Black Sabbath rocker Tony Iommi is documenting his life in the hellraising band in a new autobiography.

The book, Iron Man, is due to be published later this year, after U.S.-based Foundry Literary & Media bought the publishing rights for a six-figure sum at auction.

Announcing the deal, Foundry boss Peter McGuigan described Iommi's tome as "Angela's Ashes meets The Ground Beneath Her Feet meets Spinal Tap".

The memoir will follow the 2009 release of former bandmate Ozzy Osbourne's own autobiography.

The two men are currently embroiled in a legal battle over the Black Sabbath name. In May last year, Osbourne filed suit in a federal court in New York against Iommi alleging he illegally claimed the band name. Iommi claims his bandmates relinquished their rights to the name back in the 1980s - and is seeking an equal split between all the original bandmembers.