Band of Horror: Review of Black Sabbath (1970)

In the winter of 1970, Black Sabbath brought onto the world their horrific and occult-filled music with the self-titled debut “Black Sabbath”. Released on Friday the 13th, this album helped mark the end of the hippie era and the beginning of the heavy 1970s. The opening song, “Black Sabbath”, paints a picture that could be pulled straight out of a horror film. Heavy rain falls on a dark night as ominous church bells ring in the guitar riff. Ozzy Osborne introduces his strange sound as he sings about an unsettling “figure in black”, who points and stares at him. This warped, black reality goes into an intense fight of guitar ripping. This song was apparently inspired by a vision Geezer Butler, Sabbath’s bassist, had in his room; decorated with satanic images, occult books, and all black walls. Osborne’s loud cry for help warns the listeners about the horrors that will come next. The next song, “The Wizard”, opens with a bluesy harmonica intro, like a bayou fusion with a brown acid reality. The song also references Lord of the Rings with the lyrics about a good wizard scaring off demons. Both this song “Black Sabbath”, and “Wicked World” are the only three songs that have a normal runtime. “Wasp/Behind the Wall of Sleep/Bassically/N.I.B.” runs at almost 10 minutes, being a dark knight epic that’s a fuzz filled satanic loop. The final song “A Bit of Finger/Sleeping Village/Warning” is even longer at 14 minutes. The first four minutes is an intense instrumental before Osborne comes in to sing his brooding love song. The song instantly goes into a chaotic slew of drums and distortion before calming but picking back up. This demonic fluctuation of sound continues until the final minute, when Osborne finished his black-hearted romantic bit. The album is horrifying, exciting, strange, and poetic. Just be careful with playing this too loudly; the Satanists might hear you and appear at your doorstep.

Rating: 4.7 out of 5