Welcome back to another addition of METAL MARCH! Today I have my favorite LP from the grandaddies of metal, Black freakin' Sabbath!
Black Sabbath are, as I stated above, the grandaddies of metal, in short, they penned the tunes, and the tuning, that made metal music a genre is the first place. On their first two albums, the band showcased a knack for bluesy darkness and riffs that went from steadfast gallops, to much more measured and doomy affairs, such as the title track from the band's self-titled debut. In my opinion, those first two albums are simply classic, and to deny that they are great is to deny the impact that they had on music. However, I do think that their third full length, the ominously titled, Master Of Reality, is their finest achievement in their early discography.
I've always been a big fan of the more gloomy and doom ridden side of metal, and Master Of Reality in a lot of ways is the genesis to what doom metal would become in the following decades, as well as stoner metal, seeing as bands like Sleep would go on to essentially copy the Master Of Reality blueprint on albums like Holy Mountain. But, with all of that influence and prestige, is the album still great? Abso-freakin-lutely.
The album kicks off with one of the bands most well known tracks, "Sweet Leaf" which yes, is a song about pot, but the riff and Ozzy's vocal delivery are anything but faded. Other classic tracks from this album are the ever so amazing and rifftastic "Children Of The Grave" which still has one of the meanest riffs in all of metal, and the doom and gloom closer, "Into The Void" which matches it's bleak title with an equally downtrodden groove and lyrics.
There are also a couple of short instrumentals that break things up a bit, but the only truly notable one to me is "Embryo" just for how beautiful it sounds. And the track "Solitude" is a standout track for just how quite it is compared to the other tracks on this album.
So yeah, this album is effin' amazing, and I could easily say the same thing about any early sabbath record, even Heaven & Hell, one of the albums they did with Dio, another metal icon. So, if you haven't experienced some Sabbath in your life, then get on it, you won't regret it.
Sabbath/10
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