It doesn’t look like BILL WARD will be returning to BLACK SABBATH anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean the drummer has been inactive. In fact, he just released a new album titled Accountable Beasts. The disc is currently available via iTunes.
The drummer lends his beats to seven of the nine album tracks, playing alongside guitarist-keyboardist Keith Lynch, bassist Paul Ill, drummers Ronnie Ciago and Walter Earl and a number of vocalists, including his daughter Emily.
Speaking with interviewer Joel Gausten about how the disc compares to his two previous solo efforts, the drummer stated, “It’s much tougher; it kicks harder.” He went on to add, “Most of the stuff is pretty heavy on it. It’s very current lyrically. I don’t tend to be current with anything. I just write the music and allow it to just be whatever it is. But when I listened to it in hindsight … I thought, ‘Oh my God! A log of the stuff we’re writing about is on TV every day. It’s about people’s souls being ripped to pieces.”
Accountable Beasts has been a while in the process. Ward admits starting the disc prior to his return to BLACK SABBATH in 2011, but he put it on hold when it looked like he’d be reuniting with the band. It remained on hold through the contract dispute of 2012 before re-starting the process in 2013. Not long after, he got sick and had a few health issues that also delayed the progression of the disc, but it’s now finally available.
Ward stated in the interview that once Accountable Beasts arrives, he’ll turn his attention to another in progress disc, Beyond Aston, which he hopes to have mixed by September.
As for BLACK SABBATH, Ward recently laid out what it would take for him to return to the band and his requests were not exactly met warmly by Ozzy Osbourne. So look for Ward to continue with his Bill Ward Band projects in the future.
Bill Ward, Accountable Beasts Track List:
1. “Leaf Killers”
2. “Accountable Beasts”
3. “Katastrophic World”
4. “D.O.T.H.”
5. “First Day Back”
6. “As It Is in Heaven”
7. “Ashes”
8. “Straws”
9. “The Wall of Death”