He bowed out of the band's reunion with Ozzy Osbourne ahead of recording sessions last year, saying he hadn't been offered a contract he regarded as "signable." After considering a series of replacements, Sabbath recorded 13 with Rage Against The Machine sticksman Brad Wilk. The resulting release went all the way to number one in the charts.

But Ward tells Rock Cellar: "The only thing I've heard from 13 is maybe 40 seconds of the first song. Then I turned it off. I just said, 'I can't listen to this any more.'

"I haven't heard anything off that album, and to be quite honest I don't care to either. It's too painful. I wish them all the luck � well, they don't need luck, but I wish them all the best in the world. But I can't listen to it; it's too close to home.