Review Summary: The pinnacle of Black Sabbath.
1970 was a busy year for Black Sabbath, releasing two albums in seven months, each of them both creating and pioneering the heavy metal genre. Master of Reality which was released in July 71', built upon the dark and riff based formula that was established on those two albums and pushed even more boundaries.
Each of Sabbath's first 3 albums can be seen as a natural progression for the band. Paranoid removed the blues, took the darker elements from the debut and build an album based almost entirely around them. Master of Reality moved the band further on the dark path. Tony Iommi decided to downtune his guitar three semi-tones to C#, in order to relieve the pain felt on his fingers after his industrial accident pre-Sabbath. Geezer followed suit and did the same, and the result was an even heavier sound than what was heard on Paranoid. The guitar tone is much thicker and crushing, and when the opening riff of Sweet Leaf comes in you can clearly hear this right from the off. Although the tone maybe slightly less clear, in doing so it creates a sludgy, murky sound, that dominates much of the album and makes it that much heavier.
Paranoid is often cited as Black Sabbath's best album, but I reserve that title to Master of Reality, which took their doom sound as far as it could possibly go. This album was extremely heavy for its time, and it still holds up today. It is even cited as the first stoner rock album, and a precursor to the doom and sludge metal genres. The main riff of Sweet Leaf is both heavy and catchy, which is something Sabbath have mastered up to this point. Lord of This World and Into the Void are among the heaviest songs in Sabbath's catalogue, and both bring a dark and evil atmosphere, as well as of course RIFFS. Into the Void especially, stands as a true testament to this album being Sabbath's pinnacle. Its hard to find a better opening riff, and the song showcases the band at their best. Bill Ward even said that the song was "Sabbath at its absolute height", and who can argue. Every member is at the top of their game, from Tony's crushing riffs, to Geezer's thundering bass and Bill's pounding drums. Vocally Ozzy shines too, and although the track mostly shows off the instrumental prowess of the band, he nonetheless delivers a stellar performance which only enhances the dark vibe of the song.
There are many other Sabbath classics present on this album. Lyrically, After Forever has a religious message, and most likely surprised many who saw the band as Satanic. The song is slightly faster paced than most of the album and has a great groove to it. Children of the Grave is a fan favorite, with its heavy galloping riff. It is again played with a faster pace and the part around the 2:20 mark is probably the heaviest moment on the album. The ending of the song gives off a cold chill with whispers of the song title.
Despite the relentless heaviness which makes up most of the album, there are also small glimpses of the experimentation that Sabbath would employ on future releases. Embryo and Orchid being short instrumentals and lead into the songs Children of the Grave and Lord of This World respectively. Solitude is the ballad of the album but is very different from the more spacey Planet Caravan found on Paranoid. It features Iommi playing both the flute and piano in addition to guitar, and the flute playing in particular gives the song a very distinct middle-eastern vibe. The track placing just ahead of Into the Void is the perfect way to prepare for the heavy onslaught of that song.
Although Paranoid was more successful and arguably more ground-breaking, I feel that Master of Reality is Black Sabbath's magnum opus, where their doom sound was fully realized. Many doom metal bands that would go onto establish the genre a decade later, such as Candlemass, Pentagram, Saint Vitus and Trouble swear by this album. Its influence is unquestionable and the heaviness is just immense. Paranoid may have created a blueprint for metal, but Master of Reality created a blueprint for DOOM metal. Never again would Sabbath be this dark, never again would they be this heavy. This album is truly the pinnacle of what Black Sabbath were all about.
