Black Sabbath have confirmed they have a total of 15 new songs, plus they have hinted that the album may be called 2013.
In recent interviews, frontman Ozzy Osbourne said:
"We've written about 15 songs so far, whether they all get on an album, I don't know. We just keep on writing. I was trying to work out: where would we be now musically if we'd have stayed together?”
The forthcoming album is being produced by the legendary, Rick Rubin, who has apparently helped shape their sound enormously. Geezer Butler explained their recording process:
"He [Rubin] sat us down. He put on the first [Sabbath] album on and said ‘Listen to this. Now imagine it’s 1969, you’ve just done that – what would you do next?’”
Guitarist, Tony Iommi, has said that the new album definitely takes some of the "flavour of the old stuff...but with a sort of a newer look on it." Ozzy also dropped a big hint, suggesting that the title of the album could well be, 2013. "Next year - 2013 - is a good clue of what we'll call the album."