Black Sabbath
13

Hello to all dear readers of DeBaser, today I have decided to write my first review on this website!

This is about "13," the nineteenth album by Black Sabbath. The band's intention with this latest work is a "return to the roots", both in terms of sound and lineup. In fact, the voice of Ozzy Osbourne and the bass of Geezer Butler, founding members of the group, return, while behind the drums, a powerful Brad Wilk (already famous for being the drummer of Rage Against the Machine... excuse me if that's not enough!) replaces Bill Ward, the historic drummer of Sabbath. As always, we have Tony Iommi on guitar.

"End of the Beginning" opens the dance. A powerful riff, a boulder, but certainly predictable, banal; it doesn't matter, it's Iommi, and it shows. As soon as the dynamics lower, Ozzy's voice comes in, out of place, heavily affected, perhaps the thorn in the side throughout the album. The atmosphere and dynamics blatantly recall those of "Black Sabbath", the first track of the eponymous record, but from 1970 to today, all the magic that characterized those sounds has been lost. Not even three minutes into the start, the atmosphere begins to heat up, and everything becomes more interesting, but without exceeding decency. Iommi's solo is a breath of fresh air (as it will be throughout the album). Overall, a good song, where influences from many of the previous albums can be heard (I even seemed to glimpse echoes of Sabotage!).

The second track is "God is Dead". It took me numerous listens to properly evaluate this piece. The first part of the song is based on a very dark arpeggio by Iommi, upon which Ozzy constructs a great vocal line (perhaps the best vocal performance of the entire album, which is saying something). The song begins to lose its bite in the middle; good ideas alternate with stratospheric banalities, and in certain beats, it seems like we're hearing some of Ozzy's solo works again. But hold on. After 6 minutes, the three "boys" from Birmingham make sure to remind us that they are, after all, still Black Sabbath. Iommi rolls out (dare I say) one of the best riffs of his career (yes, of his ENTIRE career), closely followed by Butler and a consistently excellent Wilk. Ozzy comes in perfectly, excellent vocal line. "Finally the Sabbath! Here they are". Too bad it's only the last three minutes of a nine-minute track that seems like it never starts. "The Loner" despite not being a bad track certainly goes unnoticed, nothing special.

Let's pay attention to "Zeitgeist", the fourth track of the album. Practically a remake of Planet Caravan, but it doesn't transmit a quarter of the psychedelia of the original. In the Paranoid track, there was a warm, underwater sound, achieved through the use of Leslie amplifiers, and who knows which substances, while this "remake" sounds empty, cold, despite a good performance by Ozzy, a good text and a final solo by Iommi in the old manner. The intent, already futile from the start, to "cover" one's song has failed miserably. Recapturing the old sound doesn't mean plagiarizing oneself.

"Age of Reason" suffers the same fate as God is Dead, boring, nothing that struck me, neither positively nor negatively, aside from a poor performance by Ozzy. "Live Forever" is occasionally saved. Nothing special, except for an excellent performance by Wilk (excellent throughout the album, but here I liked him a lot). At certain moments it will make fans of "Born Again" smile. You'll understand when you hear it.

And we have finally arrived at "Damaged Soul". In my opinion, this song is what happens when a band that knows it has had strong influences on all music from the '70s onward, decides in a certain sense to "pay tribute" to all those bands inspired by them. Decide to make a statement of intent. To set the record straight. This is the only track on the album that respects the reason we are listening to it. The return to the roots. Because if in the other tracks, to recall those atmospheres, they had to copy here and there, glossing the whole thing with the sound of modern productions, Damaged Soul is the only entire track where you can feel the spirit of Black Sabbath, and the authentic intention that led them to compose pieces like The Wizard or War Pigs. The sound of this track carries with it the TRUE legacy left by the first eight Sabbath albums. Excluding Ozzy, mediocre like much of the album, the piece brings really beautiful riffs, breathtaking solo parts, and excellent executions. Ozzy's blues harmonica can also be heard again. Exactly halfway through the track, Tony Iommi is keen to set the record straight once and for all on how to play the electric guitar. A heartfelt solo, ripped away, without effects, straight in your face, with all the involuntary (?) string noises left there, finally, as hadn't been heard for ages. The track accelerates towards the end in an unmistakably Sabbath atmosphere. The only truly BEAUTIFUL piece on the album.

The album closes with "Dear Father", beautiful track, but which remains in the average of the album.

When all is said and done, an album that, taken on its own, is just decent (Damaged Soul raises the average quite a bit!), but if we take it together with the old works, it is outclassed, buried to the point that it doesn't count for much more than a not entirely successful attempt to put the whole thing back together. Wise choice to hire Wilk, who, if he had had a few more opportunities, with better pieces, would not have at all made the early Bill Ward be missed.

Now excuse me, but I'm going to listen to Vol. 4...