10 Songs Which Gave Birth To Heavy Metal

By Christopher Jennings /

4. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Recorded: 1970 On the opening, self-titled track, from Black Sabbath€™s eponymous debut, the band stumbled onto a sound which created history within the first 60 seconds. €œBlack Sabbath€ greets the listener with the eerie, ungodly sound of the heaven's opening as unrelenting and torrential rain and ominous crashing thunder batter the senses before Tony Iommi unleashes his devilish tritone riff (simultaneously inventing Heavy Metal and Doom Metal in one slow, torturous harmonic progression); atmospherics designed to instantly create unease and trepidation. When Ozzy Osbourne€™s howls of fear and despair (barely in tune but so utterly perfect for Sabbath€™s sound) erupt from your speakers the listener is left with no doubt that the end of days are upon us. Ozzy€™s iconic delivery of bassist Geezer Butler€™s lines €˜figure in black which points at me€™ remain chilling to this day, the Brummie boys tapping into something truly sinister, truly disturbing and utterly unique; Heavy Metal may have been very, very young but it had definitely been born! Practically defining themselves within the first 6 minutes of their recorded career, Ozzy era Black Sabbath would arguably go on to record greater songs (€œSymptom of the Universe€, €œWar Pigs€, €œSabbath Bloody Sabbath€) but €œBlack Sabbath€ was the track that truly kickstarted this thing we call Heavy Metal.