Vinny Appice is a wanted man. The Heaven & Hell drummer is making his return with the new band Kill Devil Hill, which also features Pantera’s Rex Brown, and he’s also been courted for Dave Grohl’sSound City‘ documentary, but it’s his past that keeps spurring some of the most interesting questions.

Appice’s name continues to be part of the rumor mill while Black Sabbath continue to try to find a resolution after Bill Ward backed out of their reunion over a contract dispute. The drummer says that while he has a past with the band, he’s made no inquiries about filling the vacancy. Vinny adds he’s remained friendly with ailing guitarist Tony Iommi, but was never one to insert himself into the discussion. Plus, he understands the politics of what his return might suggest. He tells MetalInsider.net, “If I was in the band, it would be like Ozzy Osbourne touring with Heaven & Hell. People could take it possibly as that, even though it’s bigger than that, and then there’s all of these political things involved. But with Sabbath, you can never figure out what’s going on anyway.”

Vinny hopes that Black Sabbath resolve their differences with Ward, but he has found some humor in the rumor mill. “It was really funny reading all the Internet stuff because when Bill came out [with his statement], people were writing in going, ‘Vinny should do it! Vinny’s next in line!’ Then people go, ‘F— Vinny! He doesn’t belong up there. Bill should be up there!’ Then all of a sudden Tommy’s [Cluefetos] name came up, they were going ‘F— Tommy! He doesn’t deserve to be up there! Vinny should do it!’ It just went down the line. And I was cracking up, like ‘Damn!’ You can’t win or lose.”

When asked if he would consider it if Sabbath came calling, the drummer stated, “It’s hard to turn down something so legendary, like, ‘Hey, you want to play on the next or last Black Sabbath album?’ It’s part of history. So it would be hard to turn down. I would just make it work with both bands coexisting. If I had to do that, I would do it. But maybe it would help Kill Devil Hill. Maybe we’d open the tour, if they were touring? If it was like this is going to take the next three years and you can’t do anything else, then I would have to think about it. But my main thing is Kill Devil Hill.”

As for Kill Devil Hill, Appice says, “It was always my dream to have my own band. I tried other projects here and there, putting things together. This started a couple of years ago, and it’s just evolved into something great. This happened better than anything.” Kill Devil Hill’s self-titled debut album arrives May 22 and you can order your copy via the band’s website. The group just started a tour with Adrenaline Mob.

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