Black Sabbath revolutionized music by pioneering a whole new genre when they released their self-titled debut album 50 years ago. While the band played their final show in 2017, their music and legacy will live on forever.
Technically, Black Sabbath formed in 1968, performing under the name Earth. However, 1970 was the year the UK band made its mark on an international level and released its first music as Black Sabbath. Their debut LP arrived on February 13th, 1970, while their second album, Paranoid, was released just seven months later in September.
As the godfathers of heavy metal, Black Sabbath have influenced countless bands, with just about every act in the genre owing a debt to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame act.
Over the past several months, Heavy Consequence gathered video testimonials from Steve Harris (Iron Maiden), Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), David Draiman (Disturbed), Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society), Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth), and others. As you’ll see in the video above, they all pay tribute to Black Sabbath, discussing the impact the band’s music had on them.
Draiman describes Sabbath’s music as “so dark, so ominous, so scary, in a way, but so absolutely beautiful.” Morello says that Sabbath “began [his] lifelong love of riffs,” while Harris credits Sabbath’s self-titled debut and Paranoid as albums that “made [him] want to play [bass].”
Other artists singing Sabbath’s praises in the video are Lzzy Hale (Halestorm), Johannes Eckerström (Avatar), Mark Lanegan (QOTSA, Screaming Trees), Jesse Leach (Killswitch Engage), Willie Adler (Lamb of God), and Alter Bridge’s Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy.
Watch the aforementioned artists pay tribute to Black Sabbath in the video above.
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