BLACK SABBATH Guitarist Seeks Singer For Solo Project

September 29, 2003

BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi has told Guitar One magazine that he is currently stockpiling riffs and searching for a singer for his next solo album. Iommi was previously in talks with SUPERJOINT RITUAL/ex-PANTERA frontman Philip Anselmo about a possible collaboration, but scheduling conflicts eventually forcedAnselmo to bow out of the project.

When asked how he keeps coming up with fresh new riffs three decades into heavy metal's history, Iommi said, "In the early days, I'd play a riff for the other guys, and it would have to stand on its own. The idea was to try and make the song as powerful as it could be without a vocal, and then add the vocal. It's just a certain feeling you get when you're writing. These days I go into my studio and put ideas down and then listen to them at my leisure. I tend to record a lot, and then in the morning, I might be having a shave or something, and I put the CD on and see which riffs stand out. I have thousands of unused riffs stored on CD."

According to Iommi, the key to any successful band is following your instinct and not over-thinking your sound.

"I think one of the problems is that people try to manufacture styles," Tony said. "I think every bloody manufactured band comes from Britain. I hate some of that stuff. But as far as any serious music goes, you've just got to let it happen. If you try to force it — 'Oh, we've got to do something between this style and that' — it never sounds right."

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