Tony Iommi: “We're Finally Out On The Road!”

Black Sabbath will begin a world tour this Saturday (April 20) in New Zealand, with North American dates penciled in for late summer and European shows scheduled in the fall.

In a new message on his official web site, Tony Iommi writes: "We're finally out on the road and remembering what jet lag really is this far away from home. First gig is on Saturday. In the meantime, we've been doing some press and had an album-listening party. Seems to be well received, which is great news!"

The members of Black Sabbath took part in a press conference yesterday (Thursday, April 18) at The Langham Hotel in Auckland, New Zealand as they prepared for their two shows this weekend (Saturday, April 20 and Monday, April 22) at The Vector Arena. Sabbath's record company, Universal, invited a select group of music fans to get a first listen to the band's upcoming album, "13", and singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler were also on hand for a brief question-and-answer session after the playback had ended.

The first single from "13", began streaming online Thursday and is expected to arrive at rock radio stations on Friday (April 19). The song, called "God Is Dead?", is nearly nine minutes long and begins with a soft guitar, builds into a slow, doom-laden stomp, then switches halfway through into a more uptempo riff that comes the closest to the sound of the classic early Sabbath albums.

Read more and listen to Auckland press conference audio on Blabbermouth.net

The deluxe version of the new album, "13" will include three bonus tracks: "Methademic" (said to be about the scourge of methamphetamine addiction), "Peace Of Mind" and "Pariah".

"13" is now available for pre-order on iTunes. If you order either the standard or deluxe editions, you will be able to download the first single, "God Is Dead?" immediately.

"13" track listing:

01. End Of The Beginning (8:05)
02. God Is Dead? (8:52)
03. Loner (4:59)
04. Zeitgeist (4:37)
05. Age Of Reason (7:01)
06. Live Forever (4:46)
07. Damaged Soul (7:51)
08. Dear Father (7:20)

Deluxe-edition bonus tracks:

09. Methademic (5:57)
10. Peace Of Mind (3:40)
11. Pariah (5:34)

Total running time (with bonus tracks): 68 minutes, 42 seconds

"13" is due out June 11 on Vertigo/Republic. This marks the band’s return to Vertigo, their original label, and the group's first studio album together since 1978's "Never Say Die!"

 Blabbermouth.net, 19 April 2013