Although 'Purple's' 'In Rock', or 'Zeppelin's' first two hinted at the birth of 'Heavy Metal', it's this album that really lays down the prototype for the genre. On this, the debut of 'Black Sabbath' they concoct a dark brooding, riff driven blend, the likes of which hadn't been heard before. The story goes that they were given 600 pounds by the record company for the album and although disgruntled, they managed to cut this classic in only 3 days!. Checkout the album cover, if ever the artwork suited the music within, this is it, the woman standing by the lake side is quite disturbing, you can see how the 'Sabbs' gained their reputation.

One of the all time greats opens the album and from the intro of a thunderstorm and tolling bell through to the closing drum beat is just classic 'Black Sabbath', with this title track they created one of the darkest and most foreboding songs of all time. After about four and half minutes of this gloomy plodder the pace suddenly changes and transforms into a galloping gem- One of a few instantly identifiable soundtracks to Heavy Metal. Less intense is the quirky but thoroughly inventive 'The Wizard', here we see 'Ozzy' on harmonica as the album takes a more upbeat approach. Next up is the slightly trippy sounding 'Behind the Wall of Sleep', a quality, riff driven tale about drug usage (perhaps they should have listened more to their own lyrics!). Following on in fine fashion is another 'Sabbath' stalwart 'N.I.B.' (short for 'Nativity in Black'... allegedly) another riff driven classic and live favourite, that again see 'Tony Iommi' laying down more killer riffs and 'Ozzy's' haunting vocals delivering the lyrics as only he can. The slightly more commercial sounding 'Evil Woman' was chosen as a single release and while it made very little impact, it's still a catchy rhythm heavy number with a distinctive plod. 'Sleeping Village' is an odd number that commences with a subtle yet quirky intro and develops into a fairly directionless instrumental. Following on seamlessly is the epic 'Warning', a winding drawn-out number that while showcasing some fine work from 'Geezer Butler' and 'Tony Iommi' it fails to impress. Better is the carefree jaunty 'Wicked World', which displays some unusual vocals and strong rhythm work.

Although the second half just falls a bit short this is still a classic that any fan of the genre should own, not only is this release responsible for influencing many of yesterday and today's top Metal acts it's still a quality album that has stood the test of time very well.