Lost among the chatter of the Ozzy vs. Dio eras of Black Sabbath argument is the five-album lot with singer Tony Martin. Brought in at the last minute to replace Ray Gillen on The Eternal Idol, Martin’s two-time stint found him at the helm of metal’s originators for over a decade, with his final contribution coming on 1995’s widely panned Forbidden, which Tony Iommi is now remixing.
The record serves as a look at an odd time for Sabbath, who had just sidestepped the Martin era for a fleeting moment, bringing Ronnie James Dio back for Dehumanizer. Trends in music in the mid-’90s made navigating their next move even tougher and Body Count‘s Ernie C. was brought in by management as their producer, but the band has never been satisfied with the results.
“Next year will be the Forbidden album coming out, Iommi said in a Facebook video message on Dec. 29. He mentions that he’s remixing it with his long-time engineer Mike Exeter. “And it’s been interesting to pull that apart and at least try and get some bigger sounds on it, as it should be. I know Cozy [Powell] was never happy with his drum sound, and none of us were really happy with the sound of that album. So hopefully now it will be sounding better.”
He had a 2018 sendoff, adding, “Anyway, have a great New Year, happy New Year to you all and all the best and we’ll see you soon.”
Revisit the history of Forbidden here.
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