With the release of The 1996 DEP Sessions late last year, both Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath) and Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Trapeze) were so stoked by the remixed final product that they vowed not to let 8 years go by before recording another album together. As Tony's OzzFest commitments came to a close last summer, he and Glenn got together to go over some pieces of riffs and songs that he had come up with over the last three or four years with a view to recording another Iommi/Hughes album. It also gave Tony the chance to record again with drummer Kenny Aronoff whom he used for a track on his Iommi album released in 2000. The whole idea this time was to record as a band format, live in the studio as a classic power trio as opposed to the multi-layering approach to modern recording nowadays. Long-time friend and producer Bob Marlette was brought in not only to produce but to also contribute some keyboards to the album. According to press reports by both Tony and Glenn over the last few months prior to the release of this album, the recording went very smoothly with Glenn Hughes even going as far as saying that it will give more "modern" heavy rock bands like Audioslave and Velvet Revolver a run for their money. This was surely to imply the more modern sounding approach to this album over The 1996 DEP Sessions which initially lead me to have reservations about this release. After many listens, any apprehensions I had have all but disappeared. This album simply owns!!

Tony Iommi unleashes some of the finest riffs he's done in many, many years on this album and combined with Glenn's very emotional and soulful voice, delivers one of the finest slabs of metal so far this year. The more modern and pounding de-tuned heavier edge can be heard with tracks like Dopamine (the first single from the album). The riffs are HUGE for each track with Tony's trademark low C# tuning adding to the killer crunch. The man is master of very heavy riffs that combine full chords with single notes with such an amazing vibrato that it adds a killer eerie tone to almost every track. The overall tempo to many of the songs is slower and plodding with Wasted Again, Saviour Of The Real and Grace being prime examples. Many of the tracks feature very Sabbath-like riffs for the intros and verses with a more modern abstract tone for the chorus sections, reminding me bit of Velvet Revolver and Stone Temple Pilots and is reflective of the different vocal styles that Glenn uses throughout the album this time around. A few Sabbath trademarks are definitely evident especially with the sudden tempo changes that occur in tracks like Grace and the nine minute epic I Go Insane with the latter alternating between slower and quiet segments, heavier sections and speedy and frenzied towards the end all with as killer passionate vocal by Glenn. The Spell even features an ominous tone for the intro that's very reminiscent of the song Black Sabbath. Deep Inside A Shell fulfils the obligatory power ballad slot quite nicely and is both catchy and heavy with a more mainstream accessibility and would make a great choice for a single. With What You're Living For, we finally get a more up-tempo track in the vein of The Danger Zone from the Seventh Star album (also featuring Glenn Hughes). It has some great riff changes with a mix of palm-muted and sliding effects by Tony and we see a possible glimpse into the future of a more modern Sabbath sound (if and when the original line-up ever records again). Tony's lead playing is as expressive as ever and this is the best he's sounded on record in quite a while. All of his rhythm parts are multi-tracked adding to the huge wall of sound that seems to be coming from his guitar. He also uses some very tasteful lead phrasing and chordal voicings over some of the vocal lines and choruses, adding lots of color to the sound. Glenn Hughes' very crisp but booming bass lines are rock solid and he's totally in sync with Tony's riffs and drummer Kenny Aronoff does a killer job on drums. Keyboard effects, mostly of the orchestrated kind, add nice atmospheric touches to many of the tracks.

It's quite amazing how Tony Iommi keeps coming up with these killer and monster riffs!! The man is THE riff master. Although I still like The 1996 DEP Sessions a lot, it seems to be lacking the completeness and production polish that Fused has. Fused rivals anything these two have done before including the Seventh Star album. Glenn's vocal interpretations of Tony's riffs are sometimes a bit out of the ordinary but that's what makes their collaboration so effective. Tony has been quoted as saying that sometimes Glenn will come up with vocal melodies that are way out in left field as to what he originally had in mind. That element alone takes away any sort of predictability that can often exist with hard rock and especially heavy metal. Glenn Hughes' fans may be taken aback by the heaviness of this album but his classic voice is ever present, as strong as ever and is sure to satisfy. Fused is also a much heavier album than either The 1996 DEP Sessions or Seventh Star and interestingly enough, when asked about the possibility of a new Sabbath album by all of the original members, bassist Geezer Butler was recently quoted as saying that many of the tracks and the riffs on Fused would've made great Sabbath songs. It's not looking like a new Sabbath album is going to happen any time soon but Sabbath fans and especially fans of Tony Iommi should run, walk, crawl or do whatever it takes to get this album.....it's that good.