BLACK SABBATH — Black Sabbath (review)

BLACK SABBATH — Black Sabbath album cover Album · 1970 · Heavy Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
AtomicCrimsonRush
Recorded in 3 days and sounding like it, Black sabbath's debut is a raw brutal assault on all thing's wholesome and pure. As soon as the three note guitar riff booms out on the title track, the doom and gloom of metal is felt in it's sheer ominous presence. "What is this thing..." Ozzy wants to know, and his occult imagery abounds, with witches, wizards and sorcery; a full barrelled onslaught where music would never be the same again. There were occult bands out there in the 70s but Sabbath were in a league of their own. The crawling pace of the track is startling and effective, perap the beginning of death metal is right here. Certainly the themes are typical of the rising metal wave of the 80s; The 3 D's - death, damnation and devil worship would become the standard for metal songwriters for years to come but Sabbath were pioneers.

The real showstoppers are 'The Wizard' and 'N.I.B.' whichare quintessential sabbath tracks, along with 'Evil Woman'. The harmonica compliments the killer guitar riff in 'The Wizard', which ranks as one of my favourite tracks. Once it gets in your head you won't get it out.

Iommi's powerful guitar riffs are dynamic, pristine and sharp; simple but memorable and the enigmatic Ozzy Osbourne permeates each track with his pulsating shrilly delivery. This was the beginning of Sabbath's rise to infamy, and while not as polished as brilliant as subsequent albums, it is still a great debut from one of the most influential metal giants.
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