To some former Black Sabbath vocalist Tony Martin has seemingly been out of the spotlight for quite some time since recording albums like Eternal Idol, Headless Cross, Tyr, Cross Purposes, and Forbidden with the heavy metal legends in the 80's & 90's, but the reality is he's quietly kept busy, and just recently finished recording a third album with Italian guitar master Dario Mollo. The Third Cage has recently been released on Frontiers Records, and SoT Publisher Pete Pardo was able to track down Martin to talk about the new CD, his busy schedule, and time spent with Black Sabbath.

SoT: It's been quite a while now since your Black Sabbath days, but for the most part you've been out of the spotlight. Can you talk a little bit about that final year with Sabbath, and what you've been up to since then?

Tony: Well the final year of Sabbath was VERY uncomfortable!!!!! .. I had NO IDEA what was happening although i knew some change was being concidered. I had no idea if i was going to be on the last album or not. Even right up to being in the studio i still didnt know..... When i spoke to the management about it they just said do it anyway and we will see what happens. ... This of course was relating to Ice T ... The forbiden album was suposed to be a concept with the Rap thing..... But they wouldnt tell me if Ice T was doing the whole album or one song or sections in songs.... i had no idea. The rehearsals were tense and we were making some good tracks but it didnt feel right. ..... after it all was produced my manager rang and said it was all over. I was quite dispondant with the whole scene after that and it took a long time to get inspired but in the mean time i raised a family, and did the odd session from time to time.

SoT: The Third Cage is your third release with Dario Mollo. Can you talk a little bit how you both met, and what differentiates this release from the previous two?

Tony: We met because i was offered a session with an Italian guitarist called Aldo Giuntini. He had a producer, Kit Wolvern, who asked me to be involved with the Giuntini project. As we progressed through the session they played me some other tracks and asked if i liked them, it was music written by The studio engineer/owner Dario Mollo ..... I took them away and worked on them a little and found it was possible to get some songs out of them, we eventually decided that we should try making an album i suggested the name "The Cage" it was a name we had concidered using when i was in Cozy Powells hammer but never used it. We had a little success with the Cage albums, nothing major but the talent was obviously there so we continued to explore it. We arrive at Cage 3 and it is about as far as we can go with it really. It is by far the best of the 3. It took 4 years to write it..... I decided that only the songs that i could make work would be concidered. In the past i had tried to make songs out of everything... but this time i felt like it needed to be concidered more. It has to be said there arent many riffs i had to reject. When Dario sends me riffs they usually come as a track and then i would cut them up to suit what ever melody and lyric i felt apropriate and then he would re record it in that form. ... Very patient ..... A lot of work . .. but it really does mean that you are hearing the best things from us.

SoT: This new CD has a lot of variety on it-from catchy melodic rock, power metal, some 70's hard rock, to our and out riffing heavy metal. Is there a specific style you like to sing in, or has working with Dario allowed you to try your hand at different styles?

Tony: I'm not really keen on the 80's melodic rock type things... we had started the first cage album and as i said i would make songs out of anything that came my way..... that became a kind of format for us on the scond album too so then the 3rd came and Dario sent me the same kind of track and i thought .. ok, i guess we have to keep the image going .... I prefer the mysterious and riffy type things.

SoT: It's pretty obvious that your voice is as strong as ever after listening to The Third Cage. What do you do to keep your voice in such great condition?

Tony: Well remember I took nearly 4 years to make this... and given that amount of time its possible to use the best takes that you can perform.... when you are writing AND recording things get changed .. chorus sections become bridge sections or vise versa .. lyrics are changed etc etc... so its written sometimes as you go along. My voice clearly works in some ways better than others... I am aware of that and try to make the sections work with my voice. To be honest i have the same problems with age and power that most singers have and i have to work constantly to keep it in form.. even in the studio i am always doing apropriate excercises that keep my voice going. .,..... It is a constant battle..!!!

SoT: Has there even been any discussion between the two of you to take this project out on the road for some live appearances?

Tony: Dario has mentioned it but i have not heard anything positive, but i dont think i would tour it....

SoT: "Still In Love With You" reminds me of vintage Rainbow, Deep Purple, and Dio styled heavy rock. How much are the both of you into that style of material?

Tony: Well the music only comes to life when the vocals go on top and i didnt realise that it was taking that shape ... I was just writing the best melody i could get for those riffs.... The lyrics were almost a post melody invention.... i had the melody way before i had the words ,,..... It was one of the more enjoyable songs to write for me. Dario said he loved it so i guess we were both in the same zone for that one.... i would find it hard to write a whole album of that though.!!!

SoT: Are there any other musical projects that you either currently working on or in the plans to?

Tony: I have 5 other things .... and as they come up i will be happy to talk to you about them... The ones that are no secret are the new Giuntini album which was sounding great when i last heard it! .... And a project called Silver Horses which is beautifull bluesy stuff ... different for me but very exciting..... the other projects are in the making and will be announced as they become cemented.

SoT: You appeared on some impressive Black Sabbath releases that sadly never really got the exposure they deserved. What were some of your favorite songs and albums from that period?

Tony: Apart from Forbiden .. I love them all really.... and for different reasons.... there were 7 different line ups when I was in the band so being able to work with Cozy Powell and Bobby Rondinelli was cool.... and Geezer and Neil Murray ..... they all made unique writing partners and so the albums Headless Cross and Cross Purposes were very different but wonderful to work on.

SoT: If you could make your own supergroup to perform & record with from musicians currently active today, who would they be?

Tony: My kids! ... They are awesome!!

SoT: There are a lot of excellent newer bands on the hard rock/metal scene today, as well as classic bands out there still making a go of it. Are there any that you currently follow and admire?

Tony: Almost all of them... from Radio head to Foo Fighters.... Ramstein to Hawkwind.... Vanessa may to Elgar..... and Reggea .... love em all. Apart from GLEE and those sickly nasty sticky mind numbing pop rock type things .... the rest is cool.

SoT: Anything additional you'd like to tell our readers?

Tony: Well , a million and one other things ..... but you dont have space!

I wouldnt be a serious working musician if i didnt have something to say about the music industry as a whole, which needs replacing by the way. Music is a worthless art these days -it only benefits those that live off the back of it mostly, and the artist gets little from it. We are the first person in the chain that writes and creates the product .. but we are the last person in the chain to get paid .... in between are all the labels and publishers and promoters and managers etc etc that still take the same percentages that they all did. And the attitude towards music in the consumer has been crucified!!!!! Now its expected that music should be FREE... its not for FREE!! The result is a much poorer industry i beleive.... The changes i beleive must come from the artist .. We are the ones that sign the stupid contracts.. and apart from the work that is stolen are the ones that allow our work to be given away. Stop giving music away for FREE- it's not working! Stop working for FREE - its not working!!!! We need to get worth back into music.. to make it worth it!!!... Otherwise there is no point ....

Pete Pardo