Having stayed with Black Sabbath until 1983’s unfairly criticised Born Again (Vertigo) album, founding member Geezer Butler returned to the band in the early nineties but with a growing desire to prove himself as a solo artist. After leaving again in ’94, the iconic bass player and moustache enthusiast teamed up with former frontman Ozzy Osbourne for a while before eventually going it alone to form G/Z/R.
Legendary Black Sabbath bassist and lyricist Terry “Geezer” Butler will released a 4-cd boxed set of his classic solo albums, along with an extra disc of rare material. The releases are also compiled in a best of release as well. Manipulations Of The Mind and The Very Best Of Geezer Butler will be released July 30th via BMG! Featuring the albums ‘Plastic Planet’ (1995), ‘Black Science’ (1997), and ‘Ohmwork’ (2005), with a bonus 4th disc of rare and largely unreleased material, ‘Manipulations Of The Mind’ will give fans a true insight into Geezer’s work outside the Sabbath context in that classic solo era. Pre-orders are live at the link below!
We caught up with music legend Burton C. Bell (ex Fear Factory) of Ascension of the Watchers for a new podcast, to chat all about his new album Apocrypha (Dissonance Productions). We chatted about the history of the band, the lead up to making this new album, Burton’s songwriting process, how he derives inspiration from film scores and soundtracks, his bandmates Jayce Lewis and John Bechdel (Ministry, Prong), the spiritual side to his lyrics and themes he writes from, the concept of “modern analog” and how it influenced the recording, memories of the late Paul Raven (Killing Joke/Prong), some thoughts on other projects like City of Fire and G/Z/R, and much more. Order the album here, and check out our chat.
All three of Geezer Butler’s 1990s solo albums apart from Black Sabbath reunions are getting reissued. Plastic Planet (1995), Black Science (1997), and Ohmwork (2005) will be avaialble on vinyl for the first time ever, with both CD and LP using newly updated cover artwork and all will be available via BMG on October 30. Plastic Planet featured Fear Factory vocalist Burton C. Bell, with its incendiary single “Drive Boy Shooting,” and is considered a highlight of that time. In an upcoming interview with Ghost Cult, Bell remarked that he would “jump at the chance” to make another GZR album. That interview is coming soon. Purchase the albums at the link below.