While the music industry continues to debate the ethics and implications of artificial intelligence, one of heavy metal’s founding fathers is quietly using the technology to fuel his creative resurgence. Black Sabbath bassist and lyricist Geezer Butler revealed this week that he has been utilizing AI software to assist in the demoing process for his long-awaited next solo album.
During a Q&A session at the Steel City Con in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, held from December 5-7, the legendary musician explained how modern tools have solved a logistical hurdle that plagued his earlier solo efforts: the lack of a vocalist during the writing phase.
When asked by a fan if he had any more solo albums “in the tank,” Butler confirmed that he is sitting on a massive archive of unreleased material.
“Oh, gosh. I’ve got tons of stuff,” Butler responded (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “Since we finished the last Sabbath show [at ‘Back To The Beginning‘ in July 2025], I’ve just been going through all the stuff that I’ve written since the ’80s onwards and updating everything.”
Butler went on to describe how AI has revolutionized his workflow, allowing him to present fully realized demos to collaborators rather than rough instrumental sketches.
“And what held me back before, I didn’t have a singer when I’m at home, but A.I. [artificial intelligence] came along. [Laughs] So all my songs now, I’ve updated them all and I’m using an A.I. singer to bring all the lyrics out.”
He clarified that the AI isn’t replacing the final talent, but rather serving as a sophisticated guide track.
“So now I can take it to singers that I’m gonna be working with and go, ‘This is what I want on the album,’ so they’ve got a better idea. Before I was just, like, playing them a bass riff or something, going, ‘Can you sing to this?’ And they’d be going, ‘Yeah.’ [Laughs] But it’s so much better now, ’cause you can sit in your studio and do everything on A.I. and then take it to proper musicians and let them take over.”
Despite the controversy surrounding the technology, Butler sees it as a practical tool. “It’s really helped me. A lot of people think it’s cheating.”
Later in the session, Butler was asked to compare this solitary, high-tech approach with the organic songwriting process of Black Sabbath. He painted a picture of a much more collaborative, improvisational environment during the band’s heyday.
“With Sabbath — Sabbath, we’d sit down in a room together and just jam and jam and jam until somebody came up with something that we could work with. Once we had a good riff to write to, we’d finish the music part of it. Ozzy [Osbourne, Sabbath vocalist] would sing his vocal line, then I’d write the lyrics. So it mainly came from jamming.”
Butler is no stranger to evolving with the times. His solo discography—comprising Plastic Planet (1995), Black Science (1997), and Ohmwork (2005)—saw him successfully pivot from traditional doom to industrial metal, collaborating with vocalists like Burton C. Bell (Fear Factory) and Clark Brown. With this latest revelation, it appears Butler is once again unafraid to adopt new methods to keep his music moving forward.
