It’s been a heavy week. So get heavy.
Black Sabbath have about nine minutes of heavy in their brand new song “God Is Dead?” which is as dark as a song called “God Is Dead?” should sound.
And speaking of things that should sound a certain way, this is actually pretty decent. For anyone’s whose body sort of tenses up whenever Ozzy’s opened his mouth recently, this is a good competent (and comped) take, and producer Rick Rubin didn’t end up ironing out all the imperfections, either. That watery, churning doom metal ache is there, three of the four original members are there (with Rage’s Brad Wilk filling Bill Ward’s shoes), and there’s a series of guitar riffs I don’t hate.
And it’s first a question, “is God dead?”, then a statement “God is dead” and ends with its ultimate title. Deep, man. The annoying “I HEART RADIO” promo will only serve to keep your mind from HELL.
“God Is Dead?” is the first song to arrive from Sabbath’s new reunion record, lucky number “13,” out on June 11. It’s their first as a band in 35 years. They’re going to make some spot tour stops in the U.S., dates below the clip.
Aug. 4: Holmdel, NJ (PNC Bank Arts Center)
Aug. 14: Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
Aug. 24: Seattle (Gorge Amphiteatre)
Sept. 3: Los Angeles (Los Angeles Sports Arena)