MASTER OF REALITY

What is interesting about early Black Sabbath is the progression within their first three albums, with the debut introducing that doomy, murky and menacing sound, 'Paranoid' being the more straightforward, tight and aggressive heavy metal offering, while 'Master of Reality' from 1971 captures that delightful evolution of the band into what could be called heavy-psych stoner-doom rock, or the perfect combination of all of their influences. And listening to this incredible album, one necessarily contemplates its inherent qualities - Sabbath's third studio album might as well be their heaviest work ever, replete with dirty, gnarly riffs, a vehement rhythm section and a flawless vocal performance from Ozzy. Of course, both Iommi and Butler downtuned their instruments for this album, achieving a stark, gritty heaviness that oozes all the doom and gloom you might desire on a Sabbath album. This project is another immensely influential record from the early 70s that undeniably informed generations of doom, stoner, sludge and heavy metal bands to come.

And not only this, but 'Master of Reality' happens to be the shortest studio offering from the band - with more time on their hands following their tour of 'Paranoid', a heftier budget and the experience of two massive studio albums prior to this one, it is no surprise that this album is as neat and consistent as it is. Containing just six songs proper and two shorter instrumentals, one might marvel at how substantial 'Master of Reality' is - the guitar work of Iommi is brilliant and here he delivers some of the most relentless licks and most unexpected twists of the entire Black Sabbath catalogue, simply neat and to-the-point playing that is delightful to listen to. Butler is frenetic on this album, his bass tone is so gnarly, infectious and prominent - exactly what you need from a metal album - and these two instrumentalists really seem to have constructed a relentless, sludgy sound that soon enough became so impactful for the genre. The record is exuberant as it is exploratory and unpredictable. Hard-hitting numbers like 'Sweet Leaf', 'Children of the Grave', and 'Into the Void' are contrasted by the oozing malevolence of mellower songs like 'Solitude' and the Iommi piece 'Orchid' (which is excellent, by the way). Then we have the more experimental tracks like 'After Forever' or 'Lord of This World', with the band trying out some different tricks. In a word, everything about 'Master of Reality' is remarkable - the quality of the material on here, the sound and the production, the songwriting and the overall direction of the album - it is the perfect Sabbath collection.

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