bassist has revealed his love for the era in a new interview. Talking to , the 74-year-old, who co-founded Sabbath in 1968, says that he admired the breadth of metal’s vision during the late 1990s, singling out for particular praise. “I was really into metal back then, and it was influencing the stuff I was writing as well,” remembers Butler.
“It was amazing to see what new bands were coming out then. And each one had a different version of metal, if you want to call it metal. “Different versions, instead of just going on and screaming into the microphone and everything sounding the same.
“Really good, different bands coming out. Slipknot being one of them, obviously. It was great.
” Butler also expresses his admiration for industrial metal leaders and explains how they influenced his 1995 solo album . Sign up below to get the latest from Metal Hammer, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! Then-Fear Factory singer Burton C. Bell performed vocals on the record.
“I really liked Fear Factory at the time and I’d been writing all this stuff that was too heavy for Sabbath or . “Pedro [Howse, guitarist], my nephew, had this band called Crazy Angel, who were like an ultra-thrash band. So when me and him got writing together it came out ultra-heavy, and I wasn’t restricted to what lyrics I was going to write about.
“A lot of it is about science fiction – a bit like what’s going on now with the AI stuff and everything.” Black Sabbath retired in 2017 following an extensive farewell tour. However, vocalist Ozzy Osbourne has recently expressed a desire to reunite the original lineup – himself, Butler, guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward – for one final show.
Osbourne over Ward’s absence from the final Sabbath tour on an episode of his podcast . “It’s unfinished,” he said. “If they wanted to do one more gig with Bill, I would jump at the chance.
“Do you know what would be cool? If we went to a club or something unannounced and we just got up and did it. We started up in a club. “I was sad that Bill wasn’t there.
I mean Tommy Clufetos, my drummer, did a great job [filling in during the farewell tour]. But he ain’t Bill Ward.” After Iommi called reuniting with Ward a “nice idea”, Butler .
“Of course there’s an interest [on my part to do it],” the bassist said, “but there’s a big ‘but’ – you’d have to speak to Bill about it.” “Everybody wants to do it [but I don’t know if Ward is] capable [of pulling it off].” Butler released his memoir, , last year via Harper Collins.
Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Prog and Metal Hammer, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Guitar and many others, too.
When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering. See first photos of Metallica’s James Hetfield in new western thriller The Thicket “Revoke their visas and deport them immediately”: Australian senator wants Tenacious D deported over Donald Trump joke Heilung announce more European Rituals for 2025.
