Black Sabbathian

Everybody knows -or should know- Black Sabbath. Especially the first 5 albums (the ones with Ozzy) hold a special meaning, not only for me personally but for an entire generation. Almost every riff possible has been written by Tony Iommi (or Jimmy Page) and their records have definitely become part of our musical history.

Over the years after the demise of Black Sabbath, there were several bands who have an uncanny similar sound and I mean this in a good way. I'll try and focus on 2 bands and 2 records who are definitely highlight in the entire pile of rubbish that can be found out there.

Candlemass - From the 13th Sun.

Candlemass is mostly known for their earlier work -Epicus Doomicus Metallicus and Nightfall- but in 1992 -and with a totally new line-up formed together by Leif Edling- they released one of the greatest records of the nineties. It's packed with Sabbath riffs and the new singer, Bjorn Flodvkist, even has a Ozzy voice, albeit sounding more stoned than Ozzy (yes, that's possible). Right in the middle of the record there's the song ARX/NG 891 which has some synthesizers sounds but it makes the record better as a whole because of the placement in the middle of the record, it serves as a transition between the first and the second half. The second song Tot even has a Black Sabbath (song) structure with bell tolls and rain in the beginning. After which this massive riff comes up and just breaks the entire song open. Elephant Star is a ferocious song with a somewhat faster tempo. But the more you listen to the record you start to notice that it isn't all Black Sabbath. What makes this record more than just a Black Sabbath clone (albeit a damn good one) are the Hawkwind influences. No more epic doom from the first albums but a more psychedelic doom which triumphs with heavy songs, psychedelic lyrics and a more experimental guitar approach.

Witch - Witch

A more recent band that's perhaps more known... Witch. Many people think this is J. Mascis his band but a couple of months ago I heard that J. Mascis isn't actually the driving force behind the band which actually

makes sense because the band has played some shows without him, they played those shows with the drummer from Earthless. Anyway I want to talk about their first record. Like the Candelemass one it's uncanny how much this resembles Black Sabbath and particularly Masters of Reality. Into The Void's introriff has been copied a million of times and it's seems to pop up here and there on this record but always with a twist. The introriff of Seer took me back to a time before I was born, a time I only know from listening to seventies music at night & music documentaries. The sound and mixing on this record is definitely worth mentioning: the perfect seventies sound capture and a mix where -as it should be with this band- the guitars are up front. Sometimes the drums are panning from left to right and vice versa which they used to break a song and to introduce a new part in a song, it's incredible. As is the record.