Jimmy Kay from Canada's The Metal Voice recently spoke to former Black Sabbath, Dio drummer Vinny Appice, who on October 27th will be releasing an album with his brother Carmine, entitled Sinister.

Talking about when he was asked to possibly join Ozzy Osbourne's band during the Blizzard Of Ozz period, Appice reveals: “Right before Sabbath, a couple of months before I got a call from Sharon Osbourne and she was just starting to manage Ozzy and Ozzy wasn't doing anything except partying. Sharon asked me if I wanted to go to England, I guess they heard my drumming somewhere, and go meet Ozzy, hang out and see how it goes and possibly join the band. But I was like 20 years old. So I asked my brother (Carmine)… I knew Ozzy was not the average guy, but Ozzy didn't have a solo career yet, he was the singer they fired from Sabbath. Carmine said that the last time he saw Ozzy was at the Rainbow and Ozzy was eating spaghetti and Carmine turned around to talk to somebody and then he turned back to Ozzy and there was Ozzy sleeping in the spaghetti bowl. Who knows what would have happened if I joined? I always think I might have been on that plane that crashed with Randy Rhoads if I joined Ozzy. Who knows, ‘cause I knew Randy before, we were friends."

As mentioned above, Vinny and Carmine Appice have teamed up for a new project called Appice. They are set to release their debut album, Sinister, via SPV/Steamhammer on October 27th. Sinister is available for pre-order now at this location. All digital pre-orders include an instant download of the song "Monsters And Heroes”.

You’re unlikely to find a phenomenon like Carmine and Vinny Appice a second time in the history of rock music. For more than forty years, the two brothers have been among the most sought-after and renowned rock drummers worldwide.

Carmine and Vinny (each of them on their own) can be heard on numerous legendary albums and have toured countless times with some of the world’s greatest acts. Carmine embarked on his musical path in the 1960s with the unforgotten Vanilla Fudge, manning in the course of his illustrious career the drums for superstars such as Rod Stewart and Ozzy Osbourne, among others. His brother Vinny, who is eleven years his junior, looks back on an equally spectacular career, having worked with acts such as Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell and Dio, among others.

With the exception of the live album Drum Wars - Live! (2014), there has been no direct collaboration between the two so far. That’s about to change. Sinister is the first joint studio album by Carmine and Vinny and was recorded with the support of a number of prestigious guests. Vinny: “As Ringo said: with a little help from our friends.”

Sinister consists of a total of 13 tracks, recorded by Carmine and Vinny together with distinguished colleagues. “Killing Floor” and “Future Past” feature the wonderful Craig Goldy (together with bassist Tony Franklin), Franklin resurfacing, together with Paul Shortino, on “Suddenly” and on “You Got Me Running”. Shortino also lends his awesome vocals to “War Cry” and the programmatic “Monsters And Heroes”, the latter also featuring Bulletboys guitarist Mick Sweda, while Shortino teams up with Whitesnake stringsman Joel Hoekstra on “War Cry”. Talking of vocals: “Sinister”, “Danger” (bass: Phil Soussan), “In The Night” (guitar: Bumblefoot) and “Sabbath Mash” (guitar: Erik Turner, keyboards: Erik Norlander) are all sung by Jim Crean, while Chas West recorded the vocal parts for “Killing Floor”, Scotty Bruce featuring on “Future Past” and Robin McAuley on “Riot”. The biggest surprise of all: Carmine himself doubles as vocalist on “You Got Me Running”. Vinny: “Carmine has been singing lead and background for years. He's a very good singer and I'm glad he sang one number on this record.”

So fans can look forward to a haunting rock album which the Appice brothers plan to premiere live on stage as soon as possible. Carmine: “We cannot wait to take the album on the road! Heavy drums and heavy songs. It will kill!”

Sinister will be released on October 27th through SPV/Steamhammer as CD digipack, double gatefold vinyl, download and stream.

Tracklisting:

“Sinister”
“Monsters And Heroes”
“Killing Floor”
“Danger”
“Drum Wars”
“Riot”
“Suddenly”
“In The Night”
“Future Past”
“You Got Me Running”
“Bros In Drums”
“War Cry”
“Sabbath Mash”

"Monsters And Heroes” lyric video:

Lineup and guests:

Carmine Appice (drums & vocals)
Vinny Appice (drums)

Jim Crean (vocals)
Paul Shortino (vocals) (Rough Cutt, ex-Quiet Riot)
Robin McAuley (vocals) (MSG)
Chas West (vocals) (ex-Lynch Mob)
Scotty Bruce (vocals)

Craig Goldy (guitar) (ex-Dio, ex-Giuffria)
Bumblefoot (guitar) (ex-Guns N' Roses)
Joel Hoekstra (guitar) (Whitesnake)
Mike Sweda (guitar) (Bulletboys)
Erik Turner (guitar) (Warrant)
David Michael Phillips (guitar) (King Kobra)

Tony Franklin (bass) (ex-Blue Murder, ex-The Firm)
Phil Soussan (bass) (ex-Ozzy Osbourne)
Johnny Rod (bass) (King Kobra, ex-W.A.S.P.)
Jorgen Carlson (bass) (Gov't Mule)

Erik Norlander (keyboards) (Lana Lane)