It's no secret that the members of Black Sabbath have been in the studio recording their first album with Ozzy Osbourne since 1978's 'Never Say Die!' According to a new report, the group are partway through the recording of 15 new tracks, 12 of which will comprise the album that the band hope to release next year.

Osbourne had previously stated that the band had 15 songs written for a new album, and the new report appears to confirm that, with bassist Geezer Butler stating that 12 of the tracks will surface on the new album, and three additional songs will likely see release as bonus tracks. One confirmed song title is 'God Is Dead,' in keeping with the cheerful tradition of Sabbath classics like 'Iron Man,' War Pigs' and 'Children of the Grave.' The musicians have been working with producer Rick Rubin at Shangri La Studios in Malibu.

Guitarist Tony Iommi completed guitar tracks for all of the songs during recording sessions in England earlier this year, and Butler and Ozzy are currently working on five songs at a time, contributing vocal and bass overdubs. Presumably that means that basic drum tracks for the songs are complete, too, making it appear less likely that original Sabbath drummer Bill Ward will rejoin the group at some point. Ward has so far chosen to sit out what was planned as a reunion of the entire original lineup due to a contract dispute.

There's been no release date set for the new project, but Osbourne told NME, “Next year, 2013, is a good clue of what we’ll call the album.”

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