What are Black Sabbath doing on Remembrance Day? The venerable metal band have announced a major "special event" on 11 November, provoking new suspicions that the band's original lineup will reunite. With reports of recent rehearsals by Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne, the original lineup could be plotting its first new album in 33 years.

Iommi, Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward will all be present at Friday's event, Noisecreep reports , which takes place at Hollywood's Whisky A Go Go club – the site of Black Sabbath's 1970 LA debut. The band have also updated their official website and Facebook page, boasting fresh logos and the 11-11-11 date. About 17,000 people have already "liked" this on Facebook, leaving more than 1,000 comments.

Despite fans' enthusiasm, there is no guarantee that Black Sabbath are really getting back together. Earlier this year, there were explicit reports of "secret rehearsals", as well as album and touring plans. Iommi quickly dismissed these as "speculation" , and indeed no announcement was made. Iommi has shown no more enthusiasm on his recent book tour; interviewed by Rolling Stone in October, he said Black Sabbath had "moved on" and not met up "for a long time".

On the other hand, there's, er, Ozzy Osbourne. A new Black Sabbath album is "a very, very strong possibility," he told Billboard in early October. "It's in the very early stages, so we haven't recorded anything yet. If it works out, it'll work out. If it doesn't, I'll keep doing my thing."

The original lineup of Black Sabbath last appeared together at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2006. Despite attempting to record new material in 1999, they have not released an album together since 1978's Never Say Die!.