Black Sabbath were a band born out of sheer bloody mindedness with their unique sound being a combination of guitarist Tony Iommi’s adapted playing style after losing the tips of his fingers in an industrial accident in and Ozzy Osborne’s doom laden vocals that were a perfect fit for songs about the occult.
The album opens with wind, rain and an ominous tolling bell, before that famous tritone chord kicks in like something out a Hammer Horror movie, with a song inspired by a nightmare that bassist Geezer Butler had about waking up to see an ominous black figure pointing at him. Other songs take Tolkien and HP Lovecraft as inspirations, although we are now a long way from the hippy, dippy sixties.
This is widely regarded as the first true heavy metal album (although Ozzy was reluctant to call it that), and it’s certainly one of the biggest influences on the metal scene as evidenced by the bands that contributed to Black Sabbath’s final show just a couple of weeks ago as well as the outpouring of love for Ozzy himself from fans and fellow artists. It was a fine way to bow out - rest in peace Ozzy!
https://album.link/gb/i/1438648677
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