Sabbath Bloody Sabbath! Here is a key to the helpful infographic above that explores both the roots and the descendants of Tony Iommi and Black Sabbath’s deep and dark monster wall of riffage sound. Who could have guessed that a
freak factory accident and a severely detuned SG w
ould cause so many ripples?!
Cream – The supergroup that featured Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker is credited as inventing heavy metal. That may or may not be true but Clapton’s heavy-handed SG sound played a major role in the developing style of another budding British guitarist. With Sabbath, Tony Iommi took the plodding overdriven tone of
“Sunshine of Your Love” and detuned it to an even further gut-busting depth.
(Atco; 1967),
Wheels of Fire (Atco; 1968)
Blue Cheer were the American counterparts to Cream. On their first LP the Bay Area power trio took Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues” and turned it outside in with a thick brooding groove. The band would see a number of lineup changes and guitarist Randy Holden would eventually spin out on his own, releasing another quintessential Sabbath-esque heavy rock record,
Population II.
Essential Listening: Vincebus Eruptum (Phillips; 1968),
Population II (Hobbitt; 1969)
Pentagram owe more than a simple debt of gratitude to Sabbath, and Blue Cheer for that matter. The band, which has been active in various incarnations since the mid ’70s, combined the best of both groups into the quintessential doom metal sound. Relapse recently reissued most of the original lineup’s early catalog and guitarist Bobby Liebling is still out there keeping the band alive touring and recording with a revolving lineup.
Essential Listening: First Daze Here: The Vintage Collection (Relapse; 2002),
First Daze Here Too (Relapse; 2006)
Melvins – These Northwest stalwarts have their own sphere of influence that deserves further examination; King Buzzo is credited with teaching Kurt Cobain how to play guitar. But for now we count Buzz and Co. as part of a direct lineage that extends straight down from the mold cut on Sabbath’s
Volume 4. Buzz and Dale have been out on the road with a revolving cast of other players since the early ’80s playing that slow and dark heavy riff.
Essential Listening: Lysol (1992; Boner),
Houdini (1993; Atlantic)
High On Fire along with guitarist Matt Pike’s former band, Sleep, and Sleep’s ex-rhythm section’s current incarnation Om represent the new class of Sabbath-induced monster riffage. Often mentioned in the same breath as the mighty Mastodon, Boris, and
Sunn 0))), this is the new breed of heavy. All these groups are currently out on the road tearing up stages worldwide in search of the magic chord.
Essential Listening: Sleep’s
Holy Mountain (Earache; 1993), High on Fire’s
The Art of Self Defense (Man’s Ruin/Tee Pee; 2000), Om’s
Conference of The Birds (Load; 2006)