MASTER OF REALITY

Black Sabbath's third release, Mast of Reality, holds a special place in my heart. It was the first album that I was, personally, exposed to in my youth from this great gothic rock band. The style is truely inventive, as the dark sounding production melts with the heart- poundingly intense songs of apocolypses and satanic beliefs from a christian stand-point. Heavy metal has never been this good since.

1.Sweet Leaf - The ultimate stoner track. Tony Iommi makes good use of the C# tuning in this track, as the track goes into trippy imagery with it's almost happy riff. The underlaying darkness in the lyrics goes well, Ozzy Osbourne screams for some type of legalization of marijuana, showing his love for the plant. The rhythm section is also grooving, as Geezer Butler and Bill Ward never fail to keep a complex rhythm going. A true classic of an opener. (10/10)

2.After Forever - A god worship song almost, even if it has mentions of satanic beliefs in the lyrics. The song has a steady rhythm, with a great synthesizer intro that cannot be matched in psychedelia. The lyrics tend to boarder on cheese, even when Osbourne sings the most horrific lines, he sounds completely convincing. The break-down section is by far one of my favourites. (9.5/10)

3.Embryo - An almost medival type of classical guitar playing, Iommi makes sure that the fillers don't suck. A good intro to the classic Children of the Grave, but not much else. The track does remind me of an alone, almost solitude state. (8/10)

4.Children of the Grave - An extremely immortal track, the doomsday riff cannot be matched in heaviness and gloom at the time of release. Iommi sets the standard for dark and crunchy riffs, as he plows through the cut with immense power and percision. The almost swing-metal drumming makes the track that much more fierce. Osbournes vocal melodies never cease to amaze me, as he talks about children standing up for their rights. One song that I could not live without. (10/10)

5.Orchid - An almost classical track, a good closer to the harsh and heavy Children of the Grave, as it is less medival than its brother, Embryo. Iommi's playing is fast paced and smooth, almost of a delicate state, much like the title. (9/10)

6.Lord of This World - A truely dark track than most of it's predecesors, a marching riff accompanies the terrifying lyrics. Some of the most apocolyptic riffage can be found on this track, as Butler, Iommi and Ward march through a wasteland of darkness. Augmented by Osbournes great melodies and sense of rhythm, the track could not get any darker. The groovy sections of the track can send anyone into a trance like trip. (10/10)

7.Solitude - Possibly the most underrated Black Sabbath track ever to emerge from any of their albums, is a almost drone like in structure, much like it's cousin off Paranoid, Planet Caravan. It seems almost forced, with underlaying beauty seeming to be covered by a darkness. A steady bassline carries the flute over Osbournes soft spoken lyrics, the song is one of the better ballad's to come from the Sabbath catalouge. (9/10)

8.Into the Void - The underrated classic, as it does not get much buzz on this site. The song is just about as good as Fairies Wear Boots, if not better. The heavy and trippy guitar playing is the key to this post-world death cut. The C# has never been put to better use, Iommi makes sure that the riff is steady and almost an acid laced trip. Osbourne, as usual, brings out a great vocal part and sings about the destruction of mankind, in a very heavy metal fashion. Needless to say, the bass and drumming is pretty much prefect as they never seem to slag behind a bit. (10/10)

With classic tracks and some experimentation on their overall sound, Master of Reality is an amazing album. It may not be as consistent as Paranoid, but the tracks that are great are overall more trippy and dark than the ones before. I have to give 5 stars to this amazingly well composed album, full of the darkest stuff you would ever find in the time period.