Review Summary: "I don't want to live forever, but I don't want to die"
One of 2013's suprises was the comeback of the godfathers of Metal. Black Sabbath announced it and it was known globally about a year before Thirteen's release. The other surprise was that it was a reunion album with their first singer Ozzy Osbourne. In fact it was suppose to be the first lineup of the band making a comeback album. Black Sabbath had already done such reunion with DIO (Dehumanizer, the band Heaven And Hell) but with the first lineup it got everyone excited for this release. The following year was full of bad news though, with Tony Iommi's cancer and Bill Ward being fired from the band because he wasn't fit. Was it going to be the great comeback everyone was hoping for ?
Well it was. From the beginning of the first song to the end of "Pariah", Black Sabbath came back to their roots of Doom metal filled with blues elements. Even Ozzy's voice doesn't sound too tired, although those who don't like his voice won't change their mind magically after this record. In terms of lyrics, they haven't changed much, which is not a bad thing. Religion, war and personal problems are mostly the subjects sung by Ozzy. Iommi's riffing and guitar tone, Butler's bass and Brad Wilk's (Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave) drumming created a great doomy atmosphere. In fact this is best heard in the first single that came out, "God Is Dead" or in "Age Of Reason" where Wilk's drumming does a perfect job in amplifying that doom atmosphere. "Zeitgeist" on the other hand is Planet Caravan's little brother, with this distant and space atmosphere ended by another great jazz solo from Iommi.
Although that record features some great riffing, what it is lacking is difference between song structures. Most of the songs are built as follow : Doom riff with Ozzy singing verse and chorus for about two or three minute, then a small breakdown of tempo and Iommi comes back with an upbeat riff which brings the energy back into the song. Although this is a good idea to pull off, the repetition of this formula makes the listening experience predictable. What wasn't predictable though was "Damaged Soul", a great and unexpected Blues song. Black Sabbath told in an interview that their record company didn't want more than eleven songs but they recorded thirteen songs (and three more bonus songs) and that they named their album
Thirteen as a provocation to them and that it was a good idea since they added an acoustic and blues song to the record ("Zeitgeist" and "Damaged Soul") that sounded good to them. Some songs do sound less good than other, and their length brings them down a little. Songs like Loner, Dear Father and Live Forever get a little boring after a while, mostly because they last too long.
This record was a hell of a comeback from this legendary band. The deception of not having Bill Ward is compensated by the quality of this record. Brad Wilk did pull off his challenge as a replacement of this legendary drummer and didn't bring this record down with poor drumming. Although they played in safe in the song structure this album had some surprises. Even the bonus songs are as good as the album itself. Ozzy has hinted that they will probably release another record, maybe they will play it a little safe and add something new to this formula.
