When Scott Ian was told about Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning show, he had to read the text from Tom Morello several times. The Anthrax guitarist may have been shocked and awed, but when Morello, the event’s creative director, asked him to get involved, there was only one answer.
“I must have asked Tom 50 questions about what, who, where, when and how,” Ian tells Guitar World. “I was like, ‘Oh my God. Holy shit!’ Black Sabbath and Ozzy – the whole thing was just too much for my brain. I texted him back and said, ‘Dude, yes! Whatever it is, I’m in!’”
He’d become a fan of Sabbath when he first heard them at the age of 8. “I loved the feeling of being scared by something I was listening to,” he remembers. “I had never heard anything so heavy. Ozzy was like Robert Plant’s crazy brother; it was all brand new.”
Then there’s Tony Iommi’s guitar work. “The first six Sabbath albums are the Necronomicon of heavy metal,” he says. “Everything that’s been done since is just a slightly different version of what Tony was doing. You could take any metal riff back through some filters and see what Sabbath song it came from. His influence is everything.”
Tom Morello first asked you to be part of the jam before Anthrax became involved, right?
“Yes – he said, ‘As soon as I have more information on what song and who you’re playing with, I’ll let you know.’ A couple of days later he sent me a list of people involved, and I saw there were other bands involved. I thought it was just gonna be like Sabbath and Ozzy, and then maybe a bunch of all-star lineups.
“I saw other bands but no Anthrax, so I’m like, ‘How about getting Anthrax on this? I’m not the only Sabbath fan in the band.’ Like five minutes later, he said, ‘You’re in.’”
What are your earliest memories of Black Sabbath?
“Back when we lived in Queens, my uncle had this amazing bedroom with cool black light posters up on the wall – Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, and so on. He had a huge collection of vinyl and comic books; it was like my dream room.
“Whenever we went there I’d go through his vinyl, pick out records, and he’d put them on. One of those times, I pulled out the first Black Sabbath record.
“Suddenly it’s dark, there are black lights on, and this weird, haunted house shit is going on! Then the guitar and the whole band kicked in, and I was sitting there scared, like, ‘What the fuck is this? I’m listening to a horror movie!’”
The term “heavy metal” hadn’t been thrown around yet. Did you know what to call that music?
“Until the late ‘70s I just called it ‘heavy rock’ or ‘hard rock’ – but Sabbath were just the heaviest of all the bands. Nobody even came close for so many years.”
When did you first see Sabbath live?
“I was lucky enough to see them in 1978 with Van Halen opening at Madison Square Garden. It was an unbelievable night. I’d only been going to concerts for two years. I would have, say, 10 bucks, buy tickets, then five other things would go on sale that I’d want to see more, but I’d miss out.
“I’d always think, ‘They’ll come back next year,’ because it was New York. With Sabbath, I bought tickets when they first went on sale. There was no way I was missing that.”
Do you have a favorite Sabbath album?
“It’s so hard between Paranoid, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and the first album. But I’d probably go with Master of Reality. You can’t go wrong with that. It fucking crushes.
“It’s only 34 minutes but you have Sweet Leaf, After Forever, Children of the Grave, Lord of This World, and Into the Void on it... An album with one of those songs on, it would blow people’s minds. But all six of those songs are on one album!”
It’s been quite difficult to keep my mouth shut… I didn’t want to be responsible for anything leaking
How will Anthrax approach covering Sabbath’s music in July?
“We’re not looking to change the arrangements. We covered Sabbath Bloody Sabbath back in the ‘80s; we did our best to honor it. With my guitar tone – which sounds different from Tony’s – we probably did it faster; it was just who we were. I don’t try to ape it because I can’t.”
Tony’s licks seem easy – but they’re not.
“I could sit there for the rest of my life and try and recreate his vibrato, and it’s just never going to happen. If I got to play his guitar through his rig, it’s not gonna sound like him. So I just play it how I’m going to play it and have fun.”
So you’ll be using your typical rig?
“Yeah; I need my rig because we’re doing an Anthrax song too. But for the Sabbath song I’ll probably clean it up a little bit. It won’t be, let’s say, dense. I’m on a couple of other Sabbath songs as well, in one of the all-star lineups. I’m not sure if I’m going to be playing through my rig or if that’s going to be a completely different backline.
“They’re going to have seemingly 200 different things going on before Sabbath gets on stage – but I don’t have to worry about that stuff. I just have to know the songs!”
As a fan and a peer, what does it mean to you to be a part of this show?
“We’ve known about it for a while; it’s been quite difficult to keep my mouth shut about it! I wasn’t even telling friends and stuff until it was announced. I didn’t want to be responsible for anything leaking. It’s amazing. I never thought I would get to see it again, you know?”
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