Black Sabbath

Formed 1967, Birmingham, England

Mixing equal parts of bone-crushing volume, catatonic tempos, and ominous pronouncements of gloom and doom delivered in Ozzy Osbourne’s keening voice, Black Sabbath was the heavy-metal king of the Seventies. Despised by rock critics and ignored by radio programmers, the group sold over eight million albums before Osbourne departed for a solo career in 1979 [see entry].

The four original members, schoolmates from a working-class district of industrial Birmingham, first joined forces as Polka Tulk, a blues band. They quickly changed their name to Earth, then, in 1969, to Black Sabbath; the name came from the title of a song written by bassist Geezer Butler, a fan of occult novelist Dennis Wheatley. The quartet’s eponymously titled 1970 debut, recorded in two days, went to #8 in England and #23 in the U.S. A single, "Paranoid," released in advance of the album of the same name, reached #4 in the U.K. later that year, it was the group’s only Top Twenty hit.

The single didn’t make the US, Top Forty, but the Paranoid LP, issued in early 1971, eventually sold four million copies despite virtually no airplay. Beginning in December 1970 Sabbath toured the States relentlessly. The constant road work paid off, and by 1974 Black Sabbath was considered peerless among heavy-metal acts, its first five LPs all having sold at least a million copies apiece in America alone.

In spite of its name, the crosses erected onstage, and songs dealing with apocalypse, death, and destruction, the band members insisted their interest in the black arts was nothing more than innocuous curiosity (the sort that led Ozzy Osbourne to sit through eight showings of The Exorcist), and in time Black Sabbath’s princes-of-darkness image faded.

Eventually, so did its record sales. Aside from a platinum best-of, We Sold Our Soul for Rock ‘n’ Roll (1976), not one of three LPs from 1975 to 1978 went gold. Osbourne, racked by drug use and excessive drinking, quit the band briefly in late 1977 (former Savoy Brown- Fleetwood Mac vocalist Dave Walker filled his shoes for some live dates). In January 1979 he left again, this time for good. Ronnie James Die, formerly of Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, replaced Osbourne.

Although Dio could belt with the best of them, Sabbath would never be the same. Its first album with Dio, Heaven and Hell (1980), went platinum, its second, Mob Rules (1981), gold. But thereafter, the group’s LPs sold fewer and fewer copies, as Black Sabbath went through one personnel change after another. III health forced Bill Ward out of the band in 1981; Carmine Appice’s brother Vinnie took his place. Friction between Iommi and Dio led the singer to quit angrily in 1982, he took P with him to start his own band, Die. Vocalists over the years have included Dave Donato; Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan; Glenn Hughes, another ex-member of Purple; Tony Martin; and Dio again.

By 1986’s Seventh Star, only Iommi remained from the original lineup. He had to wince when Geezer Butler teamed up with the phenomenally successful Osboume in 1988, though the bassist did return to the fold three years later. Despite bitterness expressed in the press between Osbourne and Iommi, the original foursome reunited in 1985 at the Live-Aid concert in Philadelphia, and again in 1992, at the end of what was supposedly Osbourne’s last tour. Throughout 1993 word had it that Osbourne, Iommi, Butler, and Ward would tour, but by year’s end Osbourne had backed out, allegedly over money. The indefatigable Tony Iommi went right back to work with Butler, rehiring vocalist Tony Martin and adding former Rainbow drummer Rob Rondinelli.

guns n roses

At a time when pop was dominated by dance music and pop metal, Guns N' Roses brought raw, ugly rock & roll crashing back into the charts. They were not nice boys; nice boys don't play rock & roll. They were ugly, misogynist, violent; they were also funny, vulnerable, and occasionally sensitive, as their breakthrough hit "Sweet Child O' Mine" showed. While Slash and Izzy Stradlin ferociously spit out dueling guitar riffs worthy of Aerosmith or the Stones, Axl Rose screeched out his tales of sex, drugs, and apathy in the big city; bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler were a limber rhythm section that kept the music loose and powerful. Guns N' Roses' music was basic and gritty, with a solid hard, bluesy base; they were dark, sleazy, dirty, and honest -- everything that good hard rock and heavy metal should be.

Guns N' Roses released their first EP in in 1986, which led to a contract with Geffen; the following year, the band released their debut album, Appetite for Destruction. They started to build a following with their numerous live shows, but the album didn't start selling until almost a year later, when MTV started playing "Sweet Child o' Mine." Soon, the album shot to number one and Guns N' Roses became one of the biggest bands in the world. By the end of 1988, they released G N' R Lies, which paired four new, acoustic-based songs with their first EP.

Guns N' Roses began to work on the follow-up to Appetite at the end of 1990. In October of that year, the band fired Adler, claiming that his drug dependency caused him to play poorly; he was replaced by Matt Sorum from the Cult. During recording, the band added Dizzy Reed on keyboards. By the time the sessions were finished, the new album had become two new albums. After being delayed for nearly a year, the albums, Use Your Illusion I and II, were released in the fall of 1991. The Illusions showcased a more ambitious band; while there were still a fair number of full-throttle guitar rockers, there were stabs at Elton John-style balladry, acoustic blues, horn sections, female backup singers, ten-minute songs with several different sections, and a good number of introspective, soul-searching lyrics. In short, they were now making art; amazingly, they were successful at it.

While the albums sold very well initially, the band soon fell out of favor. Stradlin left the band by the end of 1991 and with his departure the band lost their best songwriter. Once Nirvana's Nevermind hit the top of the charts in early 1992, there was a distinct division between what was cool in hard rock and what wasn't; Guns N' Roses -- with all of their pretensions, impressionistic videos, models, and rock star excesses -- were very uncool. The band didn't fully grasp the change until 1993, when they released their album of punk songs, The Spaghetti Incident?; it received some good reviews, but the band failed to capture the reckless spirit of not only the original versions, but their own Appetite for Destruction. By the middle of 1994, there were rumors flying that the band was about to break up, since Rose wanted to pursue a new, more industrial direction and Slash wanted to stick with their blues-inflected hard rock.

bullet for my valentine

“Where the fuck have all the riffs gone?”

That's what Matt Tuck wants to know. He and his fellow Bridgend band-mates have been listening to the radio, going to shows, and – for the last 7 years – answering that often-asked question with their own metal-clad minstrelsy known as 'Bullet for My Valentine' – one of the most intense acts to come out of Wales since mega-groups Funeral for a Friend and Lostprophets put that outer-rim of the musical galaxy on the map. But make no mistake: geography is where their similarities end. Chalk it up to teenage years spent worshipping the likes of Metallica, Testament, and the almighty Iron Maiden.

“We were all kind of bewildered by how huge those bands got,” continues Tuck. “It wasn't jealousy, but we didn't see a reason why that couldn't be us.”

In fact, there is no reason, because this fearsome foursome's supercharged riffage and soaring vocalsharken back to a time in the UK when how good you were had to do with how well you played – something they're convinced is lost on too many of today's flash-in-the-pan upstarts.


“We're proud to say that there isn't a single indie band in South Wales ,” says guitarist

Michael 'Padge 'Padget. “I don't see how a band can stand there for 40minutes and just sing bollocks. What's the point? It's about putting on a show!”

And that attitude's already won Bullet' a coveted support-slot with American metal-beasts Chimaira on their recent stint in the UK, a tour gave them an unforgettable taste of life on the road, not to mention a bit of intimate time with each-other.

“There was the four of us stuffed in the back of arider,” laughs Tuck. “We didn't mind though, we're completely committed to this, even if that did mean knowing each other a little better than we should.”

But what really mattered was getting known on the road, and it wasn't long before they got the call they'd been waiting for: an opening slot at the 2004 Download Festival. But where many bands would see their invitation to the legendary home of metal as a crowning achievement, these Welshmen saw it just the beginning. Not to say they didn't “appreciate” a chance to obliterate the Barfly stage, but they've set their sights higher.

“We drove up there at dawn with music cranked right up to 11,” beams bass-man Jason James. “There we were at 10 in the morning, standing on the main-stage with beers in our hands. It was like, 'well, this is it boys. This is where we're meant to be.”

If that sounds arrogant to you, think again. This foursome have already experienced the kind of setbacks that would have left a lesser-band in ruins. Bullet for my Valentine were formed from the ashes of Jeff Killed John, a band that – name aside – had everything going for it; great friends, good songs, and enough experience playing 'shitty gig after shitty gig with everyone telling us to fuck off' to last them a lifetime. That is, until one day two years ago their bassist decided to quit. His timing couldn't have been worse.

“We were due to go in the studio on Saturday, and he quit on the Friday,” sighs Tuck. “Everything went completely tits up, and it was a really big kick in the balls but it made us stronger.”

Strong enough to recruit a new bass player, and strong enough to take a critical look at themselves and see what had gone wrong. The result was a new sound based on what they wanted to play rather than what the then nu-metal-loving media wanted to hear, a new name to fit Matt Tuck's darkly romantic lyrics, and a new lease on a career they're determined to pursue 'til the end of their days.

“Everyone's been dumped, sure they have,” says Tuck. ” Not everyone's been dumped by a psycho. Some of our music's actually quite uplifting, but a lot of it isn't. This IS supposed to be fun, right?”

Certainly fun enough to write songs like 'Hand of Blood', a chugging, fist-throwing, chorus-laden anthem that's already received a stunning visual treatment. Lacking the funds to put on the kind of big-budget Hollywood production they'd envisioned, the band unanimously opted for the next-best thing. That is, getting 150 people to crowd into a garage and have fake-blood rained down on them in a disco-bloodbath inspired by a scene from the Wesley Snipes Vampire flick 'Blade'. Indeed, Slayer would be proud. But like the classic-metal masterpieces that inspire them, Bullet for my Valentine don't believe in re-inventing the wheel. They've discovered the power of the riff, and they've got the balls and the bravado to see that no one soon forgets it.

Lam of GOD (heavy metal band)

The roots of Lamb of God were planted in 1990 when Mark Morton, Chris Adler and John Campbell were floor mates at Virginia Commonwealth University. The trio began playing at Adler's house in Richmond weathering chilly conditions. "There was no heat at the house," recalls Campbell. "We would freeze our asses off, get really drunk and hang around the kerosene heaters trying to write metal songs. Kerosene fumes and Black Label beer were definitely what fueled our early days."

After graduation, Morton moved to Chicago to pursue a master's degree, but the band continued. A new guitarist, Abe Spear, replaced Morton as the band retired its instrumental sound and added Blythe on vocals.

The quartet, known then as Burn the Priest, became a fixture in the tightly-knit Richmond music scene. To compete with the high-level of musicianship displayed by their contemporaries, the band adopted a rigid practice schedule. "To this day, we practice five days a week out of necessity," says Campbell. "The bands in Richmond can flat outplay you and if you don't practice, they will blow you off the stage. Bands like Breadwinner and Sliang Laos - two local math-metal bands - could play insanely complicated music note perfect. They inspired us to raise the bar musically and taught us the work ethic we needed to be a success."

The band was playing around Virginia when Morton moved back from Chicago and re-joined the group. Soon after, Burn the Priest released a self-titled full length album on Legion Records. Abe left soon after, which opened a spot for guitarist, and brother to Chris - Willie Adler.

A year after the second Adler joined, Burn the Priest changed its name to Lamb of God and signed a record deal with Prosthetic Records. The band's independent-debut, New American Gospel, was released in 2000. "This album was all about creating a rhythmic and pummeling musical landscape with riff after riff," explains Morton. Drummer Adler notes: ÒThis is a classic record. We had all the elements come together to make one of the heaviest, yet contagious records of our career. It was difficult to contain us - we didn't even understand at the time what we had created."

Two years of extensive touring to support the album raised Lamb of God's profile before the band released the critically acclaimed, As The Palaces Burn (2003). ATPB won record of the year honors in such notable magazines as Revolver and Metal Hammer while garnering mainstream press in Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly.

The band hit the road again and began headlining tours across the globe. In the fall of 2003 Lamb of God was a co-headliner on the first ever MTV's Headbanger's Ball Tour which elevated Lamb of God beyond the underground. The band then released Terror and Hubris, a DVD featuring early live performances, videos for "Ruin" and "Black Label" and behind-the-scenes footage highlighting the work ethic, humility and sense of humor of one of the most respected and influential bands around today. The DVD proved to be a commercial success as it entered the Billboard Music DVD Charts at #32.

Gradually, Lamb of God's persistence paid off. Their 2003 disc, As The Palaces Burn earned them a new level of respect and admiration, but it was 2004's virulent major label debut (Epic Records) Ashes of the Wake that turned the band into true contenders for the metal throne. By mid 2006, the record had sold over 275,000 copies. Revolver magazine voted it the album of the year, a Guitar World readers poll deemed it best metal album and awarded the band "most valuable players," "best shredders" and "best riffs." The video for "Now You've Got Something to Die For" earned "best video" from both Headbanger's Ball and Revolver. And a DVD chronicling the tour and life on the road with the band, Killadelphia, has gone gold. Lamb of God supported Ashes with more relentless touring, now playing mostly arenas and festivals, starting with a headlining run on Second Stage at Ozzfest 2004, and ending by headlining the North American Sounds of The Undergroud Festival in 2005.

The political angst that fueled the lyrics on As The Palaces Burn continues unabated on Ashes of the Wake. However, Blythe admits that his plans to write songs about personal responsibility quickly changed. "Mark and I write most of the lyrics together, and at the start of this album we agreed that we wanted to concentrate on internal instead of external politics," he explains. "But as we got into it, considering the condition of the world today, we felt obligated as responsible artists to give accurate social commentary, and that meant writing a few indictments against the powers that be."

Mixing a call to arms with a sneering disdain balances Ashes of the Wake. "In the end, I think the album is stronger because we show the relation between internal and external politics instead of just focusing on one or the other," Blythe says. "These songs are a reality check for everyone because they rail against a wrong-headed government and against the apathetic people that ignore the government and allow it to exist."

After Ashes of the Wake, they had been praised as one of the leaders of the new American metal movement, and while they were flattered to be considered part of something so influential, this time they wanted to stand alone. "I believe it's important for us to create a legacy for this band, and I don't want that legacy to be in association with anyone else," Adler says. "In our minds, we're a cut above and we feel like we put out a whole lot more."

Towards the end of 2005, the band stopped all touring and came home to Richmond, VA, to begin writing the next chapter. An intense 8 month writing process followed. "We pretty much killed ourselves working on it five to six days a week for six to eight hours a day," says drummer Chris Adler. "It was important to push ourselves into uncomfortable territory as players. A lot of times one of us would say, 'I'm not sure if I can play that.' The typical response was, 'Well, you've got a year to figure it out.' We pushed ourselves to step it up and threw out a lot of decent material because we were insisting on only the best." One reason Lamb of God pushed so hard is because they wanted to create something that couldn't be classified, categorized or marginalized.

August 22, 2006 brought Sacrament, a stunning example of how diverse, articulate and pummeling metal can be. It's a record that emphasizes just how far the band members have come as players, writers and people and stands as a true testament of triumph over adversity. With Sacrament, Lamb of God has stoked the flames by stripping the flesh to the bone and examining the carnage. The songs are bleak and dark, yet key ingredients of a ride that's as breathless, exhilarating and terrifying as an overdose.

Guitarist and co-lyricist Mark Morton notes the band chose the name Sacrament based on a specific lyrical reference as well as a more general symbolic perspective. "We like it because it employs the idea of the traditional religious Sacrament, which is something you do as ritual to get to a different level of your faith," he says. "Also, I thought it was symbolic in terms of us putting out another record and getting to the next stage of our musical development." "This is definitely a personal record and it's the darkest thing we've ever done," adds Blythe. "It stems from a lot of depression and a fucked up worldview. In the last couple years I've been going through a lot of weird, bad shit."

The biggest difference between Sacrament and Ashes of the Wake is the lyrical content. In the past, Lamb of God has lyrically been motivated by the hypocrisy, greed and turmoil of politics and politicians. This time the band turned within to reveal an even greater source of despair and frustration.

Songs like 'Pathetic' and 'Descending' for instance are about the whirlpool of addiction and alcoholism, 'Walk With Me In Hell' addresses the destruction of codependency and 'Blacken the Cursed Sun' confronts suicidal depression.

"The lyrics were so intense for me, when I was recording, it was like breathing pain instead of breathing air," Blythe says. "So, when it was done, I couldn't listen to the record for another two months. It just took so much out of me to get all this stuff out, I didn't want to touch it right away."

In addition to being unbelievably heavy, Sacrament is a sincere expression of the turmoil that has tumbled through the last few years of the band's existence. In an era of stagnant, contrived metal, Lamb of God is a harrowing rush of honesty, a declaration that no matter what anyone else is playing, Lamb of God will always follow their own hearts.

"This band was started because no one out there was making the music that we wanted to hear," singer Randy Blythe says. "So, we decided to make that music, and from that point it has just been a continuation of that philosophy. We had never changed anything we do to appeal to anyone, appease anyone or seek any sort of approval from anyone other than ourselves."