Listening to Tenacious D got me looking up Ronny James Dio, which got me looking at Sabbath and realizing I'd never heard their albums, despite their huge influence on the world of rock.
Finally, exactly what I was expecting. Sludgy, heavy, metal, with short songs, long songs, tons of dark imagery, tons of bass. It's pretty good though, actually. This is an album that sacrifices many maidens at the alter of the almighty riff, spends many a moonlit night dancing in its name, and will allow no deviance from its word. Hendrix and and Zeppelin had been riffing plenty before this album, but there's something singleminded on display here that takes it to a whole 'nother level. Luckily, the riffs are pretty good, held up by surprisingly deft bass lines, and buttressed by some pretty decent solos. The Wizard, in particular, is an excellent stomper.
I don't really listen to music this heavy all that often, but it does what it does well, and you can clearly see its influence all over the intervening generations of music. Worth hearing 3.5/5
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