{"id":12698,"date":"2013-06-07T00:00:38","date_gmt":"2013-06-07T00:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=12698"},"modified":"2014-07-16T12:14:24","modified_gmt":"2014-07-16T12:14:24","slug":"album-review-black-sabbath-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-black-sabbath-13\/","title":{"rendered":"BLACK SABBATH – 13 (2013) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

BLACK SABBATH
13<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nVertigo (2013)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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I think it\u2019s only right that a reviewer should feel some sort of pressure when writing about a new album release, and more so when it concerns a band who rightly so have been deemed as legendary. Reviews don\u2019t necessarily make or break a band, but all too often writers flippantly claim that an album is \u201cgreat\u201d or \u201cclassic\u201d when the reality is it\u2019s just as average as most and rarely stands the test of time.<\/p>\n

Even so, the murmurs of the long-awaited return of an Ozzy Osbourne-fronted Black Sabbath<\/a> have been on everyone\u2019s saliva-coated lips for years now, but having never come to fruition in the studio sense after several false starts, the woefully titled 13<\/em> was always going to be eagerly anticipated once the word was out of its impending release.<\/p>\n

Now, before I start this review I want to make it clear that even as a huge Black Sabbath fan (who isn\u2019t?!) I didn\u2019t want to get caught up in the petty politics being spouted by so many so-called fans that seem to have spent more time ranting on about the omission of original drummer Bill Ward than the actual record.<\/p>\n

Whatever conspiracies have been swirling around people\u2019s heads since news of Ward\u2019s exclusion, it\u2019s time to get over it and stare at the cold hard facts; these being that Black Sabbath circa-13<\/em> does not include Bill Ward. Move on. In his place, rock \u2019n\u2019 roll stalwarts Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler have recruited former Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave sticksman Brad Wilk, who certainly has big boots to fill.<\/p>\n

Strangely, despite the purists complaining that 13<\/em> isn\u2019t an official reunion, it\u2019s interesting to note just how many line-up changes \u2013 mainly in the vocal department \u2013 Black Sabbath have had over the years. 13<\/em> is of course the first studio album of Sabbath to feature Ozzy Osbourne since 1978\u2019s aptly titled Never Say Die!<\/em><\/a>, and judging by some of the recent live performances from the band (mainly Ozzy) I was rather worried that the band\u2019s 19th full-length studio opus was going to be a bit of a let-down, the sort of composition hindered, rather than aided, by modern dynamics, and so I knew I had to be careful not to compare it to the classics of the 1970s and early 80s.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing worse than reviewers barking on about how a band\u2019s new album doesn\u2019t compare to their previous works, even though the earlier works are decades old. It\u2019s only natural that bands move on, as does technology, and so 13<\/em>, in my opinion anyway, has to be reviewed as a separate entity.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s only fair that we start with the track \u2018God Is Dead?\u2019 \u2013 the second cut of the opus \u2013 simply because it was the track being touted around long before the album release. Clocking in at almost nine-minutes it begins life as a simmering, creeping, stark Iommi chord, nothing more, harking back to those ominous strains of the band\u2019s seminal \u2018Black Sabbath\u2019 anthem (from the 1970 debut<\/a> album of the name). It\u2019s eerie in its reflection and then disturbed by an avalanche of riff and Butler\u2019s shuddering bass.<\/p>\n

As an opening crunch it\u2019s merely a tease, immediately resorting back to that trundling plod until the injection of Ozzy\u2019s sombre narration. \u201cLost in the darkness, I fade from the light\u201d<\/em>, the Brummie warlord drools. \u201cFaith of my father, my brother, my Maker and Saviour, help me make it through the night\u201d<\/em>, he continues, evoking images of all manner of nightmares. Even just a minute or so in the levels of suspense are gut-wrenching as the trudge continues until once again Iommi\u2019s soul-shattering riff descends upon the room, bringing with it Butler\u2019s battering bass and Wilks\u2019 cascading drums.<\/p>\n

Immediately, I am aware of the fact that the drums seem slightly lost in the mix, and relatively safe in their structure, lacking the unorthodox clatter of Bill Ward\u2019s seminal tub-thumping. But hey, lyrically it\u2019s Sabbath at their blackest, building and then simmering, building and then simmering again as Ozzy yawns \u201cWill somebody tell me the answer, is God really dead?\u201d<\/em> amidst Butler\u2019s dominant strums and Iommi\u2019s stormy guitar sound.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, the track doesn\u2019t really go anywhere. It\u2019s a lengthy sermon of rainy quality, but as an album teaser it\u2019s better than a majority of songs released this day and age, and while there\u2019s a familiar air about Iommi\u2019s shift of riff six minutes or so in, it\u2019s still Black Sabbath, and how we\u2019ve gagged for such sincere darkness.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, with nary an internet leak in sight, we are all poised with baited breath for the actual album which I scramble to purchase on darkest double vinyl to accompany those early works of art. With candles lit, wife out of the way (actually, she\u2019s as equally intrigued!), and wind howling outside, the needle drops and the strains of \u2018End Of The Beginning\u2019 echo out across the moors (okay, so I don\u2019t live near a misty moor, but just go with it for atmosphere!).<\/p>\n

Again, it\u2019s another eight-minute epic that oozes across the room like some foul shadow cast by the Grim Reaper himself. The riff is heavy \u2013 obviously \u2013 and the drums booming, but again Sabbath scuttle back to that \u2018Black Sabbath\u2019 style of foreboding. The chords are stark, the drum a sporadic thud and Ozzy does sound like he\u2019s been transported back to the hazy, rain-soaked days of 1970, his bark as equally effective as his dove-headed bite.<\/p>\n

\u2018End Of The Beginning\u2019 is laborious, until it lurches into an uptempo shift which once again has echoes of the band\u2019s \u2018Black Sabbath\u2019 track, Ozzy replacing \u201cIs it the end my friend?, Satan\u2019s coming round the bend\u201d<\/em> with \u201cRelease your mind, fast forward to the secrets of your soul\u201d<\/em>, as Brad Wilk\u2019s remains steady as the back-bone to Iommi and Butler\u2019s stern chugging. Throughout the track there is, once again, an air of familiarity, as parts of \u2018Sabbath Bloody Sabbath\u2019 (the title track from the band\u2019s 1973 album<\/a>) spring to mind \u2013 I guess there are only so many riffs the great man can come up with.<\/p>\n

\u2018Loner\u2019 lunges into the ears with a massive doom-laden groove as Ozzy\u2019s crystal clear vocals \u2013 aided by Rick Rubin\u2019s tight production \u2013 howl at the moon. Admittedly though, of all the eight tracks on the record this is the one that sounds more suited to an Ozzy Osbourne solo platter and remains rather unconvincing with a rather repetitive riff.<\/p>\n

\u2018Zeitgeist\u2019 changes the mood however. \u201cAstral engines in reverse, I\u2019m falling through the universe again\u201d<\/em> the Ozzman wails over a faint acoustic strum and deft bongo drum, resonating the hazy, drug-fuelled days of \u2018Solitude\u2019 (from 1971\u2019s Master Of Reality<\/em><\/a>) and \u2018Laguna Sunrise\u2019 (from 1972\u2019s Vol. 4<\/em><\/a>) as a mellow and often trippy vibe with a cosmic slant.<\/p>\n

The seven-minute \u2018Age Of Reason\u2019 lumbers in on a traditional rock riff, Wilk\u2019s drums, although once again safe, rumble as Ozzy yawns \u201cDo you hear the thunder raging in the sky?\u201d<\/em>. As expected, Iommi\u2019s guitar sound and Butler\u2019s bass are monstrous as they work in cohesion \u2013 it\u2019s an epic track with orchestral overtures \u2013 billowing smoke of doom until Iommi slows the pace with ominous aplomb, but then unexpectedly jarring us into the final verse before the gloomy ooze of the finale as the solo soars into the zenith.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re then treated to the albums perkiest cut, \u2018Live Forever\u2019, featuring a more complicated riff structure and Ozzy\u2019s mournful cries of \u201cI don\u2019t want to live forever, but I don\u2019t want to die\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u2018Damaged Soul\u2019 is the bluesiest track on offer, soaked in a melancholic guitar and wallowing bass which accompany Ozzy\u2019s grey whine of \u201cBorn in a graveyard, adopted by sin. I cultivate evil, that\u2019s living within\u201d<\/em>. A great lyric, as Black Sabbath confirm themselves as the masters of occult-influenced rock with those earthquake drums and reflective, yet vibrant riffs.<\/p>\n

And then we\u2019re at the final epitaph \u2013 \u2018Dear Father\u2019 \u2013 introduced to us by Butler\u2019s punchy bass and another masterful riff. It\u2019s a fitting end to an album that some would say is rather uneventful, lacking that killer chorus like so many of those much drooled over classics. Even so, 13<\/em>, although slightly restricted by the pinching production and despite lacking a truly magnificent composition within, is still the opus I hoped and prayed for, and as it reaches its rainy yet oh so poignant climax, circa the cascading drums of Brad Wilk, I\u2019m almost moved to tears, realising just how much we\u2019ll miss these old dogs of doom.<\/p>\n

I doubt very much there\u2019ll be another Ozzy Osbourne-fronted Black Sabbath album after this, and so as the church bell tolls amidst the cracks of lightning, it\u2019s time to bid a teary farewell to the<\/em> greatest and heaviest band of our time. <\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BLACK SABBATH13 Vertigo (2013)Rating: 8\/10 I think it\u2019s only right that a reviewer should feel some sort of pressure when writing about a new album release, and more so when it concerns a band who rightly so have been deemed as legendary. Reviews don\u2019t necessarily make or break a band, but all too often writers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-black-sabbath"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12698"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20320,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12698\/revisions\/20320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}