Bill Ward on the early days of Sabbath and drumming on LSD

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The former Black Sabbath drummer reflects on the early days and his dalliances with drugs

Bill Ward in The Doom Doc

In this exclusive unseen clip from The Doom Doc, Black Sabbath founding member Bill Ward remembers Sabbath’s early days and his experiences of drumming while on LSD.

“I found no real solutions or enjoyment in playing that way onstage,” says Bill. “I was realising that I could’ve fucked everything up!

“It’s interesting to talk about the phenomena of LSD when you’re playing in front of 25-30,000 people, but in hindsight I was taking huge risks with not only my performance but the entire performance.”

The Doom Doc is a crowdfunded documentary looking at the pitch black heart of doom metal. Exploring heavy music’s relationship with drug use, mental health and gentrification, director Connor Matheson gets candid with members of Crowbar, Conan, Slabdragger and more.

The Doom Doc premieres on July 9 at the Showroom Cinema in Sheffield.

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Luke Morton

Luke Morton joined Metal Hammer as Online Editor in 2014, having previously worked as News Editor at popular (but now sadly defunct) alternative lifestyle magazine, Front. As well as helming the Metal Hammer website for the four years that followed, Luke also helped relaunch the Metal Hammer podcast in early 2018, producing, scripting and presenting the relaunched show during its early days. He also wrote regular features for the magazine, including a 2018 cover feature for his very favourite band in the world, Slipknot, discussing their turbulent 2008 album, All Hope Is Gone.