End of an era

[The Ozzman]

All hail the very first metal band and their 'last ever' show tonight. Drink one for these dudes.

 

[Sirjack]

is it?

 

[The Ozzman]

is it?

According to Iommi's Facebook page it is. I find that hard to believe with Bill Ward not being in the band but we will see..

 

[Atomic Tide]

I'll be drinking 3 or 6 for these guys!

 

[Satanstoenail]

Glad I got to see them. Still a shame there was no Bill Ward present.

 

[Talos of Atmora]

He handed me the eponymous debut.

I can only imagine the look you had on your face when you heard the first track.

 

[Talos of Atmora]

I was a little more adjusted because I'd spun Paranoid a couple times by then, but holy cow, that opening riff. Like you said, my face must've been priceless. The rain and church bell were unsettling as it was, then he pounds out the first chord of that flatted fifth devil's tritone, and I just about shit myself. I was frozen, then Ozzy's startling unorthodox howls and Bill's tribal drumming burst through, it was legitimately terrorizing. I actually had to stop the needle after the first song had played to humanly process what I'd just encountered. It took me about a week before I had the balls to put it on again and listen all the way through.

I love how Robert Christgau called it "bullshit necromancy" when I heard pretty much everybody I spoke to about the album talk about how grim and twisted it sounded when it first came out. Doesn't sound like bullshit to me. Hell, when I listened to it in the 2000's I thought it would sound like Blue Cheer or some shit but it sounded otherworldly. I was stunned by how ahead of its time it was, even as a kid.