10 Darkest Rock Albums Of The 70s

When Black Sabbath first came together back in the late '60s, metal wasn't really on their agenda all that often. These were musicians that were looking to make something similar to the blues rock that they loved as kids, albeit with a bit of a horror themed approach to the lyrics. Once Tony Iommi started to detune his guitar though, things started to get a lot more interesting on Master of Reality.

After Paranoid set up their power on the charts, this record is where Sabbath tested how heavy they could go, with songs that dealt with everything from the afterlife to the destruction of the world. Pretty much every song on here reads as a nightmare for any concerned parents, whether that be the recreational marijuana use of Sweet Leaf or slipping away into the abyss on Into the Void.

Outside of the standard bluesy progressions though, Master of Reality became a warning of what was to come, as metal bands started to spring up in Sabbath's wake like Judas Priest. If there's one song that really says it all for the record though, it's Children of the Grave, which goes after the Flower Power generation and how they are slowly burning themselves out without even knowing it. The era of peace and love had failed, and the era of doom metal was now officially upon us.