Black Sabbath songs are the building blocks of metal. And ever since Tony Iommi ripped into his devilish tri-tone at the top of Sabbath’s 1970 debut album, musicians of all stripes have been trying to tap into the magic of the band’s endlessly fascinating and unquestionably heavy foundation.
Indeed, the past 50 years have seen countless metalheads break out a salutary Sabbath cover to show their appreciation for the godfathers of their favorite genre: Iommi, vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward.
But what is the ultimate aural homage to Birmingham, UK’s favorite sons? A song that hits the same eerie beats? One that attempts to out-heavy the metal legends? A version that totally changes the feel of a classic Sabbath track?
We asked Revolver readers to rank the best Sabbath reinterpretations out there, and these were the top five vote-getters.
Type O Negative – “Black Sabbath”
Who better to salute the Sab Four than the Drab Four?
Type O were avowed students of Sabbath, with the band having praised the metal founders in interviews and via multiple covers over the years. And while they remodeled “Paranoid” with a goth-romantic headiness (and even sneaked in a mid-song salute to “Iron Man”), perhaps their most enduring homage is the absolutely chilling version of “Black Sabbath” they birthed for the Nativity in Black compilation in 1994.
A funereal gloom glazes the minimalist horror show, unknown pits of darkness resting between each slow-mo drum hit and piano chord. Peter Steele subverts Ozzy’s tortured wail with a cool yet fully creepy croak and Latin incanting. Requiem bells are replaced with what sound like an ominously bubbling cauldron. And then they bring it to a boil with an amp-cranked closing doom-swing.
Satan sat there smiling, all the while.
Charles Bradley – “Changes”
Late soul singer Charles Bradley cut “Changes” for a 2013 Record Store Day 7-inch, and later included it on a 2016 album he also named Changes. It’s one of his most defining moments, and the Screaming Eagle of Soul poured every fiber of himself into this staggering, heart-rending performance.
Bradley revealed that he wasn’t too sure about recording the song when producer Thomas Brenneck first showed him Sabbath’s original piano ballad. But the singer sadly connected to the lyrics — written by Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, but inspired by drummer Bill Ward’s separation from his first wife — as his mother was passing away following a long illness.
While drawing on a different source of hurt, Bradley perfectly — and quite painfully — embodies the see-sawing elements of wistfulness, happiness, gratefulness and conflicted nostalgia threaded into to the song’s universal theme of loss.
Sepultura – “Symptom of the Universe”
Sepultura gave Sabbath fans a supersonic shakedown with their take on the hard-driving Sabotage classic, and our love for it will never die.
On the one hand, the Brazilian metal greats make it their own as vocalist-guitarist Max Cavalera grafts a more death-thrash-styled growl onto the track rather than attempt to soar himself through an Ozzy-style siren screech. Then again, you can’t help but notice Iggor Cavalera is going Bill Ward bestial as he tries to recreate those psychedelically devastating drum fills.
Like the OG’s, Sepultura’s “Symptom” is hugely dynamic, crushing out the gates with a fully-ferocious metal feel before easing into the jazz-coustic backend funk-out.
Faith No More – “War Pigs”
While hit rap-metal single “Epic” may be the most iconic moment of Faith No More’s The Real Thing, CD and cassette copies of the band’s platinum-certified breakthrough also feature an especially memorable cover of “War Pigs” (sorry, vinyl fans).
Outside of a few different lead tangents from guitarist Jim Martin and a scream-heavy finale, it’s a straight yet supremely ruling cover. While The Real Thing found Mike Patton spreading his wings as FNM’s new and uniquely talented frontman, he also heads into battle with an on-point vocal homage to Ozzy’s legendary ebb and flow.
Perhaps most consequential to the cover is how drummer Mike Bordin just outright rocks his kit — a prescient percussive performance that unknowingly steered him towards a long run as Ozzy’s drummer.
Pantera – “Planet Caravan”
Revolver readers’ favorite Black Sabbath cover isn’t one of the heaviest out there, but rather the spaced-out acoustic journey Pantera charted while recording “Planet Caravan” during the Far Beyond Driven sessions.
It’s a subtle, sophisticated and psychedelic expansion on the jazzy Paranoid number, and one that left an immense imprint on Pantera bassist Rex Brown, who said Dimebag Darrell’s solo on the cut literally brought him to tears. The cover took on extra resonance this year when the band — now featuring longtime Ozzy guitarist Zakk Wylde in their ranks — performed “Planet Caravan” at the Back to the Beginning concert in Birmingham, just weeks before Osbourne’s death.
“It’s a tripped-out song. We think you’ll dig it. If you don’t, don’t fucking listen to it,” Philip Anselmo wrote in the liner notes to Far Beyond Driven more than 30 years ago. It’s safe to say that metal fans dug it, plenty.