Black Sabbath Prove They Have More To Offer With "God Is Dead?"

posted in: Music News

Making a career out of playing musc is nearly impossible, and even if you do somehow manage to pull it off there are absolutely no guarantees that it will last. In many cases it’s almost impossible to know why some acts last longer than others, while other times there are bands whose music plays in such an indescribable way that you simply know they will be around as long (if not longer) than you. Black Sabbath fall into the latter category, and anyone doubting that need look no further than their new single.

Rumors swirled for months in 2012 that Black Sabbath would return, but metalheads the world over refused to believe it until the group themselves stood on stage and proclaimed reunion. That happened, and now we have a new album fast approaching. The lead single, “God Is Dead?,” found its way online over the weekend and ushered in the most brooding age of Black Sabbath to date. The song is a slow, trudging track with Ozzy waxing poetically about life and death against minimalistic accompaniment aside from a guitar melody that will engrain itself into your subconscious in no time. It never builds to full-on rock anthem, but it does pulsate with life throughout hitting its peak during an all-too-short bridge. You can stream the song at the end of this post.

Sitting down to write about Black Sabbath is the kind of thing that turns my hair gray. Reviewing a legendary band can present challenges you never encounter with young bands, especially if the material is bad, but in the case of Black Sabbath I was pleasantly surprised to learn they’ve only gotten better with age. “God Is Dead?” is no “Iron Man,” but it’s more than enough to prove Sabbath have plenty more great rock tracks to deliver. Consider me sold on the new album (and anything they do after that).