BraveWords had the honour to speak to former Black Sabbath singer Tony Martin recently about his excellent new (and best-selling!) album Thorns, and the chat will air this weekend (Saturday, January 22nd) on Streaming For Vengeance. Tony Martin debuted on 1987’s The Eternal Idol and went on to record four more studio albums in total including 1989’s Headless Cross, 1990’s Tyr, 1994’s Cross Purposes and 1995’s Forbidden. 

When asked about feeling the pressure of creating new music in over 15 years, he said: "It’s a really weird thing. This is the most Tony Martin album there has ever been. It’s the one where I was able to let loose, and let the whole thing kick up and fly. So, in that respect no, there wasn’t any pressure. But I’m seeing all of the kind words that people are saying at the moment and I’m just thinking, ‘Whoa, I hope I’ve done it justice.’ I really want everyone to like it. You can never really know ahead of time. So you do your best and hope. But so far, everything has been fantastic and great words have been said about it, so it’s really cool. Not really much pressure in that respect, no.”

Tony Martin's new solo effort Thorns features guitarist Scott McClellan (who helped co-write the album), singer Pamela Moore (Queensrÿche), drummer Danny Needham (Venom), bassist Magnus Rosen (HammerFall) and bassist Greg Smith who performed with Alice Cooper, Rainbow, Blue Öyster Cult.

"I’ve got to say they’re all friends," Martin says about the musicians on Thorns. "There’s no strangers to me on this. They’re people that I’ve known for many years and worked with before, and more importantly people I trust. It’s like a little family. I’m happy, and kind of lucky, to be able to call these people and say, ‘Do you fancy doing something?’, and they say, ‘Yeah, sure!’, and then they jump in. It’s just a great feeling to have those kinds of friends around you. I am very honoured, really.”

Click here to order your copy of Thorns.

You can watch/listen Streaming For Vengeance on the BraveWords Facebook page or the BraveWords YouTube channel this this Saturday, January 22nd at 3:33 PM EST. For more information about Streaming For Vengeance, visit this location.