Tony Iommi The 1996 Dep Sessions with Glenn Hughes LP (Translucent Black Ice Vinyl)

The relationship between iconic Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and English musician Glenn Hughes stretches far back into the mid-eighties. Best known for playing bass and performing vocals in the hard rock band Trapeze and in the Mk. III and IV line-ups of Deep Purple, Hughes sang on the 1986 Black Sabbath album Seventh Star. It was the 12th album from the fabled heavy metal originators and was initially intended to be the first solo release from Iommi, but record company and management pressures led to the album being billed as Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi. Despite these demands, the album was a commerical success and reached the Top 30 of the English charts. Glenn's powerful, soulful voice complimented Iommi's unique guitar style perfectly and even though the eighties was a turbulant time for Black Sabbath, it was clear that Iommi and Hughes would work together again in the future.

That time came in 1996 when Iommi once again collaborated with Hughes for a release that would become known as The 1996 Dep Sessions, recorded at DEP International Studios in Digbeth, Birmingham. The recordings were demos and were left unfinished due to the original line up of Black Sabbath reforming at the time. However, a bootleg recording known as Eighth Star was circulated among fans so in 2004, to combat this, the session was eventually offically released.

After Black Sabbath's 1995 album Forbidden, the band would go on hiatus. So when Tony and Glenn reunited in 1996 to record together, it was with a renewed creative vigour and ambition to take a step away from the signature Sabbath sound and forge a new direction. The results were a formidable, contemporary take on a classic rock sound with Glenn's soaring vocals combined effortlessly with Iommi's monolithic riffs.

These eight songs sound as vital as the day they were recorded and are now being pressed on vinyl for the first time in limited Translucent Black Ice color.