Legendary BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi recently spoke with Paul Cole at Birmingham Mail. An excerpt from the interview is available below:

Iommi: "I have to admit that it’s not what I expected," says Iommi. "I could never have imagined that the album would turn out so well, but it has. I think it sits comfortably with our first three albums – Black Sabbath, Paranoid and Master Of Reality – and I think it’s one you’ll like."

"We wanted it to sound like the way we played in our early days, back to basics, and we recorded pretty much all of it almost live as a band. We didn’t want to go through the usual trip of recording the drums, the guitars and the vocals separately. So we played together. We’d also written more songs than we ever have for previous recording sessions. There are 16 tracks in total, and all of them will appear in some form or other on the album when it is released. There will be different versions, including a deluxe edition."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Black Sabbath have announced four summer shows in North America in support of the release of their new album, 13, due out June 11. Tickets for the Live Nation-produced tour will go on sale Saturday, April 20 at LiveNation.com. The dates include stops in Holmdel, NJ (NY-area), Los Angeles, Seattle and Toronto, ON.

Tickets for these shows go on sale Saturday, April 20. Beginning today, fans can click here for early access to presale tickets available Thursday, April 18. VIP Packages are also available at VIPNation.com.

Dates:

August

4 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center
14 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre
24 - Seattle, WA - Gorge Amphitheatre

September

3 - Los Angeles, CA - Los Angeles Sports Arena

Black Sabbath will release the new digital single 'God Is Dead?' on April 19th. The album will be issued by the band's original label Vertigo/Republic on June 11th. It will be Black Sabbath's first album in 35 years to feature singer Ozzy Osbourne, bassist Geeezer Butler, and guitarist Tony Iommi.

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE drummer Brad Wilk replaces Bill Ward behind the kit for 13.

Jack Osbourne, the son of singer Ozzy Osbourne, has been filming the godfathers of heavy metal during the creation of their long-awaited new studio album, 13, the first since 1978's Never Say Die! Osbourne - who is also working for Fuse News - has filed a video report from the band's invite-only 13 listening party which was held this past Wednesday, April 10th at The Montalban in Los Angeles, California. In the report below, Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne, bassist Geezer Butler and guitarist Tony Iommi discuss their first album in 35 years:

When asked if there was any sort of trepidation about recording a new album, Ozzy replied, “The pressure was on us, because it had been so long since we’d worked together … it’s like now or never. This album, for me, was probably the most important of my career.”

Tony Iommi added about the writing process of 13: “I had a bunch of riffs on CDs and played it to everybody, and then everybody decided, ‘We like this one’ or ‘We don’t like that,’ and the ones we liked, we started work on them — built them up.”

Jack also asked Iommi if they had any apprehensions about working with legendary producer Rick Rubin (SLAYER, METALLICA): “It was funny at first, because coming to rehearsals, when we were actually writing the songs, he’d come down for like, five or ten minutes and then go. Then he’d go, ‘Call me when you’ve got another one.’ So it was really strange, we’d never worked with anybody like that before.”

13 clocks in at nearly 60 minutes and features the following tracks:

'End Of The Beginning' (8:07)

'God Is Dead?' (8:54)

'Loner' (5:06)

'Zeitgeist' (4:28)

'Age of Reason' (7:02)

'Live Forever' (4:49)

'Damaged Soul' (7:43)

'Dear Father' (7:06)

The official artwork for 13 can be viewed below, and in the YouTube clip introduction you can hear a snippet of a new song:

13 was recorded primarily in Los Angeles and features the original Black Sabbath trio with drummer Brad Wilk (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE). Produced by Rick Rubin (SLAYER, METALLICA), the album will be released on Vertigo (worldwide) and Vertigo/Republic in North America on June 13th.

13 is available for pre-order on a variety of formats via Blacksabbath.com.

Options include:

- Standard CD album
- Deluxe double CD album in a deluxe soft-pack (includes a second disc of exclusive bonus audio material)
- Vinyl: a 12” heavyweight (180g) vinyl album in a gatefold sleeve
- Super Deluxe Box Set: a Limited edition 12” clamshell box set which contains: Deluxe double CD album, 12” heavyweight (180g) vinyl album in a gatefold sleeve, Exclusive DVD containing Black Sabbath--The Re-union documentary, plus 5 behind-the-scenes videos, Download card containing exclusive track by track interview with Black Sabbath, 13 exclusive photographic prints and hand written album lyrics.

In addition, anyone who pre-orders any of these formats via Blacksabbath.com will be entered into a drawing to win a pair of VIP tickets to an official 13 album launch event in London, including a meet and greet with the band, flights and accommodation Additional details and full terms and conditions on the contest can be found at Blacksabbath.com.

In the video below, Rick Rubin talks about creating the group's first studio album since 1978’s Never Say Die!

A three-minute teaser can also be viewed below:

Current Black Sabbath dates can be found here.