Ozzy: Iommi is the king of demonic riffs

Black Sabbath

Ozzy Osbourne says no one can touch Tony Iommi when it comes to creating and playing riffs.

Black Sabbath brought the curtain down on their 49 year career last weekend when they played the final two shows in their hometown of Birmingham on the band’s The End tour.

And in an exclusive interview conducted by Avenged Sevenfold frontman M Shadows and the veteran vocalist in the brand new issue of Metal Hammer, Ozzy says Iommi’s contribution to metal is unparalleled.

He says: “People always say we invented heavy metal. But I like The Kinks, Zeppelin and The Who – and I think we spawned from that.

“But I do think that Tony Iommi, for what it’s worth, is the king of all demonic riffs. There’s just no one to fucking touch him. Considering he had his fretboard fingers chopped off – to this day I’m still amazed he knows he’s touching the strings.

“He’s amazing. He’s one of these guys that you can give any instrument to and he’ll come out of his dressing room playing something on it. It could be the bagpipes, or anything really.”

Black Sabbath performed 15 tracks at their final show, closing with classic 1970 hit Paranoid. The band later released a video of the track, along with their last curtain call.

The full interview between Shadows and Ozzy can be found in the brand new issue of Metal Hammer magazine which launched today (February 10). The pair are also the cover stars, while the magazine also features artists including Trivium, Metallica, Babymetal, Corey Taylor, Judas Priest and Steel Panther.

The new issue also has a 15-track CD featuring up-and-coming bands, plus 12 free posters.

Metal Hammer is back! And we've got M Shadows interviewing Ozzy Osbourne!

Artists

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.