Black Sabbath is known for their upbeat tones and dreamy lyrics. This wasn’t always the case. Before 1979, when Ronnie James Dio took over after Ozzy Osbourne left, they had a completely different sound. Their songs were about the damnation of man kind through various means, but one song stuck with me through it all: After All (the dead).
With a deep, slow bass and droning guitar riffs, the Osbourne version of Black Sabbath had an aura of doom around them. It comes to no surprise that the game franchise Doom would choose Black Sabbath pre-’79 as their model for the musical score. They even went so far as to honour the band with a remake of the intro to their song After All as one of the most memorable tracks from the second game, The Deamon’s Dead.
After All might be the most dread-filled song in the band’s repertoire to date and whenever I listen to it, I fear that darkness more than anything. It sends chills up my spine every time.