10 Perfect Albums That Will Make You Love Metal

If you were breaking it down to the one album that officially started the heavy metal genre, it would probably be the first Black Sabbath release. Even though the hippie movement was still present in the rock scene, these bluesy songs from the crypt announced the new guard of what people should expect music to become in the next few years. Sabbath were still figuring out their sound though, and it would take a few more albums before they hit that real sweet spot.

While Master of Reality might not be the band's most celebrated work or even their most single heavy record, these 8 tracks captured something a lot closer to what heavy metal is all about. Being the first instance of Tony Iommi tuning his guitar down to unheard of levels, the sludgy nature of these riffs are one part stoner rock and one part hard rock, while also finding time to talk about the more nefarious habits of rock stars like the drug ode Sweet Leaf.

These weren't just a bunch of stoners just trying to make something spooky for the hell of it though. In between some of the sweeter interludes, every one of these songs seems to go for something more bombastic than the one before it, from Children of the Grave singlehandedly stomping out the '60s Flower Power generation to the sounds of disappearing into a different realm on Into the Void. Sabbath had already created songs that felt like they were channeling demons, but these are the tracks that feel like they're made to summon the apocalypse.