TONY IOMMI On METALLICA: 'What They Did With The Metal Sound, Turning It Into Thrash, Was Fantastic'

In a recent interview with Guitar World magazine, BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi was asked what he thought of his band's influence on the thrash movement, which was popularized by such acts as METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX. He responded: "It was nice to hear those thrash bands paying tribute to us. It's great how they were able to push it forward into something new and turn it into their own thing. I was just coming up with things I liked. So it was brilliant to hear about other musicians liking what I'd done, taking the same kind of idea and improving on it, evolving it into their own sound. Like METALLICA, for instance, who probably learned things from us as well as other people. What they did with the metal sound, turning it into thrash, was fantastic. They've always been respectful toward us and they're lovely guys. I love their attitude toward things, the way they write and everything. It reminds us a lot of how we were — everyone in one room rehearsing together and taking it seriously."

METALLICA members Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield inducted BLACK SABBATH into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in March 2006 in New York City.

In a moving speech, Hetfield choked up as he painted a picture of himself as a nine-year-old introvert who found salvation in the din of Tony Iommi & Co. "He was drawn to them... like a shy boy to his own loud voice," Hetfield said at the event. "Those monstrous riffs lived inside him and spoke the feelings he could never put into words, sending chills of inspiration through him, from those gloomy lyrics and outlaw chords and all."

He added: "I realize that without [SABBATH's] defining sound, there would be no METALLICA, especially with one James Hetfield. Never have I known a more timeless and influential band. They have spread their wonderful disease through generations of musicians. They are always listed as an influence by heavy bands to this day. They are loved and highly respected as the fathers of heavy music."

Ulrich, for his part, said: "Obviously if there was no BLACK SABBATH, there would be no METALLICA. If there was no BLACK SABBATH, hard rock and heavy metal as we know it today would look, sound and be shaped very, very differently. So if there was no BLACK SABBATH, I could possibly still be a morning newspaper delivery boy — no fun, no fun.

"SABBATH join what I consider a very short list of artists who can claim to be synonymous with their specific genre of music," he added. "No matter how you fucking slice and dice it, when you say 'heavy metal,' the words BLACK SABBATH hover in the shadows fighting for pole position. On any given day, the heavy metal genre might as well be subtitled 'music derivative of BLACK SABBATH.' Sure, we're all respectful to BLUE CHEER, we're enamored with LED ZEPPELIN, we're in awe of DEEP PURPLE and, of course, admiring of STEPPENWOLF and John Kay's first uttering of the words 'heavy metal,' but when it comes to defining a genre within the world of heavy music, SABBATH stand alone. They took pre-existing elements of blues, rock and soul, threw in the right amount of darkness and street cred, and fused those elements with a previously undiscovered 'X' factor — whatever the fuck that was — creating something unheard, unexperienced, unique and utterly groundbreaking with their huge hymns of doom. BLACK SABBATH are an entity of their own — in my mind, the only word that fits is the word 'pioneer.' They were, and much more importantly, still are considered pioneers of all things heavy. All the metal bands and all the so-called subgenres of metal still trace their lineage to one place: four kids in their late teens from the black country of Birmingham who named their band after a 1963 Italian horror movie starring Boris Karloff. Subsequently they changed hard rock and by doing so the entire family tree of metal and everything that metal, for better or worse, stands for, was and will be forever both invigorated and elevated."

In a 1992 interview with Guitar World, Hetfield said that he "discovered BLACK SABBATH by digging through" his older brother's record collection. "Their album covers really drew me in," he said. "I immediately thought, 'I gotta put this on.' And when I did, I couldn't believe it. It was, like, 'Whoa! Heavy as shit.' SABBATH was everything that the '60s weren't. Their music was so cool because it was completely anti-hippie. I hated THE BEATLES, JETHRO TULL, LOVE and all that other happy shit."