Released in 1997, Black Science is Geezer Butler’s, bassist of Black Sabbath, second solo album out of three so far and is one of the most diverse rock albums that I’ve ever heard. With a mix of heavy, soft, and hilarious songs on this album it has become one of my top ten albums of all time. Co-Written by Geezer and Pedro Howse who is the guitar player, along with the vocals being done by Clark Brown this album to me is an absolute classic. The overall sound of the album is actually somewhat of progressive metal with a touch of techno at times. Even if you’re a diehard Black Sabbath fan you actually might not like this album.****
This album is without a doubt one of the most consistent albums that I have ever heard; no song sounds the same. This singing from Clark Brown definitely doesn’t sound like Ozzy, but sounds like a mixture of the growlings of Phillip Anselmo and (somewhat ironically) Ronny James Dio. While holding on to these to voices, Clark also branches out to other examples of influences slightly, such as James LaBrie (but in a good way). Lyrically this album is superb. While Clark Brown is the singer, he didn’t write the lyrics to the songs, but only helped out a little. Geezer and Pedro both wrote the lyrics. The lyrics appear to be well thought out, although can certainly be silly at times: e.g.
Unspeakable Elvis-
“Elvis is not dead, he survived, Elvis is not dead, he survived, Oh Elvis do you love me, oh evil Elvis Presley”. Most likely the best performances from Clark is on the songs
Box Of Six where the instruments and his growlings match perfectly to actually create a dense, yet at the same time, catchy song. Then another really great performance is
Department S where Clark starts out by quickly yelling
“We are the undertaker, the social breaker, make you swim or sink, bounce your brains make you think.”. That continues for a while before he sings clearly, which adds somewhat of a sci-fi (seems to be a theme on the album actually) effect to it.
The bass is there, but isn’t as technical that I thought it would be, no real standouts to mention I’ve got to say sadly. The guitar is pretty much all riff based power chords and there isn’t much else to it, but both the bass and the guitar work very well together to create some interesting music along with the use of beat boxes, which is what adds the techno effect to some songs. Drums are done by Deen Castronovo and I must say that what he does, he does well. He compliments all the songs and helps to create the sci-fi atmosphere of the album.
Standout songs-**
-Box of Six- Pure hard rock
-Department S- Eerie, but heavy at the same time
-Xodiak- Great combination of instruments and vocals
-Trinity Road- Perfect vocals and a raging riff make this song a perfect closer to a perfect album.**
Overall, this one-hour album is just a classic to me. There are no weak songs and they all are distinct from each other. This album ranges from hard rockers to mellow, sci-fi like songs that all revolve around the genre of progressive metal. There is absolutely no repetitiveness on this album, which is just another check mark in the long line of plusses. Geezer, you’ve made me proud, fantastic job. I award this solo album of yours a 5 out of 5. Absoeffinglutely a classic.
This Message Edited On 12.12.05
