easy question! Get going!

The Metal Hammer Golden Gods take place June 11 at the Indigo2 in the O2 complex and will feature performances from Anthrax, Biohazard, Ghost, Watain, Fozzy and more! We’re getting excited now…

Black Sabbath Reunited

So the saga continues… Black Sabbath have responded to Bill Ward’s in-depth statement that came out earlier in the week. Here’s what they had to say:

“We have decided not to make any detailed comment on Bill’s latest statement. There are two sides to every story. We have been working hard at rehearsals making excellent progress after Tony’s treatments and we have engaged a substitute drummer for the forthcoming shows. See you at Download.”

We are still yet to hear official confirmation of who will be behind the kit for the shows, though Ozzy drummer Tommy Clufetos is strongly rumoured to be Bill’s replacement. Guess we’ll find out tomorrow when Black Sabbath play their warm up show at Birmingham’s O2 Academy!

We asked, and you answered. On the new Metal Hammer Podcast, Download and Live Nation promoter Andy Copping answers your many questions, plus talks this year’s immense Download festival, Black Sabbath and Bill Ward and more.

Oh, and we also give the run-through to Ghost and Watain playing this year’s Metal Hammer Golden Gods, While She Sleeps’ new video, Scott Weiland being a wally, the new Manowar album, Steven Wilson, holograms, troll-slaying and way way more!

Click the play button under this sentence right here and get listening. YES!

Chris Jericho Golden Gods

This year’s Metal Hammer Golden Gods host, Fozzy frontman and multiple-time WWE champ Chris Jericho, checked in with Hammer early last week, so we thought we’d ask you lot to chuck some questions at him. Here are a few of his answers…

Which other wrestlers are big metalheads? – Clive ‘Clifford’ Davis, Facebook

“Well, CM Punk is more of a punk guy. There are metal elements to him, but he like H20 and bands that I don’t really know much about. HHH is a metalhead, but he likes the Metallicas and the Motorhead and stuff like that. Bubba Ray Dudley is a big metal guy, and Edge is kinda like me, he likes all aspects of music. But as far as true-blue metalheads like me, there aren’t many. There are few and far-between metalheads like me anyway!”

Who has influenced your vocal style? – Adam Boon, Twitter

“I’ve always been a Bruce Dickinson guy – but because I sing like him, but because of his sense of melody and timing. I’m a big fan of Michael Kiske from Helloween, and Ozzy wasn’t so much a big influence on me, but I have more of an Ozzy style to my voice.”

What or who was your inspiration behind the song ‘Broken Soul’? – Kiki Chanel Harris, Twitter

“It’s weird; I wrote that song as a very heavy, dark song. I envisioned it as almost a thrash song, but what I do is give my lyrics to Rich [Ward, guitarist], and he finds inspiration from those lyrics to write whatever he feels. He came up with this really cool, almost Southern rock vibe!”

What would your dream supergroup be? – Steve Brook, Facebook

“If I was fronting the band, Steve Harris on bass, Mike Portnoy on drums, Synister Gates on guitar – I’m a huge Avenged fan – and I’d stick Father Hetfield on rythm guitar and backup vocals.”

How do you get your hair so shiny? – Racket Wood, Facebook

“Shiny?! I didn’t really know it was shiny! Erm, eating dog treats. Dog treat really do the trick. Ha ha!”

Are you going to wear the flashing Y2J jacket at Download? – Lee Wonnacott, Twitter

“If we were playing at night, I would probably wear the jacket, but in the light it doesn’t have the same vibe to it! I’m not sure; I’m not saying I would never do it, but they break constantly! It’s not just the bulbs, it’s the wires behind it. If you take out the lining it looks like an atomic bomb!”

Fozzy play the UK this June.

There’s still time to vote in this year’s Golden Gods and maybe even win tickets to the event itself! Get voting now!

Yes, While She Sleeps! Yes!

To celebrate the release of raging new video This Is The Six, each member of While She Sleeps have sent us a list of their six favourite ever music videos!

Here’s Part 4 from drummer Adam Savage.

“A great video is one that is real and no bullshit. Giving a message and believing in it.”

ADAM’S PICKS

Cancer Bats – Deathsmarch

Alexisonfire – Young Cardinals

Rancid – Bloodclot

Thrice – Image of The Invisible

Killswitch Engage – Holy Diver

Gallows – London Is The Reason

Buy This Is The Six now

Free Dead Behind The Eyes track stream

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FULL-SIZE DIO WALLPAPER

Check out Matt’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/ArtOfMattDixon

FIVE CLASSIC DIO VIDEOS

Immortal: Angry badgers

It’s Søttende Mai! Today is Norwegian Constitution Day, so here are six killer metal videos from Norway. Simple.

Immortal – Grim And Frostbitten Kingdom

Emperor – The Loss And Curse Of Reverence

Turbonegro – Fuck The World

Kvelertak – Blodtørst

Taake – Nordbundet

Satyricon – K.I.N.G.

MORE AWESOME LISTS

Ronnie James Dio RIP: Five Classic Dio Vids
Star Wars Day: Ten Proper Metal Moments From Star Wars
Five Reasons You Need To See Mission To Lars
Five Reasons The Avengers Are Metal As Fuck
Friday The 13: Ten Horror Movie Metal Soundtracks
Five Awesome Pantera Videos
Five Reasons Game Of Thrones Is Metal As Fuck
Five Reasons The Witcher 2 Is Metal As Fuck

Slash has spoken about his working relationship with Michael Jackson in a new video interview. Check it out…

The tracklist for new Slash album ‘Apocalyptic Love’ is as follows..

1) Apocalyptic Love
2) One Last Thrill
3) Standing in the Sun
4) You’re a Lie
5) No More Heroes
6) Halo
7) We Will Roam
8 ) Anastasia
9) Not for Me
10) Bad Rain
11) Hard & Fast
12) Far and Away

The album will be released by our buddies at Classic Rock in a special fanpack edition! The edition will feature exclusive interviews, the album itself along with exclusive bonus tracks and will also come with free gifts including a pin badge and artwork poster. So basically, you’d be a mug not to get one.

It’s out in shops on May 21, but you can pre-order yours right freakin’ now! DO IT.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR SLASH ‘APOCALYPTIC LOVE’ FANPACK!

Slash also features in the immense new issue of Metal Hammer, on sale now, and we can give you a sneaky peek at his ace feature too! Check it out…

3 Inches Of Blood: considerably more metal than you

Anyone who knows 3 Inches Of Blood know that they’re metal as fuck, which is why we love them just a bit, and in ace new single ‘Look Out’ they pay tribute to none other than the legend that is Ronnie James Dio, who passed away two years ago.

‘Look Out’ is taken from incredible new 3 Inches Of Blood album ‘Long Live Heavy Metal’, out now on Century Media!

Metal Hammer can exclusively unveil the new video from Canadian heavy metallers Kobra And The Lotus, ‘Forever One’!

Check it the fuck out below and bang that head, baby:

The Interbeing: Great Danes

Metal Hammer is proud to unveil the brand new video from Danish techy types The Interbeing! Shadow Drift is taken from their brilliant album Edge Of The Obscure, out now.

Check this shit the fuck out below…

Watain will bring the fire to the Golden Gods!

Holy fuck! Black metal icons Watain will be invading this year’s Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards – and trust us, there will be blood, there will be fire, and there will be fucking carnage! Yes!

They join main stagers Anthrax, Biohazard and the mighty Ghost, who we exclusively revealed as playing in our new issue, as well as Shadows Fall, Attica Rage and Fozzy on our pre-awards show boat party – and none other than the brilliant Evil Scarecrow, who we’re stoked to announce won our huge Hobgoblin Band Search competition to play the Gods! Yes boys!

This year’s Metal hammer Golden Gods will be presented by Fozzy frontman and WWE icon Chris Jericho, and will take place on June 11 at the Indigo2 in the O2 complex – and don’t forget that you can still vote in this year’s Golden Gods and win tickets to the event get involved!

Still gutted from Sonisphere UK being cancelled? Why not head over to hang out at its sunnier cousin?

Basically, with Metallica, Slayer, Mastodon, Soundgarden, Machine Head, Orange Goblin, (probably) warm weather and lovely Spanish beers, we reckon this is a nice alternative indeed. Plus, it’s less than 90 Euros for two days! Bargain!

Get your tickets from the link below if you fancy a Sunny Soni Adventure (we just made that up. Clever eh?)

Sonisphere Spain tickets

Yes, While She Sleeps! Yes!

To celebrate the release of raging new video This Is The Six, each member of While She Sleeps have sent us a list of their six favourite ever music videos!

Here’s Part 3 from guitarist Sean Long.

“What makes a music video great? Look like you mean it, be passionate, and a lot of heavy METALLLL!”

SEAN’S PICKS

Thrice – Image Of The Invisible

Foo Fighters – The Pretender

Slipknot – Psychosocial

Marilyn Manson – This Is The New Shit

Underoath – Paper Lung

Slipknot – Duality

Buy This Is The Six now

Free Dead Behind The Eyes track stream

As a part of this year’s immense Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards and the tenth ever Download festival, you still have time to vote for your favourite Download moment in history!

To find out the nominees and cast your vote, click on the link below:

Vote for the best Download moment ever

This year, the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards reaches its tenth incarnation (yes, really!), and voting has officially opened! We’re looking to make it the biggest and greatest awards bash of them all and we are looking for you to not only vote for the bands you think are most deserving of these most heavy and prestigious of gongs, but by voting, you could actually win tickets to the show!

Coming straight after this year’s Download festival (because, you know, we’re well hard like that), the Golden Gods will land at London’s Indigo2 on Monday June 11, preceded as ever by our special pre-show boat party that’ll be cruising up the Thames to the biggest and baddest metal knees-up of the year

We’ll soon be announcing which iconic acts will be playing this year’s awards, but for now, enough hyperbole. Time to get to the important bit. Here’s the list of nominations for this year’s Golden Gods (sponsors in brackets):

Best UK band (Roadrunner)

Saxon

Fields Of The Nephilim

Tesseract

TRC

Black Spiders

Best International Band

Opeth

Meshuggah

Lamb Of God

Five Finger Death Punch

Nightwish

Best Event (Alchemy)

Manowar Returning To The UK

Iron Maiden’s UK Tour

Mustaine Playing With Metallica

Devin Townsend’s DTP London Shows

Tommy Lee Bringing His Drumcoaster To The UK

Best Live Band (Koppaberg)

Iron Maiden

Metallica

Rammstein

Skindred

Watain

Dimebag Darrell Shredder

Satchel (Steel Panther)

Devin Townsend

Dino Cazares (Fear Factory)

Adam D (Killswitch Engage)

Ol Drake (Evile)

Metal as F*ck (World Of Tanks)

Zoltan Bathroy (Five Finger Death Punch)

Hell

Sabaton

Anthrax

Nik Kai

The following awards will also take place on the night, as voted for by the esteemed team at Metal Hammer:

Drummer of the Year (DW Drums)

Album of the Year (Jackson)

Riff Lord (Zippo)

Icon (Encore)

The Golden God (Orange)

Get voting and register your votes and you could win a pair of tickets to come and party with us at the event itself! Let’s go!

Ronnie James Dio: Legend

Has it really been two years since we lost Ronnie James Dio? One of the most talented, brilliant and beloved frontmen to ever grace music, Ronnie’s legacy as a vocalist and as a personality will surely never be surpassed, and we miss him as dearly now as we did when that terrible news first broke that he had lost his battle with cancer.

You wouldn’t be on this website if you didn’t already know and appreciate what Ronnie meant to our world, so here are five ripping videos showing just why he was the very best. Legend.

Dio – Holy Diver

Rainbow – Stargazer

Black Sabbath – I

Dio – Rainbow In The Dark

Heaven And Hell – Bible Black

Black Sabbath Reunited

Ah, tits. Original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward has firmly and finally confirmed that he will not be taking part in this year’s Black Sabbath reunion shows.

Read his full statement below.

“Dear Sabbath Fans and Fellow Musicians,

I sincerely regret to inform you that after a final effort to participate in the upcoming Sabbath shows a failure to agree has continued. At this time I have to inform you that I won’t be playing with Black Sabbath at the Birmingham gig dated May 19th, 2012, nor will I be playing at Download on June 10th, 2012. Further, I will not be playing at Lollapalooza on August 3, 2012.

It is with a very sad heart that I bring you this news. I am sincerely passionate in my desire to play with the band, and I’m very, very sorry that it’s fallen to this. This statement is even more painstaking to write, as I was particularly excited to play alongside Tony Iommi after the recent treatments he underwent. I wanted that to become a reality.

To express my thoughts about you, the Sabbath fans, I’m going to speak to you all through an experience my brother James had recently. My brother Jimmy lives in the U.K. When speaking with him a couple of days ago, he told me that an acquaintance had stopped him on the street and confronted him, “is your brother playing Birmingham? What’s going on? I waited in line with my son and paid x amount for the concert tickets.”

The man’s son is a young drummer. He’s going to see Sabbath, and he wants to see Bill Ward play drums. Upon hearing this news, I felt horrible. I couldn’t help feeling some resentment towards the failure to reach an agreement, the failure to remember where we came from, the failure to be as brothers, as we once were. To be clear, I’m not blaming the other guys or finding any faults with them. I would think it can’t be easy for them either, but this situation is just really sad. It’s sad that it’s come to this. “This” will surely leave a mark and be unwelcome to the memory. Hopefully “this” will heal and pass in time.

My heart sank when Jimmy told me about this young boy. I know this boy is going to be disappointed, and I don’t know how to amend it, other than to put my arms around the boy and tell him I love him. Sabbath fans have a voice and a face, to me you’re human, you have families and despair. You have ferocity and emotions and graciousness, and at this moment as far as I’m concerned you are also that young boy in England. I don’t know how to amend my part in these failings other than to put my arms around you and say I love you and let you know I’m very, very sorry.

Throughout this process, which began over a year ago, I have had to stand up for myself time and time again. I have had to stand up for myself and in doing so realize my actions indirectly, although unintentionally, are upsetting and hurting a lot of you. I know in my heart I couldn’t have done these concerts by agreeing the terms suggested. I made a solemn vow after the last European and Ozzfest concerts that I would never again enter into what was, in my opinion, a totally unsatisfactory contract. I have to stand for something, and as painful as it is, I’m doing it.

Earlier in April 2012, I’d been asked to participate “minimally” in the Download festival. I believe I’d been offered no more than three songs to play while another drummer presumably played the rest of the show with Black Sabbath. I was not willing to participate in that offer. I was not prepared to watch another drummer play a Sabbath set, while I was to play only three songs.

I found out about the Birmingham gig on Monday, April 30 through the Internet ad. I was taken aback somewhat by the date, and the fact it was Birmingham. Knowing the “signable” contract negotiations were at best in shreds, I was upset by the idea that the band was going to play Birmingham and play it assumedly without me. I had no prior knowledge of the date and location, and I felt totally excluded. We contacted the representative for Black Sabbath to see if something could be worked out. In the meantime my drum crew and I, along with our US endorsers, finished all the necessary planning for a swift departure to the UK. There wasn’t a whole lot to complete; we’d all been on standby more or less since mid-January 2012. The remaining work in the UK was confirmed done by our European and UK endorsers and we were good to go by Friday, May 4 2012. There were two stress points: firstly, getting an agreement in place, and secondly, getting to England in a timely manner. Jetlag time was taken into account as well as drum practice, a drum practice room in the heart of Birmingham, accommodation, and travel arrangements were all in place to meet with any band rehearsals that may have transpired before the Birmingham show. So far everything that had been arranged was on my dime, but we didn’t move ahead without a realistic confirmation.

Communications between the representative and my lawyer continued through the weekend of May 5 finalizing on Wednesday, May 9. The offer we received on May 9 was, “come to the UK, play for free and see how the first show goes.” I was tempted. Playing for free would not have been a problem for me, but “seeing how the first show goes” left an element of risk which could have affected Download. My ideal thought was to play in full the Birmingham show, in full Download, and in full Lollapalooza.

I had notified the representative that May 10 was my cutoff day in order to have good lead-in time for England. On the night of May 9 I asked for a brief letter to be sent to the representative asking to find out if we were at an end. On the morning of Thursday, May 10, I received a reply in the affirmative. After consulting with my advisors and crew a decision was made to let go and stop.

I can’t prioritize the Sabbath fans making one show more important than the other. I can’t do that. All of you are important. It’s all the gigs or none at all. I can’t come to Birmingham and “see what happens” knowing there is a risk of not being able to play Download or Lollapalooza. Again, for me, it’s all or nothing. I had to say “no” to Birmingham on the principle of wanting to play all the shows. Saying no to Birmingham is very difficult for me. My family grew up in Birmingham. Black Sabbath grew up in Birmingham. It’s still my hometown and I resent having to arrive at such a difficult choice.

Although the statement was made that, “the door is always open” for me, as explained above, walking through that door is not always as easy as it sounds. There are many complicated issues and unseen and unspoken agendas on hand. I can assure you, my criteria for a “signable” contract is based in mindful principles, respectability, and acknowledgement of my history within the band.

I hold no malice or resentment towards the other band members. I love them; I’m tolerant of them; I’m frustrated with them, as they may be with me. My fight has never been with them. I’ll love them forever. In my opinion, nobody wins this time; the band doesn’t win; the fans for an original lineup don’t win. Nobody wins, nobody. Even the ones who thought they did.

I didn’t want to make this decision, but I have to be honest and transparent. This is the statement I didn’t want to write; it’s the last thing I wanted to do. But, I have written it, and now it can go into the universe.

Since Spring of 2011, I’ve waited patiently and hopefully for a signable contract, you know the rest. I stand for the boy in the U.K., for the coming drum student, for all the drummers, who write their parts out and get stiffed on the publishing, I stand with the Sabbath fans chanting “Bill Ward” and asking “why?” and I stand with Tony and Geezer and Ozzy.

On a final note, even though I’m at an end with the upcoming announced concerts, I will remain with an open mind and a position of willingness to negotiate “signable” terms with Sabbath’s representatives in the future.

Stay strong.
Stay safe.

With all my heart and strength, I love you,
Bill Ward”

Black Sabbath play Download this June and Birmingham this Saturday.

Download tickets

Yes, While She Sleeps! Yes!

To celebrate the release of raging new video This Is The Six, each member of While She Sleeps have sent us a list of their six favourite ever music videos!

Here’s Part 2 from guitarist Mat Welsh.

“What makes a good music video? Passion and pride in what you’re doing, and not caring what you look like. I hate seeing videos where people look conscious about their image, it’s a video because the song rocks, so rock the fuck out!”

MAT’S PICKS

Sick Of It All – Step Down

Underoath – Paper Lung

Comeback Kid – Wake The Dead

Foo Fighters – The Pretender

Slipknot – Duality

Trash Talk – Slander

Buy This Is The Six now

Free Dead Behind The Eyes track stream

Slash has unveiled his brand new video!

‘You’re A Lie’ – featuring the ace Myles Kennedy from Alter Bridge – is taken from Slash’s new studio album ‘Apocalyptic Love’!

Click below to check it out.

‘You’re A Lie’ video

The recently released ‘Apocalyptic Love’ tracklisting is as follows..

1) Apocalyptic Love
2) One Last Thrill
3) Standing in the Sun
4) You’re a Lie
5) No More Heroes
6) Halo
7) We Will Roam
8 ) Anastasia
9) Not for Me
10) Bad Rain
11) Hard & Fast
12) Far and Away

The album will be released by our buddies at Classic Rock in a special fanpack edition! The edition will feature exclusive interviews, the album itself along with exclusive bonus tracks and will also come with free gifts including a pin badge and artwork poster. So basically, you’d be a mug not to get one.

It’s out in shops on May 21, but you can pre-order yours right freakin’ now! DO IT.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR SLASH ‘APOCALYPTIC LOVE’ FANPACK!

Slash also features in the immense new issue of Metal Hammer, on sale now!

Unfortunately, Slash also dismissed Scott Weiland‘s claims that he was back in Velvet Revolver earlier. Ah well.

Hail and Kill! Metal Hammer is honoured to announce a partnership with Manowar, the world’s ultimate Defenders Of The Faith, with a special release of their long-awaited 12th studio album, The Lord Of Steel on June 26th, 2012!

You can pre-order a special edition of Metal Hammer right now that features the new album in full, an in-depth 20 page feature about the album containing exclusive content and interviews with all members of the band and a second free album – Holyhell’s ace Darkness Visible!

Click the link below to order your copy right moltherfucking now!

Order Manowar’s The Lord Of Steel

Confirmed song titles include ‘El Gringo’, ‘Hail, Kill And Die!’, ‘Expendable’ (named after the Sly Stallone blockbusters!) and ‘Annihilation’. Basically, this is going to rule 2012. HAIL MANOWAR!

Check out a sneak peak at some of the band’s new material below…

The album will be mixed and mastered at the legendary Wisseloord Studios by long-time collaborators mixing engineer Ronald Prent and two-time Grammy award-winning mastering engineer Darcy Proper. Full details here!

Order Manowar’s The Lord Of Steel

Our Zakk with his guitar

Black Label Society mainman, former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist and axe-toting genius Zakk Wylde talks to Metal Hammer in our beast of a new issue, as we grill the Bearded One on everything from becoming a rockstar to those Ozzy And Friends shows and the icon that is Randy Rhoads.

Check it out…

On The Follow-Up To Order Of The Black

“After the eight-week crusade playing with BLS and the boss, we’re gonna do the Unblackened DVD – with a four-piece string section, pedal; steel, piano and really blow it up. Like a Neil Young Unplugged on steroids.”

On Heavy Metal As A Career

“It’s just like what Bruce Lee said when [someone asked] ‘Yeah, but how is that gonna help you when a guy’s got a knife in a back alley?’ He goes: ‘I’ll just pick up a brick and knock it over his fuckin’ head!’ That’s just reality, man, you know what I mean? There are no rules – same in the music business. There are no qualifications for rock ‘n’ roll. If you want to be a welder, you need to have a licence. If you want to be a chef, you got to know how to fucking cook. But if you want to be in music, there are no qualifications.”

On Randy Rhoads

Right away, me and my buddies were like, ‘he plays with Ozzy, he’s gotta be cool!’ That was when I first started playing. When he came out we thought Randy was the coolest. When I look back at pictures of him it takes me back to being 14 and everything he did was beyond amazing.”

The new Metal Hammer is out right now and also features Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Slash, Children Of Bodom, a free CD and much, much more!

Fancy asking Download‘s head honcho those burning questions you’ve been gagging for answers to? Well, now you can – because Live Nation promoter and Download booker Andy Copping will be joining Hill, Merl and Amit on this week’s Metal Hammer Podcast!

Join the Metal Hammer Podcast Facebook page to fire us your questions for Andy, and we’ll get as many answered as we can. Bring it on!

Download 2012 takes place from June 8-10 at Castle Donnington and featuring a banger of a lineup including The Prodigy, Black Sabbath, Metallica playing the Black Album in full, Machine Head, Lamb Of God, Slash, Anthrax, Megadeth and way way more.

Download tickets

Listen to last week’s Metal Hammer Podcast

Velvet Revolver: not together again

Well, that’s thrown a spanner in the works. Mere hours after Scott Weiland had apparently confirmed that Velvet Revolver had reunited with him returning on vocals, Slash has not only denied the claims, but basically said that Scott is talking crazy talk.

“He’s out of his mind!,” he told Minnesota’s 93X Radio upon hearing the news.

“There’s been a common rumour going around. I know he’s been positive about that subject. Maybe they know something I don’t know. I have absolutely no intention of going back to that.”

Slash is pretty busy already this year with new album ‘Apocalyptic Love’ about to drop, adding, “I’m on tour all year. I’ll call Duff – but I seriously doubt it. We have no intention of going backwards.”

Whatchoo talkin’ bout, Scotty?

Bloodstock 2012

Witchsorrow, Batallion and the mighty Dripback are the latest additions for this year’s Bloodstock festival!

Bloodstock 2012 takes place from August 10-12 at Catton, Derby, and also features the likes of Behemoth, Alice Cooper, Watain, Dimmu Borgir, Orange Goblin, Testament, Sepultura and many more! To check out the full latest lineup and to get your tickets, check out the link below:

Bloodstock tickets

Plus, that’s there small matter of that Bloodstock mystery headliner too. Hmm…

It’s big, it’s badass, and it’s on sale right now, baby!

Metal Hammer is stoked to announce an awesome, one-off publication of a special edition of Metallica’s So What! Magazine – Metallica: The 30th Anniversary Event. This special edition will commemorate Metallica’s 30th Anniversary celebration that took place at San Francisco’s iconic Fillmore Theatre in December 2011, and will hit newsstands nationwide on May 14, 2012 and is available for pre-order now at www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/metallica.

“I couldn’t think of a cooler way to round out the first 30 years than how the Fillmore week played out in December,” says Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. “And I can’t think of a cooler way to start off the next 30 years than immortalizing that unique, incomparable and unforgettable week in magazine form, our first So What! edition to leave the confines of our fan club.”

“This is an incredibly exciting partnership,” said Metal Hammer editor Alexander Milas. “Metallica’s 30th anniversary shows were history in the making, and the chance to work with So What! – easily one of the metal world’s best loved and respected fanzines – was simply too good to pass up.”

Metallica: The 30th Anniversary Event will be a 128-page magazine featuring exclusive live and behind the scenes photos from the four historic nights at the Fillmore Theatre, post Fillmore interviews with all four members of Metallica, a few of the fan favorites who joined the band on stage, and a look behind the scenes on how the shows came together. The issue will also feature an exclusive 7-inch vinyl single of ‘So What!’ and ‘Through The Never’, recorded during four shows last year.

ABOUT SO WHAT! – THE CLUB MAGAZINE
So What! is a quarterly publication published by the Metallica Club and sent exclusively to the fan club members. Each issue is a collector’s item featuring 48 glossy, full color pages that brings club members the most Metallica news, photos, and inside information. Metallica are major contributors to each magazine answering fan letters, providing personal photos and letters, judging contests, and providing a behind the scenes view that fans won’t find anywhere else. Each issue of So What! brings the members of the fan club even farther into the world of Metallica.

So basically, this is going to rule. Order your fanpack at www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/metallica

Velvet Revolver: together again

It’s official: after joining the band for a special one-off show earlier this year, Scott Weiland is back in Velvet Revolver full-time and will appear on the band’s new album and forthcoming tours!

“We’ve all grown a lot,” explains Weiland to ABC News Radio. “We’re able to put egos and differences and old…conflicts aside and so that’s really cool. Slash’s solo album gets released [on May 22] and so he’s gonna do some touring on that and then we’re gonna go and do some [Velvet Revolver] shows in the later part of summer into early fall.”

So there we go. Here’s hope that next album is a beast!

Has it really been 20 years since 'Vulgar Display Of Power'?!

In honour of the 20th Anniversary edition of classic opus ‘Vulgar Display Of Power’ being released today, this week’s Metal Hammer spotlight is dedicated to the mighty Pantera! You fucking know it.

Head over to http://spotlight.metalhammer.co.uk/ to hear some classic Pantera material, plus new single ‘Piss’, and to download the album in full!

FIVE AWESOME PANTERA VIDEOS

Yes, While She Sleeps! Yes!

To celebrate the release of raging new video This Is The Six, each member of While She Sleeps have sent us a list of their six favourite ever music videos!

Here’s Part 1…

THIS IS THE SIX: LAWRENCE TAYLOR (VOCALS)

“What makes a good music video? Shitloads of energy for me; if ya wanna watch something it may as well be fast, energetic and filled with rage, haha!”

Lawrence’s Picks…

1. Refused: New Noise

2. Comeback Kid – Wake The Dead

3. 80s Matchbox B-Line Disaster – Mister Mental

4. Underoath – Paper Lung

5. Aphex Twin – Come To Daddy

6. Cancer Bats – Dead Wrong

Come back tomorrow for Part 2….

Get stuck in below…

Yes, While She Sleeps! Yes!

Sheffield metallers While She Sleeps have unleashed a fucking killer new video!

‘This Is The Six’ is taken from upcoming new While She Sleeps album, released August 6th through Search & Destroy Records.

Get stuck in, yeah?

Check it out…

You can catch Brotherhood Of The lake at the following shows:

June
20 – Doncaster – Vintage Rock Bar
21 – Sheffield – Corporation
22 – Nottingham – Red Room at Rescue Rooms
23 – Stoke – Sugarmill
24 – Leicester – Soundhouse
25 – Birmingham – The Flapper
26 – London – Old Blue Last
27 – Wrexham – Central Station
28 – Bristol – The Gryphon
29 – Weymouth – Finns Rock Club
30 – Leeds – Ghostfest

www.facebook.com/brotherhoodofthelake

Marilyn Manson: Peacock

Marilyn Manson has spoken about ace new album ‘Born Villain’ in the first of a series of new video interviews!

Check it out below…

Manson has some big words for his critics and, indeed, his own recent run of form, in the amazing new issue of Metal Hammer – on sale now! Check out some snippets from the feature and order your issue below…

On His Somewhat Dodgy Recent Albums

“I think the last two records were a period that had to happen, even if I didn’t want them to. If you sit and read what everyone says about you, there can come a time where you let it get to you and start to second guess who you are. I was on a roll and satisfied with my music and my shows and it just seemed to go wayward after that.”

On Making A ‘Comeback’

“It takes a lot to humble yourself and admit that you’re making a comeback, but that’s what it has to be described as when you’ve gone through a period where you’ve not been everything you’ve supposed to be. Not ‘I’m not what I’m supposed to be’, because I don’t want to retrace the past, more ‘I’m not what I need to be’.

On Dating Actresses

“If you want to stay out of the tabloids, don’t fuck actresses.”

Fair enough. Read more in the amazing new issue of metal Hammer – also featuring Slayer, Slipknot, Slash, Children Of Bodom, a free CD and much, much more!

Freddie Mercury: Legend.

Rock icons Queen – who were due to play at Sonisphere 2012 with singer Adam Lambert before the festival was cancelled – have confirmed that a Freddie Mercury hologram will be making an appearance at a special Queen performance to mark ten years of Queen musical ‘We Will Rock You’.

“It’s a little unfortunate they did that thing with Tupac as we’ve been trying to make Freddie appear on the stage for quite a while,” guitarist Brian May told the BBC, before adding that Mercury’s hologram will not employ the same technology used to bring late rapper Tupac Shakur to life at Coachella in America last month.

May wouldn’t elaborate, but called the “effect” being used “an optical illusion of sorts.”

Meanwhile, we’ve also heard that the team behind the 2Pac hologram are interested in bringing a Kurt Cobain hologram to the stage. Interesting…

Rush will bring the prog to the UK in 2013

Canadian prog legends Rush have announced a 2013 UK arena tour!

Geddy and the boys will hit the following UK venues:

2013
Wed May 22nd Manchester Arena
Fri May 24th London, O2 Arena
Sun May 26th Birmingham, LG Arena
Tues May 28th Sheffield, Motorpoint Arena
Thurs May 30th Glasgow, SECC

Get your tickets from the link below…

Rush tickets

Classic Rock (Metal Hammer’s sister mag and generally lovely chaps, FYI) have announced that they’ll be putting out a special fanpack edition of new Rush album ‘Clockwork Angels’ on June 11!

The Classic Rock ‘Clockwork Angels’ fanpack will contain the 12-track ‘Clockwork Angels’ studio album, alongside a specially created magazine with unseen behind-the-scenes content, as well as brand new, exclusive artwork from Rush’s longtime collaborator Hugh Syme and free gifts including a limited edition ‘Clockwork Angels’ keyring and artwork poster!

The fanpack will be available to buy via more than 2000 retail outlets on newsstands nationally as well as the traditional high street and online music retailers, but you can orders yours RIGHT NOW from the link below…

Rush ‘Clockwork Angels’ fanpack

The ‘Clockwork Angels’ tracklisting is as follows…

1. Caravan
2. BU2B
3. Clockwork Angels
4. The Anarchist
5. Carnies
6. Halo Effect
7. Seven Cities Of Gold
8. The Wreckers
9. Headlong Flight
10. BU2B2
11. Wish Them Well
12. The Garden

This week: Firewind and Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Gus G.

Yes, this is genuinely Gus G's cat

NAME: MARKOS
AGE: 17
LIKES: EATING
DISLIKES: WHISTLING
FAVOURITE RECORD: YNGWIE MALMSTEEN – FACING THE ANIMAL
LIVES WITH: GUS G. & MRS. G.

In a band? Have a Heavy Metal Pet? Send a piccy and the above form in to heresies@futurenet.com

Kerry King gets bloodied

Slayer perform Reign In Blood in full at ATP’s I’ll Be Your Mirror Festival on May 25, and to celebrate, we take an exclusive look at Reign In Blood’s incredible legacy in the new issue of Metal Hammer!

In our ace Reign In Blood feature, we look at the impact that one of the mightiest, most influential – and most controversial – metal albums of all time had, including the controversy caused by opening track Angel Of Death…

“All of a sudden, the record company doesn’t want to release the album because of this song,” remembers frontman Tom Araya. “When Jeff [Hanneman, guitarist] brought in the song, we thought, ‘Wow, that’s really cool – this was the guy [Nazi physician Josef Mengele] that did all those crazy, terrible things.’ Then all of a sudden we discovered that people had a problem with that. We were like, ‘Fuuuuuck…’”

In hindsight, Kerry King can see what the fuss was all about.

“Absolutely,” the guitarist admits. “Nazis, hard cocks, Popes. Those were weird times.”

Yes, yes they were. The new Metal Hammer is out right now and also features Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Slash, Children Of Bodom, a free CD and much, much more!

Will we see Pantera reform with Zakk Wylde?

Former Pantera and Down bassist Rex Brown has commented on the relationship between Vinnie Paul and Phil Anselmo and those long held Zakk Wylde/Pantera rumours in a new interview with the San Antonion Metal Music Examiner.

Check it out…

San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: Where do you stand on Vinnie and Phil not having spoken all these years?

Rex: Vinnie’s just not open to talking to either one of us. Nothing to do with me. I have no problem talking to Vince. We emailed a couple times, but nothing major. You know, we keep hearing rumors about a reunion with Zakk Wylde on guitar, and that is such bullshit. You can’t replace my brother.

San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: Do you have a favorite memory or story of Dimebag you’d like to share?

Rex: There are so many. Where do I start? Over the years, there were so many shenanigans and pranks. Dime always had a camera with him. I called him “the irreplaceable arm.” He always had a guitar in one hand and a camera in the other and would capture everything on film. Just pulling pranks. It’s all been very well documented in the home videos, and I’m saving some of that for the book. As much as he entertained, you know, he had to have entertainment back.

Fair point. In the mean time, we can at least enjoy new Pantera single ‘Piss‘.

Metallica will play through The Black Album at Download 2012

Metallica frontman and professional “HEY-YEH-YAH”-er James Hetfield has shot down rumours of a potential Metallica/Megadeth supergroup taking place after Dave Mustaine played with Metallica at their epic 30th Anniversary Shows last year.

“We learned a lot from the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame about maturity and grace, as far as previous members and things like that — especially after watching other bands get up there and bicker about stupid things,” says James in our epic Metallica: The 30th Anniversary Event one-off special.

“They didn’t get the big picture. Excuse me, but there’s a lot of people out there that enjoyed that lineup, or a lot of people grew up with that lineup, and why are you not celebrating that? Why are you not embracing that as part of your history? And it’s sad and it’s selfish. And because we were able to have Dave onstage [at the Fillmore] and Jason [Newsted, former METALLICA bassist] and Bob [Rock, former METALLICA producer] and all these other people that were part of our history, we were able to rise above the bickering and celebrate it.”

He added, “I think especially with Dave, with all of his struggles. I see him healthier now. I see him as less of a bitter guy. But I do see a lot of stuff in the press with him talking about jamming with us and making an album. All this other crazy stuff. I read it and say to myself, ‘Hold on. This is the Dave that we kind of wanted to forget about. You know, the big-mouth that wants to just go-go-go.’ But there is an authenticity about him when he speaks. He doesn’t think too much before he does. He just goes off the cuff. Plus, when he says stuff like that, it’s well-intended.”

Interesting. Well, either way, both Megadeth and Metallica will be at Download this year, even if on different days.

Order your Metallica 30th Anniversary Event magazine at www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/metallica

Download tickets

Hi Friday. Hello Metal Hammer Podcast! We think you’ll get on fine.

Today, Hill, Merl and Amit talk through:

Metallica Black Album backwards, Anathema in London, Gojira announcing UK dates, 3 Inches Of Blood being metal as fuck, Metal Hammer FC joining Soccer Six, our top album closers, and, of course, remembering the legend that is Beastie Boys’ MCA.

Click the play button below to get involved.

Manowar will hail the 'Lord Of Steel'!

We can reveal that heavy metal icons Manowar will release new album ‘The Lord Of Steel’ on June 16!

Confirmed song titles include ‘El Gringo’, ‘Hail, Kill And Die!’, ‘Expendable’ (named after the Sly Stallone blockbusters!) and ‘Annihilation’. Basically, this is going to rule 2012. HAIL MANOWAR!

Check out a sneak peak at some of the band’s new material below…

The album will be mixed and mastered at the legendary Wisseloord Studios by long-time collaborators mixing engineer Ronald Prent and two-time Grammy award-winning mastering engineer Darcy Proper. Full details here!

Architects will play Slam Dunk in May

Architects are back with a brand new album and a new video too! Which is nice. Check out the brilliant ‘Alpha Omega’ below…

New Architects album ‘Daybreaker’ is out May 28 via Century Media.

TesseracT tour with AAL later this year

Rising proggy UK metallers TesseracT have exclusively unveiled an awesome new track with Metal Hammer! ‘Dream Brother’ – originally recorded by Jeff Buckley – is taken from the Perspective EP, out on the 21 May, via Century Media.

Check it out below…

TesseracT and Animals As Leaders will hit the following venues later this year (tickets below)…

October 2012
23 London Scala
24 Manchester Moho Live
25 Glasgow Cat House
26 O2 Birmingham Academy 3
27 Sheffield Corporation
28 Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach
29 Bristol Fleece
30 Southampton The Cellar

Tesseract Animals As Leaders tickets

Black Sabbath Reunited...not with Vinny though.

Former Black Sabbath and Dio drummer Vinny Appice has commented further on the rumours that he was set to take over from Bill Ward for this year’s reunion shows….

Appice tells The Great Southern Brainfart: “It was kinda funny to see this big deal about Black Sabbath coming back, and then suddenly Bill’s not doing it. Then I read all these posts saying: ‘Vinny should be next in line,’ then others saying: ‘Fuck Vinny – it should be Bill.’

“Then I read Tommy Clufetos from Ozzy’s band is thrown in the mix and they’re like, ‘Fuck Tommy. Vinny should be up there.’ It’s like the gossiping housewives of Jersey Shore or something.”

“I think the first choice should honestly be Bill Ward. At this point it’ll probably be the last Black Sabbath tour. The fans honestly want to see the real band. I would like to see it too – they play unbelievably together.

“I guess the whole problem with this thing is money. It’s a shame to see that. If they end up doing it with another drummer it’ll be the second-best thing.”

Appice also reveals some of the frustrations of working with Iommi and co – including the strangest touring experience of his career.

“Black Sabbath toured the States and Bill was actually playing on that tour,” he recalls. “But I was on tour with them in case Bill had a problem. He didn’t have any issues, so I went the whole tour without playing. It was ridiculous. I felt like I was getting out of shape from not playing.”

And he explains the reason behind his understated playing style on Heaven and Hell’s 2009 album The Devil You Know, for which he took a good deal of flak from fans and critics: “It was written with a friggin’ drum machine.

“It was stupid. I wanted to go into a rehearsal plane and jam, and work the shit up loud. That’s the way we did Mob Rules and Dehumanizer. But instead it would up with us working in Ronnie’s studio with a drum machine.

“It wasn’t inspiring. You can’t hang or swing on a drum machine – it’s hard to work that way. If we’d been in a room rehearsing, the music would have been a lot more aggressive and a lot more Sabbathy.

“When the album came out I got feedback like, ‘Vinny didn’t play shit on the drums.’ I was like, ‘Okay, but you guys don’t know the whole story.’”

So that rules him out. Er…again.

Black Sabbath play Download in June.

Download tickets