Legendary BLACK SABBATH drummer Bill Ward has revealed he’s almost finished recording not one, but two new solo albums. The news came during the debut of his new weekly radio show on LA Radio Sessions, which airs Sundays at 10 a.m. PT on 99.1 KLBP-FM in Long Beach and streams online at KLBP.org.
Speaking candidly, Ward said, “We’ve been in the studio. We’ve been living in the studio, is what we’ve been doing. And we’ve got two albums that are nearly finished. And we will put them out. We’ve gotta go back in the studio in about another week… We’ve got four days left to finish our final overdubs for the newest album… We haven’t got it mixed yet. But we’ll get that done too.”
Ward‘s latest solo efforts reflect a raw, personal approach, with the iconic drummer explaining that he’s abandoned traditional expectations and simply followed his creative instincts. “I’ve just let everything go. I basically don’t give an ‘F’, and I think it shows up in the record… I wanted to play something that plays in my heart and then comes out of my soul.”
In addition to his signature drumming, Ward has pushed himself musically—writing much of the piano and bass parts, and even delving deeper into jazz influences. He noted, “I’m trying to grow as a musician… probably a little more jazz than maybe I would’ve done on previous albums. I’m swearing a lot. I’m using a lot of profanity on this new record, on these new records. But the profanity seems to work really well. It’s just, like, yeah, this is what I’m saying about whatever’s in my life.”
One of the more personal tracks, which will appear on the second of the two albums, draws inspiration from his childhood in Aston. “One of the tracks on not the first album coming out, but the next album that’ll come out after that, I’m talking about when I spent time playing in the graveyards at Aston Church. When I was a child, I was a choir boy at Aston Church. Aston Church, by the way, is about 200 yards from Villa Park, which is where we’re [original lineup of BLACK SABBATH] gonna be playing in July.
“And I didn’t know we were gonna be playing in July when I wrote that song,” he continued. “I wanted to write it because I’ve been spending some time thinking about my childhood years in Aston, and I’ve been going back there. And so one of the songs is about being a child and playing in and around the graveyards. And I’ve tried to capsulize that, and I think it’s a pretty good song. And it’s still like a metal thing. My good friend Dave Lombardo [ex-SLAYER] is playing on that particular track. There was some drumming that I knew Dave could play a lot better than I could, so I don’t mind backing away sometimes.
When asked if the music will be released under the BILL WARD BAND name, the drummer clarified, “No, just Bill Ward. However, just to be accurate, we still have BILL WARD BAND stuff that is still unreleased. And one day we’ll get it released.”
Ward’s resurgence comes as BLACK SABBATH prepares for one last, historic performance. On July 5, the original lineup—Ward, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler—will reunite for their final show, “Back To The Beginning,” at Villa Park in Birmingham. The lineup for “Back to the Beginning” is equally monumental, with METALLICA, GUNS N’ ROSES, SLAYER, PANTERA, TOOL, ALICE IN CHAINS, HALESTORM, ANTHRAX, Sammy Hagar, LAMB OF GOD, and Papa V Perpetua all confirmed to perform.
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