FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

On The Road: Black Sabbath And The Birth Of Heavy Metal

Heavy metal thunder’s gonna reign.

At the end of last year it was announced that Black Sabbath were getting back together for some gigs during 2012. Rock enthusiasts and stoners across the land rejoiced. But it wasn't just metal hoody-clad teenagers with split end ridden shoulder length mom hair, straining to keep up with their dad's largely exaggerated stories of a raucous leather-clad 70s and saturday nights down the youth centre by smoking shit hash on a park bench whilst reminiscing about Wolfmother's first album that got excited. To be honest pretty much anyone with good taste got hyped, because Black Sabbath were – and are – the fucking shit.

Advertisement

The four piece from Aston, Birmingham basically invented evil music a whole genre in the process and have massively influenced every non-shit rock band to come along since.

However, in a saddening turn of events and under circumstances that are still a little cloudy, drummer Bill Ward ended up not taking part in the shows after claiming that he hadn’t been offered ‘a signable contract’ and was only asked to play on three tracks.

The gigs went ahead in Birmingham at Download Festival and it seemed as if any hope of the four of them ever playing together again extinguished. Metalheads and their fathers everywhere wept.

Bill’s not spoken about the whole ordeal much since. However, our man Jesse Hughes from Eagles of Death Metal managed to catch up with the old turn recently as part of VICE and Marshall Headphones’ rock’n’roll road trip series On The Road to squeeze the story out of him. In the new series, entitled Black Sabbath and the Birth of Heavy Metal, Jesse asked Bill about the future, and he hinted at a possible thawing of the tension amongst the bandmates.

"There have been some very uncomfortable moments in the last 6 months…If there’s some longevity with Black Sabbath then I’d like to be a part of it.

I want to play loud drums. I love playing with Terry, I love playing with Ozz and I love playing with Tony. When Tony opens up with huge chords, I still get the same shiver up my back that I got when we were 18 year old kids. It ain’t gone away. It’s still there.”

Advertisement

Jesse and Bill chatted on about the early days of the band and why the Midlands was such a hotbed of amazing rock bands in the 70s. Which all led to Jesse going on a magical heavy metal pilgrimage back to the land that once fired coal and industry, to find out where and how it all started.

By the way, we’re trying to stay neutral here, but Bill Ward is clearly the nicest man in rock and none of them need the money anymore so let’s all kiss and make up and do some secret gig somewhere in England so we can go please.

On The Road: Black Sabbath and the Birth of Heavy Metal premieres every Thursday here.

www.marshallheadphones.com

www.facebook.com/marshallheadphones