Black Sabbath

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Various Black Sabbath album artwork

"Between burn-out and a looming crisis, Sabbath somehow hit their greatest high." Which is Black Sabbath's best album? Metal Hammer's writers argue it out

By Merlin Alderslade published

Paranoid? Sabbath Bloody Sabbath? Heaven And Hell? Hammer's top writers duel it out to declare Sabbath's best album ever

A man sitting in the desert playing a guitar

"There are so many variations on the Sabbath influence and that is what keeps it exciting and evolving": How stoner rock sparked a musical revolution

By Josh Harper published

The stoner rock scene that Kyuss made famous: Much like the 60s, if you remember it, were you really there?

Ozzy Osbourne 2022

Jack Osbourne doesn’t think his dad Ozzy will ever tour again – but doesn’t rule out “one-off shows”

By Matt Mills published

Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne’s son doesn’t see a future tour from the Prince Of Darkness

Photos of Ozzy Osbourne, Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford and Devin Townsend performing live onstage

The 10 greatest solo albums in heavy metal history

By Matt Mills published

Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford and Ozzy Osbourne have all proven you don’t need to be in a band to make top-notch heavy metal

Metallica in 2000

Every cover song by Metallica, ranked from worst to best

By Matt Mills published

We’ve listed the 40 covers that metal’s biggest band recorded in the studio and released to the public in reverse-order of excellence

RATM vs James Brown mash-up

If you ever wondered how Rage Against The Machine would sound with Godfather of Soul James Brown on vocals and Eddie Van Halen on guitar, we finally have the answer

By Paul Brannigan published

The funkiest, grooviest, most soulful piece of righteous rap-metal you'll hear today, or any other day, to be honest

A young Black Sabbath sitting in a back garden, plus Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon

Black Sabbath and Napoleon are a match made in Heaven (and Hell)

By Fraser Lewry published

A heavily doctored version of Black Sabbath's iconic War Pigs is burning up the internet via a trailer for Ridley Scott's upcoming Napoleon blockbuster

Various Download Festival sets

The 20 greatest Download festival sets ever

By Stephen Hill published

For two decades, Download has been the premiere rock and metal festival in the UK. These are its finest moments

Photos of Metallica's Cliff Burton, Slipknot's Paul Gray, Slayer's Tom Araya and Black Sabbath's Ozzy Osbourne playing onstage

The 11 greatest final shows in heavy metal history

By Joe Daly published

From Black Sabbath to Metallica’s Cliff Burton, these excellent gigs also proved to be bittersweet goodbyes

A picture of a life-sized Ozzy Osbourne cake

Someone made a life-sized Ozzy Osbourne cake

By Stef Lach published

The life-sized cake in honour of Black Sabbath icon Ozzy was put on display at an event in Birmingham, UK

Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford posing together in 2006

The 10 greatest guest spots in heavy metal history

By Joe Daly published

From Bruce Dickinson teaming with Rob Halford to Dave Grohl’s Probot album, here are the times big names made great metal songs even greater

Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne

“It was a very weird beast because all the bands were our mates, but the managers were greedy": Sharon Osbourne reveals why we can't have Ozzfest any more

By Paul Brannigan published

Sharon Osbourne says that Ozzfest is no longer cost-effective because band managers got greedy

Goat - Medicine

“Like the Velvet Underground playing an early Black Sabbath riff, but in the desert. At night… it’s bonkers. And it’s also rather beautiful”: Goat’s Medicine

By Fraser Lewry published

Enigmatic Swedes up the ante after Oh Death, with more twisted multi-genre shapes

Album art by Black Sabbath, Cynic, At The Gates and Black Flag

10 amazing metal albums that were too ahead of their time

By Will Marshall published

From Black Sabbath’s debut album to Cynic’s Focus, these metal masterpieces were either lambasted or ignored when they first came out

Photos of Cradle Of Filth, Ghost, Slipknot and Chelsea Wolfe

The 10 spookiest heavy metal songs of all time

By Emily Swingle published

These songs by Iron Maiden, Slipknot and Ghost could make for the perfect Halloween playlist

Artwork for albums by Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Ken Mode

The 10 scariest heavy metal album covers of all time

By Matt Mills published

These albums by Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Slayer will terrify you before you even press play

Photos of Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth and System Of A Down performing live

The 10 worst creative decisions in heavy metal history

By Matt Mills published

From Megadeth’s Risk to that Metallica: Through The Never movie, the heavy metal tapestry is strewn with terrible ideas

Ozzy Osbourne in 2001, with a photo of a chicken inset

“A cop knocked at the door and said, ‘You’ve got to stop!’” Ozzy Osbourne once put a chicken full of antifreeze on his neighbour’s fence and the police thought it was a satanic effigy

By Matt Mills published

The Prince Of Darkness’ scheme to stop local coyotes attacking his dogs ended in a visit from the police

Leather Angel and Lizzy Borden onstage, Odin studio portrait

"An era of decadence began with a hope, passion and joy centred on music": how Los Angeles in the 1980s became the hair metal mecca

By Katherine Turman published

The Sunset Strip sound generated major money for the lucky handfuls of bands who broke big: Many others weren't so fortunate

Black Sabbath circa 1970

"You just can’t make it big enough, rude enough or loud enough": Producer Tom Allom on engineering Black Sabbath and helping create the sound of heavy metal

By Derek Oliver published

'Colonel' Tom Allom created the iconic tolling bell on Black Sabbath's debut album, although he admits to not liking their music very much