BLACK SABBATH's TONY IOMMI On Split With BILL WARD: 'We Were All Disappointed In It'

Paul Cashmere of Australia's Noise11.com recently recently conducted an interview with BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi. You can now watch the chat below.On drummer Bill Ward's decision to back out of the BLACK SABBATH reunion over a contractual dispute:Iommi: "It's been a on-off thing with Bill for many years with me. It was disappointing. We were all disappointed in it. It happened before with [the BLACK SABBATH offshoot band] HEAVEN & HELL [which featured Ronnie James Dio on vocals]. We wanted Bill to come in and Bill wanted to do it again. We got him in and he left again. We were used to it, really. It's a shame. We would have liked Bill to be on the [new BLACK SABBATH] album ['13'], and I'm sure Bill would have liked to have been on it, but it just got to a silly situation. It just didn't happen."On being the only member of BLACK SABBATH to have never left the band:Iommi: "It was just that I never left. I carried on. What do you do? You try and make the best of what you can. I enjoyed some of what we done. We did some really good stuff. With Dio, I thought 'Heaven And Hell', 'Mob Rules', they were good albums. 'Dehumanizer' and stuff. Also some of the stuff with Tony Martin [vocals] and Cozy [Powell, drums] I liked. When people aren't there, you try and replace it, and it's really difficult to replace original members, because that's the sound you have, you all create. I've done quite a few albums with Tony Martin, Cozy Powell, Neil Murray. We'd done 'Headless Cross' and the 'Forbidden' album, which was the last one we'd done with that lineup. I didn't really like that album."Ward was on board for the reunion when it was first announced in November 2011, but backed out soon after, claiming that he was given contractual terms that were not fair.SABBATH has used Ozzy's regular touring drummer Tommy Clufetos since then for live work. RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE's Brad Wilk laid down the drum tracks on "13", due out June 11.SABBATH finished the Australian leg of its world tour earlier in the month and played Japan's first-ever Ozzfest on May 12. A North American trek begins on July 25 in the Woodlands, Texas.