Soliloquy

The Black Sabbath album 13, to put things mildly, blew me away. If God Is Dead? was what kept me hooked enough to rewind the record twice, it was the rhythm that Age of Reason and Loner got up to that made me stop and gape at the riffs that Tony Iommi seemed to have sprung out of nowhere. 

The band’s first studio album in eighteen years since Forbidden, 13 announces their revival with some gusto. And yes, Ozzy Osbourne is back helming the vocals as is former bassist Geezer Buttler. Ozzy, in fact, returned to Sabbath for the first time since 1978, where he was last heard in Never Say Die.

The songwriting, as always, is top-notch from Sabbath, and the solemn tones of the themes of religion, money and love as tinged with disenchantment as always. 13 does not fly as high on mellifluous animation as, say Paranoid, but it merits commendation on its own. Osbourne seems to have rolled the years back and the pitches he inhabits frequently reignite sparks. 

Paranoid was the first album of the band that I listened to, followed closely by Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and I would go as far as to rank 13 to be close to them. The story it tells, which reaches its culmination with Damaged Soul and Dear Father, cannot be disregarded by true metal fans. Osbourne is back and although Sabbath have disbanded after their final EP The End, this album is worth cherishing. On a personal note, it does give cues to what I experienced when I first put on the Technical Ecstacy record.

Rating: 4.5/5

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