Founding Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler has unveiled his new band, with Deadland Ritual making its debut on social media recently.
Early last year, Black Sabbath officially wrapped things up with the completion of their ‘The End’ tour in Birmingham. While Tony Iommi says it’s “highly unlikely” Black Sabbath will perform again, the group’s members have gone on to other projects.
Now, Geezer Butler has revealed his newest musical project, introducing Deadland Ritual via social media.
Consisting of Butler, Matt Sorum (Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Underground), Steve Stevens (Billy Idol, Michael Jackson), and Franky Perez (Apocalyptica, Scars On Broadway), Deadland Ritual are a storied bunch of musicians, and look set to be announcing their first taste of new music soon.
Check out Deadland Ritual’s latest social media posts:
While they’ve offered us up a teaser of a track called ‘Down In Flames’, we’re not quite sure when we’ll be hearing the full thing. Deadland Ritual have also announced their debut live show, with the group set to appear at France’s Hellfest in June of 2019.
Although none of the band members have revealed how they got together for this new project, Geezer Butler did reveal last year that he was on the lookout for some talented musicians to perform with.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Butler revealed he had “about 120 riffs written down and I’ve just got to pick a guitarist and sort through them.”
In related news, Ozzy Osbourne recently opened up about Black Sabbath’s final tour, explaining that he “wasn’t allowed to have fun” while performing.
“With Sabbath, all I am is a singer with a band,” he explained in a recent interview with Rolling Stone. “[My solo career] is a different thing. I’ve got a lot of freedom and I have fun with it.
“It’s not allowed to have fucking fun with Sabbath,” he revealed. “It’s too serious. Tony [Iommi] was trying to have a go at me, saying, ‘Don’t fucking talk over my solos.’ I go, ‘OK, are you sure? ‘Cause most of the fucking song is solos. The intro to the song is fuckin’ five minutes and then I sing for about two seconds and then it’s another one.’”
“With my own thing, I’m looking to have fun, and that’s what music’s about for me. I’m not a serious fucking singer. I’m just a frontman who’s trying to get the crowd going in front.”
Check out a snippet of Deadland Ritual’s ‘Down In Flames’:
