Black Sabbath
Sabotage
[Warner Brothers]
After going a bit astray on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Black Sabbath came back
with a heavy album that set up yet more lasting metal precedents. It was
probably their last great album.
The most powerful, ground breaking song on the album is Symptom of the
Universe.
The first half of it rides mostly on the strength of a riff that is the
elemental epitome of dissonance in metal. The riff slams away
straightforwardly
on the low E, then drives in the dissonant tritone with long, sustaining
notes.
The rhythmic phrasing is brilliant. It really lets the listener savor the
clashing chord.
It ends up being as beautiful as it is ugly and is an archtype for dissonant
metal riffs. The other riffs masterfully oppose or feed off of the charging
momentum of the main riff.
After charging away with a storm of well-placed dissonance and energy, the
song into breaks into a very loose and mellow acoustic section. The
transition is
strangely quite natural. The second half's various bluesy parts mesh with a
playful intricacy. Again, Sabbath successfully use the momentum from the
visceral
first half to carry the listener out of the song in euphoria.
Don't Start (too late) is the prelude to Symptom of the Universe, but it's
not
at all a throwaway track. On top of an odd, not wholly consonant bass
texture,
quiet acoustic guitars arc up strange, thoughtful arpeggios, pitted against
each
other in odd harmony before trading off contemplative baroque-feeling
fragments.
Hole in the Sky, the song before that, is a filled with groove and good
texturous
riffs. It feels good and right as the first song on the album.
The Thrill of It All and Am I Going Insane? (Radio) are both happier and
closer to traditional 70's rock. While they're the worst songs on the album,
they're both pretty tolerable and have their moments.
Megalomania, on the other hand, starts as a sprawling, despairing song. It
thickens
and saturates during the choruses of the first half. The second half of the
song continues with a more regular riff, rhythm-wise. It roils around,
letting the
sort of odd, slightly "frying" distortion breathe and fizz. Unfortunately,
cowbells
and happy riffing come around occasionally during this part of the song and
take me
out of it a bit, although I'm sure that they did it intentionally for contrast.
The Writ is another huge and two-headed song like Megalomania. After
setting a
tone with samples of insane crying/laughing and ominous, watery bass
undertones,
Sabbath breaks the mood with a big rock riff, consisting of big stomping
chords.
Reminds me of bagpiping.
The watery ominous bass returns for the second verse, but so does the rock
riff.
This time, they build into a Sabbathy grooving/despairing riff. In turn, this
gives way to a nice acoustic section. As much as I hate to describe this
way, it
reminds me of twinkling stars. The song ends the way it should, with the
heavy riff.
Supertzar was the real surprise for me the first time I heard this album. It
is a simple song consisting of an acoustic part and three serious riffs, the
main one being very militant. They are all played in the middle register to
be
closer to the range of the chamber choir. The chamber choir sometimes
provides
a swelling backing for the guitar, and sometimes it sings the same lines
as the guitar. Together with the military drumming, the effect is amazing.
The choir, guitar, and drums blend powerfully. It is the most effective use
of a
choir in metal that I have heard.
All in all, Sabotage is good album. It's got one legendary song, a few other
great songs, and the rest sounds good in its place.
© 1999 abasmagorsulpherion