Martin sang von 1987 bis 1991 und erneut von 1993 bis 1996 bei Black Sabbath. Als Gaststars schauen für “Thorns” unter anderem Danny Needham (Venom), Magnus Rosen (HammerFall), Scott McClellan (ebenfalls Co-Songwriting) und Greg Smith (live bei Alice Cooper, Rainbow, Blue Öyster Cult) vorbei.

Battlegod-Cheffe Peter Kotevski freut sich darüber, mit TONY MARTIN “einen der besten Metal-Vokalisten aller Zeiten” unter Vertrag genommen zu haben, der “lyrisch brillant und musikalisch fantastisch, eben eine wahre Heavy-Metal-Legende wäre.

Tony selbst kommentiert: “This new album is probably the most “Tony Martin” a Tony martin album has ever sounded!! It’s got several surprises that will lift people’s eyebrows I am sure. Largely but not entirely based around the riffs of Scott McClellan, new to the world scene he has proved to be a worthy partner in crime for this release… I was able to make some great songs out of the riffs he was coming up with which is very similar in the writing sense to that which I experienced with Tony Iommi. Different sound and style but the riffing talent that someone like Scott has is very cool.

It is diverse, melodic, powerful, thought provoking and of a standard high as ever i have worked on. I believe there are stories still to tell, songs still to be sung and with this album i feel it’s achieved everything i could have wished for. Grateful to the people who have given their extra talents in appearances on this recording, it’s been a challenge in COVID lockdown, getting everyone’s performances from across the world, but in another way it was a perfect opportunity to get it done.”

Foto: Rob Billingham