Possibly the most hotly anticipated album of the year, or most certainly within the metal community, Black Sabbath managed to make it out of the studio alive and have unleashed the album “13” into the world, but as the thank you lists within the sleeve notes express it’s not exactly been an easy ride in the making.
There were of course the on-going negotiations of trying entice Bill Ward back into the fold – but alas lawyers couldn’t reach a contractual agreement, resulting in Ward’s image being removed from every photo on the bands website (upon his request) and Rage Against the Machine’s Brad Wilk having the honour of sitting behind the drum kit.
Then with Ozzy back to his old tricks not only did he nearly manage to destroy his marriage (again) but rumours of drinking heavily (again) were circulating… which along with the shock news that guitarist Tony Iommi had started to undergo chemotherapy for a battle with cancer, we could all but wonder if this release would ever materialise, but luckily for all concerned both Ozzy and Iommi are very much alive and kicking.
Since Ozzy originally left/got kicked out the band in the seventies there had been various incarnations of the group, none of which were ever truly Sabbath – except possibly the Ronnie James Dio years (incidentally if you’ve yet to hear the 2009 album “The Devil You Know” featuring the reformed Dio line-up released under the name Heaven and Hell, you seriously don’t know what you’ve missed!).
Let us not forget though that the original four members of Ozzy/Iommi/Ward/Butler did however record two studio tracks for the 1998 live “Re-union” album, and although both tunes are good in their own right neither managed to re-capture the classic sound of Black Sabbath and have remained mostly over looked.
So with the legendry producer that is Rick Rubin at the helm, Black Sabbath set about recording “13” and straight from the off this sounds like a Sabbath record, the slow evil riffs of Tony Iommi on the opening of “End of the Beginning” send shivers down your spine and then three minutes in with Geezer Butlers rumbling bass kicking in and you can’t help but nod year head with a smile on your face.
As the second track “God is Dead?” continues the dark slow riffs these first two tunes already have everything you want from a Sabbath album both weighing in at over eight minutes long, with Ozzy sounding in great voice – there’s also a hint of his recent solo career creeping in but put that voice over the top of Iommi/Butler and it becomes something else, it becomes Sabbath.
This however isn’t all about the heavy side of the music though as demonstrated with “Zeitgeist”, a beautiful ballad with acoustic guitar reminiscent of “Laguna Sunrise” from the Vol 4 album, which combined with bongo’s and the fading in and out of Tony Iommi’s solo’s adds a different dimension to the album – as does “Damaged Soul” which complete with Ozzy’s blues harmonica playing shows Sabbaths ability to mix it up amongst the trademark darkness.
The album comes to a close with “Dear Father” – a track with stabbing guitars and ending in the natural sounds of a storm breaking, producer Rick Rubin (along with Brad Wilk capturing the essence of Bill Wards drumming), has really done the Black Sabbath sound justice.
It’s not all over though if you get your hands on the deluxe edition, featuring another three studio recordings. “Methademic” may have a more metal drive to it but “Peace of Mind” and “Pariah” both work well as a continuation of the album.
So in conclusion, is this the end of the beginning, or the beginning of the end? All I know is that for now Black Sabbath (albeit without Bill Ward) are back with an epic new album and it couldn’t sound more sinister and evil if it tried.
Mr Teeth
