Tony Iommi discusses new album and life after Ozzy Osbourne

Tony Iommi, the Black Sabbath guitarist and composer known as the godfather of heavy metal, has spoken about his new album and his life after Ozzy Osbourne. In a studio interview, the guitarist, who is in his late 70s, said he is still working and has no intention of slowing down.

Iommi looked back at the band's early days. He said he never imagined Black Sabbath would leave Birmingham. Playing live had been a dream, and the group began gigging while he was still working in a factory.

He described the industrial accident that changed his career. He pushed metal into a machine and it came down on his hand, severing the ends of his fingers. Doctors told him to give up and said he would not play again. He refused to accept that. The owner of the factory where he worked gave him a Django Reinhardt EP and told him how Reinhardt had lost the use of two fingers. That inspired Iommi to make his own fingertips and change his whole style of playing.

He explained how he built the early Black Sabbath sound. The band was a three-piece, while most groups had a rhythm guitarist. He tuned down a semitone, worked with his amplifier and used a treble booster to drive the input and overdrive the amp. He also worked with Geezer Butler, who played a similar part with a slightly distorted sound. Together it created a wall of sound.

The dark imagery around Black Sabbath partly came from the record company, Iommi said. An inverted cross was put in the sleeve, which did not help. Strange people turned up at gigs, including witches in America, he added. The song Black Sabbath used a tritone and sounded evil. It was very different from the soul and pop music around at the time.

Iommi also spoke about playing piano. The first time he played, he came up with changes the others liked, and within a couple of days they were recording it.

The final Black Sabbath concert last year was tough, he said. He was shocked when Ozzy Osbourne arrived and had to carry him in. He is glad they did the show because it was the very end. In retrospect, he believes Osbourne held on for that performance. The night before Osbourne died, Iommi spoke to him. Osbourne said he was really tired, and Iommi told him he was bound to be after such a hectic time.

The new album is different from his past work with Black Sabbath. He said he is doing it for fun and has had no pressure, unlike previous records with time limits. He can come in and record when he wants. The song World Alone deals with the end of the world. Iommi said somebody has to talk about it and that it feels pertinent now. He noted War Pigs was written about the Vietnam War and all the wars going on then, and its warning about the war machine still resonates today.