BLACK SABBATH's Touring Drummer TOMMY CLUFETOS Speaks To U.K.'s RHYTHM Magazine (Video)

In the four-minute preview for the brand new issue of U.K.'s Rhythm magazine, BLACK SABBATH's current touring drummer Tommy Clufetos talks about playing with the legendary heavy metal band, his huge kit and the importance of hard work.

Clufetos explained why he took the SABBATH job despite fan disapproval following the departure of the band's original drummer Bill Ward, saying, "I look at it as an opportunity to play great music and experience something new. If I wasn't going to play drums, somebody else would have played... I understand all the mixed feelings and emotions. I totally get it. But I'm here to do the greatest job I can, and give people the experience of hearing those songs. I think I've done that. I think people have walked away enjoying what I've brought."

Clufetos does not mention Ward by name, but acknowledges that his own drumming with SABBATH is "paying homage to what was done before me."

For loads more from Tommy, pick up the March 2014 issue of Rhythm, on sale now at this location.

BLACK SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne was asked by Billboard.com in a 2013 interview why Clufetos did not record the drum tracks on their new album, "13", on which the drums were played by Brad Wilk of RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. Ozzy replied: "The way it was dealt with wasn't very fair on Tommy. [Producer] Rick Rubin just didn't want to work with him for reasons I don't know. He's a great drummer, and he's been with me for awhile now and I just felt that nobody discussed the decision about Brad to me, and it's not fair to Tommy. Tommy was promised the album... It's not because he was my drummer and my ego wanted him. It was just the fact the way it was dealt with. It just got me a bit, it got me pissed off about it. It's alright now. He's a great drummer. I don't know what the problem was."

As for Wilk, Osbourne says he "did a good job. I don't have anything bad to say. He's a very nice guy."

In an e-mail to Billboard.com, Rubin explained that "Brad is a muscular drummer with great feel and understands the groovy nature of their music — RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE is a groovy rock band, not a metal band — so it was worth a try. When they played together the first time, it was obvious he would do a great job in the seat [original SABBATH drummer] Bill [Ward] left vacated. Bill's a great drummer and I'm sure it would have been an amazing album with him. We all wanted him to participate."

Asked what happened with Bill Ward, who was announced as part of the band's reunion in late 2011 but bowed out a few months later, Ozzy told Spin, "To be absolutely truthful with you, I can't really remember. It was such a long time ago. There was the business side of it and the money side of it. We just didn't have the time to keep the people waiting another fucking ten years . . . We would have loved Bill Ward to step up to the plate, but it never worked out."

Ward claimed that he sat out the reunion because of unfair contractual terms, although the members of SABBATH have hinted in other interviews that he wasn't physically up to the task.

"13" is the first album in 35 years to feature Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler all playing together.

The set, which came out on June 11, 2013, sold 155,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart, giving the group its first chart-topper ever in America.

BLACK SABBATH will return to North America in 2014 for a series of 10 shows beginning on March 31 in Brooklyn, New York and encompassing mostly Canadian stops until winding down on April 26 in Los Angeles. According to a press release, these gigs will be among the final shows that SABBATH does in support of "13".

SABBATH released a live album and DVD/Blu-ray captured on last year's world tour, called "Black Sabbath: Live… Gathered In Their Masses", on November 26.

Interview:

Tommy Clufetos drum solo (July 25, 2013 in Houston, Texas):