Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi is building new studio and ‘wants’ Tony Martin collaboration

“It’s just the touring for me - it’s time to stop roaming the world and be at home for a bit... I’m still going to write and put stuff out,” Tony told Wyatt at the time.

Now, Tony Martin, who fronted Sabbath over two spells in the eighties and nineties, has revealed that Iommi is building a new recording studio at his home and they’re hoping to join musical forces soon.

In a recent interview with Metal Jacket Magazine, Martin was asked about Iommi’s proposed plans to reissue some Sabbath albums from his era including the critically savaged 1995 clanger ‘Forbidden’.

Iommi first mentioned he wanted to reissue the albums with “a couple of new tracks for Tony Martin” back in March 2016.

Martin responded (via Blabbermouth): “I spoke to (Tony Iommi) just a few weeks ago. He's bought a new house and he's building a new studio. He said he needs to set that up and get that all ready. But when he's ready, I'm happy to do it, and I know he wants to do it.

“And just the fact that he wants to do it, it's, like, 'Oh, yeah. That's cool.' 'That's cool.' 'Cause those albums have been deleted for a long time, and I think they could sound better.

“Especially 'Forbidden' - oooohhhh… I hate that. It was the end of my time with Black Sabbath, so it's so… When I listen to it now, I think how I could make it better. So if he gives me the chance, I would love to do that again. Yeah, the possibility is definitely there."

Admitting that ‘Forbidden’ in particular isn’t very Sabbath-esque, Martin added: "I told (Iommi) that. It was me, Cozy Powell and Geoff Nicholls, I think, who is also not with us now. We were saying that 'this is not Black Sabbath.' And I understand what they were trying to do, the RUN-D.M.C. thing, but no, it didn't work. It didn't work.

“I have demos from the rehearsals, and it sounded really cool - really hard, and some of the songs are really kicking it. So I would love to re-record that. And if I got the chance, I'd actually like to re-write some of the lyrics, because my head wasn't there in the album. But if I get the chance, we'll have a go."

Black Sabbath released five studio albums with Tony Martin on vocals - ‘The Eternal Idol’ (1987), ‘Headless Cross’ (1989), ‘Tyr’ (1990), ‘Cross Purposes’ (1994) and ‘Forbidden’ (1995).