Former Black Sabbath vocalist Tony Martin recently guested on the Almost Human podcast, and during the discussion he confirmed rumours and reports that he recorded demo vocals for the band's 1992 album, Dehumanizer. It was Black Sabbath's first studio album in over a decade to feature vocalist Ronnie James Dio.

Martin: "They fired me (before the Dehumanizer recording sessions) which was a complete surprise. I didn't see that coming at all. I was just so shocked by that; I didn't know what to say, do or anything, but within weeks I was back. I got a call from Tony Iommi saying, 'This isn't going very well with Dio.' I said, 'Oh, really?' and he said, 'No, can you come back?' And I said, 'No. I can't come back. I've already started doing my solo stuff and I've moved on.' 

A few months went by, and he called me again, and he said, 'Are you sure you can't come back? It's really not working.' So they invited me to go to the studio when they were recording the stuff, and I did try to get some melodies and stuff, but they were short of time, as usual. I did try; I just couldn't get anything that was gonna sound better than what they'd done (with Dio), and I have to make it sound like Tony Martin. There's no point in asking me to do it if you don't want me to sound like me. So at that point I was kind of thinking, 'I don't really wanna just keep copying people's stuff.' I did try and I did put some demos down, but I doubt very much... in fact, I'm 99%certain there's nothing left of (the recordings). I've got a couple of brief cassette copies of something I tried, but it's really horrible quality. It just reminds me of the day. I did give it a go, but I don't think I could do better than what they'd done."

 

On December 3rd, 2021 BraveWords presented the worldwide exclusive premiere of anxiously-awaited new music from former Black Sabbath singer Tony Martin. Check out the powerful new lyric video, "As The World Burns", the first taste of his long-awaited solo album, Thorns, due out on January 14th, 2022 in all of North and South America by Dark Star Records. Click here to order.

Talking about the new album recently, Tony Martin had this to say: “This new album is probably the most 'Tony Martin' a Tony Martin album has ever sounded!! It’s got several surprises that will lift people’s eyebrows I am sure. Largely, but not entirely based around the riffs of Scott McClellan, new to the world scene he has proved to be a worthy partner in crime for this release... I was able to make some great songs out of the riffs he was coming up with which is very similar in the writing sense to that which I experienced with Tony Iommi. Different sound and style but the riffing talent that someone like Scott has is very cool."

"It is diverse, melodic, powerful, thought provoking and of a standard high as ever i have worked on," Martin adds. "I believe there are stories still to tell, songs still to be sung and with this album I feel it’s achieved everything I could have wished for."

The new album will feature Danny Needham (Venom), Magnus Rosen (HammerFall), Scott McClellan (Breed Of Aggression) and Greg Smith who performed with Alice Cooper, Rainbow, Blue Öyster Cult, Pamela Moore (Queensrÿche) and many more.

In a recet interview with BraveWords, guitarist Scott McClellan (pictured above on the right) described the album: “There is a title track to Thorns. It was a song that I pieced-together and wrote with an acoustic. It’s kind of like our ballad I would say. It’s based on a girl that was abused in some way and somebody bringing up the past to her and it’s like thorns inside of her body. There’s a special guest on the album who is Pamela Moore, Sister Mary from Queensrÿche fame. She’s amazing. And there are other artists on the album. Danny Needam from Venom on drums and he’s just a beast. In some places on the album I can hear some Bonham going on. And you can hear some of the power from Venom in there too. It’s probably the heaviest album Tony has done in some ways. Some of it is more towards the era he comes from.”

Tony Martin is best known for his time fronting Black Sabbath, initially from 1987 to 1991 and again from 1993 to 1996. Martin was the band’s second longest serving vocalist after Ozzy Osbourne. Eternal Idol and Headless Cross are among the best known Black Sabbath albums featuring Tony Martin as well as Scream his solo album from 2005.

Tracklisting:

"As The World Burns"
"Black Widow Angel"
"Book Of Shadows"
"Crying Wolf"
"Damned By You"
"No Shame At All"
"No Where To Fly"
"Passion Killer"
"Run Like The Devil"
"This Is Your Damnation"
"Thorns"