With current affairs in the 'Black Sabbath' camp what they are, it looks like 'Forbidden' might sadly be the last studio release from these Heavy Metal institutions. This isn't really an appropriate send off in my opinion, 'Tony Iommi' is the only original member and musically this is pretty disappointing. There is some promise shown throughout, but none of the tracks go the extra distance and ultimately fall short, while 'Tony Martin's' more aggressive delivery fails to impress on some uninspiring lyrics.

'Illusion of Power' opens the album promisingly with a typical 'Tony Martin' era mystical intro, regrettably it all goes downhill as they attempt and fail to recreate that classic 'Sabbath' heavy plod, the song further deteriorates with guest vocals from 'Ice T'- This is a long way off the mark. Improvements are made with the more simplistic 'Get a Grip', lyrically it quickly becomes repetitive, but the rhythm work is solid and there's a decent solo tied in along the way. The tempo falls for the downright dull intro to 'Can't Get Close Enough', only to pickup into a semi decent rocker, 'Tony Martin' works the more pacey verses well, however the track closes as it begun- disappointingly. It's back to the brisker material with the 'Savatage' reminiscent 'Shaking Off the Chains', it takes a while before this cut gets going, but when it does it's not bad, but by the same token it's nothing special. Much better is the power ballad 'I Won't Cry for You', 'Tony Martin' steals the show here, but he's backed up by a splendid melody- plenty of nice keys from 'Geoff Nicholls' too. The pace is restored with the more characteristic 'Guilty as Hell', which highlights some excellent riff and rhythm work, while the punchy chorus is another highlight, 'Tony Martin' loses it towards the end, but still decent. The mid tempo 'Sick and Tired' ensues and despite some ragged lyrics is rescued by a superb all-round performance from 'Tony Iommi', while the less Metallic more Hard Rock of 'Rusty Angels' is dull, trite and just album filler. The old style 'Sabbath' sound is partially resurrected with the title track, but soon goes astray and descends into a fairly directionless number, 'Martin' does the lyrics no credit and only 'Tony Iommi's' solo makes this worth listening to. 'Forbidden' bows out with the epic 'Kiss of Death' and in direct contrast to the previous track 'Tony Martin' turns in a really strong performance, the melody is first-class, while the mid track tempo pickup underlines a more established 'Sabbath' sound.

Regrettably disappointing even by latter day 'Black Sabbath' standards. It will heartbreaking if this turns out to be their last studio effort!