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RSSMetal Heresy: Is Black Sabbath Really Metal?
I’ve been doing a lot of research lately on the heavy metal family tree, and came across a really interesting, but virtually heretical question for metal fans:
Is Black Sabbath really metal?
A metal fan would instantly say “YES”, possibly, “fuck yea” or maybe even go so far as to break out their heretic choking hands, but is Black Sabbath really metal, or do we bestow them an honorary degree because they have made such a large contribution to Heavy Metal University?
The roots of the doom, stoner, and heavy metal genres can be traced back to Black Sabbath, so it’s difficult to argue that they wouldn’t deserve the honorary metal moniker. Unfortunately, if you kick back and listen to them with your brain instead of your cold, blackened heart, you may find yourself questioning whether they really are metal or not. Are they any more metal than Hawkwind, Blue Cheer or Iron Butterfly? It’s debatable, and those bands are commonly classified as “psychedelic rock” rather than heavy metal.
What about Led Zeppelin? If Black Sabbath is metal, then shouldn’t you throw Led Zeppelin into the category as well? Don’t think I didn’t see you cringe at the comparison. Whether you like ‘Zeppelin or not, you know that they share dark imagery and blues rock roots with ‘Sabbath. Led Zeppelin is blues rock and maybe hard rock, but they certainly aren’t metal.
Yet, no matter where you look up Black Sabbath, they are classified as heavy metal. While it could be argued that ‘Sabbath crossed over into the power metal genre during the Dio years, my personal heavy metal canon prevents me from even recognizing that version of Black Sabbath ever existed. From verse 66 of my heavy metal bible: “No Ozzy, No ‘Sabbath.”
So, I bring the question to you. Do you classify Black Sabbath as metal or not? If you do, what’s your reasoning behind it? If you don’t, why does everything written on them classify them as such?
What do you think?
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August 12th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I classify them as metal because of this: “Heavy metal is traditionally characterized by loud distorted guitars, emphatic rhythms, dense bass-and-drum sound, and vigorous vocals.”
Black Sabbath certainly incorporated all of those elements into their music and incorporated them well.
Metal has evolved and incorporated much more than it did in those early days (punk, classical, hip-hop, etc.). Bands like BS didn’t have the technological wizardry available to them that bands today have, thus their metal-ness is rooted in the basic foundations and elements of that particular genre–the distorted guitars, the drumming that was fast and hard, and the vocals that mangled more than a few vocal cords.
If we really got down to brass tacks couldn’t we say that metal is really revved up blues and blues music is just tribal folk music evolved to ensconse itself in a particular era…if you go back far enough, there’s probably the absolute beginning of music, but who knows what that would be categorized as.
*la la la la there’s no such thing as the dio years la la la la la*
my version of the metal truth typed out in a percocet haze–please bear with me!
August 12th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Good question….I think the lines are kind of blurred. Is 80’s “dance” music that different from 70’s “disco”? Is “grunge” that different from “rock”? I think Black Sabbath is considered metal because Ozzy was considered metal in the 80’s.
Is Sabbath closer to Led Zeppelin(rock) or Motley Crue(metal)?
August 12th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
@M-shel: “________ is traditionally characterized by loud distorted guitars, emphatic rhythms, dense bass-and-drum sound, and vigorous vocals.”
You’ve could insert punk, hardcore, metal, classic rock, and industrial dance music into that open space, so I’m not sure that your reasoning builds a case for them being metal. Blue Cheer and LZ were in the same boat technologically, but they’re not metal. Or are they?
@Doles: It is a blurry line. ‘Sabbath is definitely a forerunner of metal, doom, and stoner metal, but does that make it metal?
That’s an interesting point about Ozzy dragging ‘Sabbath into the metal category in a revisionist way by virtue of his 80’s metal career. I really never thought of that.
The question still stands: Is Black Sabbath really metal?
August 12th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Absolutely his image in the 80’s drug BS’s status to Heavy Metal. Plus BS’s sound compared to the “hair metal” bands of the 80’s was a lot heavier and not to GAY.
August 12th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Good think I’m not trying to build a case…that’s just my personal viewpoint on it. I figger I’ll build a case about it when someone pays me an assload of money to do the research it would take to come to a truly educated position. Until then, I’ll enjoy it for the sake of enjoying it.
August 12th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
I say yes,
Black Sabbath could easily be defined as the world heaviest blues band, and they essentially are, but there’s one primary aspect that distinguishes them from Zep, Blue Cheer and other heavy blues-rock bands.
It’s the downtuned guitars. (And to a lesser extent the use of the diminished fifth) - The key element that gives the “doomy” edge to their otherwise traditional heavy blues sound. None of the other heavy bands/musicians of the time, relied upon this as the basis on their sound.
Sabbath did it, and it anchored their sound; other bands followed suit. Most metal bands of the late 70’s 80’s (and many of the 90’s) will go on the record as being directly influenced by that particular technique.
Also the “what is metal” debate is becoming more and more ridiculous as years go by. Metal’s subcategories are becoming more and more fragmented to the point where all heavy rock is metal - and no heavy rock is metal. It’s getting nutty. Why can’t we all just get along!? (Except for Dream Theater fans, they suck.)
August 13th, 2008 at 7:41 am
@M-Shel: Boooo. Why is it always about the bling?
@K: Downtuning makes an excellent case.
I don’t enjoy the “heavier than thou” aspect of “what is metal”, but I’m happy that there is so much variation within the genre. I was wondering if the definition of metal has changed over the years because I was reading recently that ‘Zeppelin and ‘Sabbath were originally called heavy metal in the early years by rock critics, who used the term in a derogatory way.
August 13th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
To paraquote Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey ( with special honors to Rob Zombie’s line in particular ) - Everything is derivative of Black Sabbath.
Even those screamo pukes.
Even Wagner, from a few centuries previous to them somehow, are all ripping off Black Sabbath. The diminushed fifth is so dark and brutal ( thank you too Pickles the drummer doodleeedoo ) that anything down tuned is metals. Now gets me a dragons!
-d—
August 13th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
I didn’t realize the term was derogatory at first. Interesting. I feel like the diversity of the genre is what keeps it so fresh and interesting after all these years. I love that you could get a group of metalheads in a room and they will likely have an entirely different list of favorite bands, with only a few bands overlapping.
But even if the definition has broadened, I feel like the genre’s roots have stayed the same. No matter what direction metal goes, I always see Sabbath as its start.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
It’s only about the bling when I’d have to put months, years even, of work into it!
August 29th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Downtuning is a good point. I think that image has alot to do with it too though. Look at some of this contemporary metal coming out of places like Finland. Hell, I’ll probably get laughed at for this, but look at H.I.M. they’re referred to as “love metal”. Over there it’s really about image. Their name is His Infernal Magesty and these use Bam Margera’s heartagram, but they have nothing to do with paganism or the occult. Was Alice Cooper metal? What about Twisted Sister?
September 21st, 2008 at 2:24 am
it’s sort a revisionist act to ask since many people referred to them as metal back then. they flirted with different styles ,songs like symptom of the universe/children of the grave/ into the void/ sabbath bloody sabbath are more straight ahead metal than hard rock jazz/ blues based stuff they done.
they had a few ballads and laid back acoustic stuff as well. to just label them metal would be a huge disservice to their music. they were metal and much more. always heavy.
September 25th, 2008 at 8:52 am
I humbly suggest that this line of inquiry is flawed at its core. Wouldn’t a better question be, “Is anything that is NOT Black Sabbath metal?”
The answer, of course, is, “No.”
October 19th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
It’s all about the dark feel of the music, I think… the way Symptom of the Universe sounds so fuckin’ evil, you know…
Led Zep on the other hand have nothing to do with evil (even though they did a couple of psychedelic songs - No Quarter), most of their songs have a kind of ”let’s have a party” vibe.
I never really listened to Hawkwind and Iron Butterfly (except a In-A-Gadda-A-Vida Slayer cover), but I would classify Blue Cheer, as well as Sabbath, as stoner metal (along with a couple of other bands of the time - Pentagram, for instance).
So, is Black Sabbath metal…? My blackened heart set to full motion, says: hell yeah!
October 23rd, 2008 at 11:08 am
I’d say that Black Sabbath are metal. I’m gonna say they were the first metal band, and Led Zeppelin are nowhere near because they were a bunch of folk-singing hippies (and also my favourite band, shh).
Anyway. The line between hard rock and heavy metal is pretty hard to define. I always argue with people over a simialr question- where do we put Guns N Roses?
To me, good music is good music. Classic rock is particularly hard to classify as rock or metal because the music isn’t heavy in the same way as metal is now- it’s more ‘chunky’ and less brutal, so it’s still heavy but with a different sound. Does it matter? Not really. Hell, I listen to Journey, I probably shouldn’t even be commenting on this at all.
October 26th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Black Sabbath is definitely metal. In my opnion they created the genre. When comparing it to current “metal” bands, Sabbath still comes off heavy - not old Opeth heavy, but heavy nonetheless. The other bands mentioned here Hawkwind was much more space/prog rock in the 70’s overblown sense of the word “prog”, Blue Cheer had one arguably metal song, and I personally don’t consider Summertime Blues a metal song. Iron Butterfly definitely wrote one song very influential to metal bands later, but again, were not a metal band. I think “K” makes some very valid and specific characteristics that differentiate Sabbath from the others here: the downtunings and the use of diminished fifths, in particular. In addition, the subject matter was waaaaay darker - N.I.B., Black Sabbath, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Electric Funeral, etc all stem from Ozzy’s occult dabblings - which has also become a staple of metal. You can draw a straight line from Sabbath, to bands like Kyuss, Sleep, Masters of Reality, Orange Gobline all the way to through to bands like CoC, Down, and Superjoint Ritual, even to Post-Metal bands like Pelican, Caspian, and Om.
Keep in mind also, that Sabbath continued to be metal after Ozzy’s departure - the Dio years were heavy - Neon Knights, Heaven and Hell, Mob Rules, etc., all the way through to the Tony Martin years, which were metal by any definition.
Zep is a different deal all together - they were bastardized blues rock - psychedelic, and heavy - with influences ranging from traditional Celtic music, Middle eastern/Serbian/gypsy music…. Plant was influenced heavily by Motown records. Zep is just too hard to classify - the first two records are primarily heavy blues, the third mellows out with a lot of Celtic and folk influences, the fourth combines all of them and overblows it with huge production, Physical Graffiti and Houses are probably their most “metal” albums, with tracks like In the Light, Ten Years Gone, No Quarter,The Ocean, etc - but even one those albums, you hear metal influences combined in a larger experimental framework.
Sorry to be so wordy, but a musician friend of mine and I have had a similar discussion lately - and I believe that all metal spawned forth from the loins of Sabbath….you could chart it out, like the Kevin Bacon game. All metal bands are within 7 degrees of Sabbath:
Dillinger Escape Plan was admittedly influenced by Opeth which was admittedly influenced by Slayer who started out as a cover band playing Iron Maiden songs that were influenced by Deep Purple who started out has kind of a hippy pop band until 1971’s Machine Head, which was heavily influenced by the first two Sabbath records. In actuality, all of those bands were directly influenced by Sabbath, with the exception of maybe Maiden.