Former Black Sabbath singer, Tony Martin, recently released his long-awaited solo album, Thorns, via Dark Star Records. In a new interview with Vintage Rock Pod, Tony talks about the new record, and shares some incredible stories from his Sabbath days, including when the band went to play in Russia in 1989 with tales of bottles being thrown, threats to pay the band in tractors, and the most unusual spectator ever at a Black Sabbath concert.

VRP: You were one of the first bands to go over there [Russia] after that kind of ban lifted in ‘89. I mean, what was the reaction like from the fans and the people that you met in the country at that time?

Tony Martin: "It was mad. They didn't know how to behave really. We played two places, Moscow and Leningrad. And a funny story about that actually, um, the Moscow gig, the dignitaries were invited, the mayor, the mayor's wife, the mayors mother, the kids, you know, the whole entourage. And we were playing ‘Iron Man’, you know? [Tony] Iommi comes over to me, digs me in the ribs, says 'look down there.' I said 'Where?' He said, 'Down there, look down there.' An old grandma was sat in the front row knitting! To 'Iron Man'! Yeah yeah very good boys *to the tune of Iron Man* “knit one, pearl one three, da da da da...”

"But um, the reception was great, and you know, they were nice to us. They actually threatened to pay us in tractors. They said, 'Well, how about we pay you in tractors? We'd give you 20 tractors. You take them back to the UK sell them and you'll keep the money.' No just give us the fucking money. It was quite an eye opener, really. For sure, we had quite a journey there."

Listen to the full interview at Vintage Rock Pod, or below:

Click here to order Thorns.

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"

"As The World Burns" lyric video:

(Photo - Rob Billingham)