Angel’s Rock Report–Sabbath, Metallica [AUDIO]

On Friday, Black Sabbath finally confirmed what we've been expecting -- they're reuniting for an album and tour. The press event took place at the Whisky a Go-Go in Los Angeles 41 years to the day since Sabbath's only previous appearance at the legendary club.

Host Henry Rollins (YUM!) made the actual announcement of what's going on before the band even hit the stage. The four members were joined by Rick Rubin, who'll produce the first Sabbath album with Ozzy Osbourne since 1978. They're about halfway through the writing process, and the guys all seem really happy with the seven or eight songs they have so far. They expect to release the album next fall on Vertigo/Universal Records.

Sabbath also plan to tour and have already accepted a headlining slot at England's Download Festival, June 8th through 10th in Donington Park.

Metallica will play their 1991 self-titled album -- a.k.a. The Black Album -- in its entirety at the 10th annual Download Festival on June 9th in Leicestershire, England. The band says in a statement, "The dudes who run it asked us how we felt about playing The Black Album in its entirety. We thought, 'Hold on, that could be really cool since it is technically the tail-end of the 20th anniversary of the release (August '91).'"

OK I realize none of us will get to attend this festival, but how AMAZING would it be to see Metallica perform The Black Album in it's entirety?  Dang!

Metallica has turned in a full album performance before -- on their 2006 European tour, they marked the 20th anniversary of Master of Puppets by playing that album at a few festivals.

IN STORES TOMORROW:

Ozzy Osbourne: God Bless Ozzy Osbourne (DVD/Blu-ray) (Eagle Rock)
Ozzy's son Jack produced this documentary

Slash featuring Miles Kennedy: Made in Stoke 24/7/11 (Eagle Rock)
This live album -- which is available as a two-CD, one-DVD package -- was recorded in Slash's birthplace.