Tony Iommi was taken aback when he was asked to take part in William Shatner’s upcoming heavy metal album, but he says the collaboration turned into a pleasant and unusual experience.
“`Speaking on «BBC Breakfast» to Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt, he confirmed he recorded guitar for the project, titled «What The F Is Heavy Metal?», expected in 2027 through Cleopatra Records.
His first reaction was typical: «When they asked me if I’d do a track with William Shatner, I said ‘what?’. I wondered what it would be like. When he sent me the song I liked the idea a lot, so I put a riff in and built it».
On the vocals of the 95-year-old actor, known as Captain Kirk in «Star Trek», Iommi agreed that he recites more than he sings — but pointed to the words: «They’re very good, they talk about what’s going on today».
Other familiar names appear on the album, among them Queen’s Brian May and Judas Priest’s Rob Halford. Iommi carries on with his own projects in parallel — the recent lyric video for «Over The Violent Sun» came out of that work.
Shatner has some form in this territory: he already shared a stage with Ozzy, Motörhead and Metallica at the start of his metal phase.
He does not know yet when the song will come out: «It hasn’t come out. I don’t know when — I think the end of the year or early next». The album has already collected a long guest list, with Brian May and Rob Halford among them.
