Tony Iommi has been hailed as the godfather of heavy metal for his role with Black Sabbath, the British group he cofounded in 1968. But the 68-year-old guitarist has just debuted his first composition since Black Sabbath announced their breakup, and it's anything but metal. In fact, it's religious.

"It's something we have started from scratch," Iommi tells the Birmingham Mail, "a completely new piece of music unlike anything I have done before." Iommi wrote the new song during breaks from the tour, saying he wanted to "give something back" to his home city. Titled "How Good It Is," the five-minute-long track drew it's inspiration from the Bible. More particularly, the song comes from Psalm 133, which begins with this line: "Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!"

The divide between heavy metal and chorale music is vast, but as Iommi explains, there is nothing ironic about a longtime Black Sabbath member writing music for the church. For that matter, he has professed his belief in God, saying he's a non-church-going Catholic.

Possible Preaching Angles: (1) Bible; Psalms—All kinds of people recognize the beauty of the Bible and, in particular, the beauty of the Psalms. (2) Beauty; Spirituality; Unity—This story also shows the spiritual hunger in our culture—we are longing for beauty, transcendence, and unity.