Chuck Schuldiner Project

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Black Sabbath

BLACK SABBATH-BLACK SABBATH

Right so this is the second in my series of blogs about Early Metal. This time we are coveing a band that is possibly the metallest band ever. These guys are much more metal than Zep and deserve basically as much respect perhaps a little less because they have less of the overall beauty. But still this is a rocking band who as one album title says sold their souls for rock and roll. This album is surprisingly metal for 1970 and the fact that 3 years earlier they were called, get this... POLKA FULK! Isn't that hilarious? Just check their Wikipedia page. This album is very heavy for it's era but it definitely shows some Zep and bluesy references particularly in the track Behind The Wall of Sleep.
The instrumentalism is pretty much spectacular especially seeing as this is the first real metal and that its the first time power chords were used in this way. It has really powerful drum and bass lines which really contribute to the whole feel of the album. Sabbath had definitely not left their blues roots in this album. The previously mentioned Behind the Wall of Sleep is one example, but another key one is NIB. Which is a great song and an early example of their occult lyrics. The solos are also really strong showing Iommis technical skill. They are made more impressive with the knowledge of Iommi missing fingers.
The lyrics are as a whole very good. I'm slightly biased because I love Ozzy. Really though I think that most people can appreciate Ozzy's voice in this album. His lyrics are horror influenced and dark but I think they are very fitting to the band and their name. The Wizard is a personal favorite for the kazoo intro as well as the fact that it's about GANDALF! (Sabbath was a big fan of Lord of the Rings.) This album is hard rock/metal driven and shows it's power. The bass is especially nice in Evil Woman where it just comes through and permeates the song in a really good and powerful. It is well complemented by the guitar part.
Overall this is a really nice album and it comes off nicely and is a good way to spend 45 minutes or so. It is just really great because you can always remember that this surprisingly metal album is the first real metal album ever and comes from a band one name POKA FULK!
OVERALL 8.5/10

No comments:

Post a Comment