Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath is an English rock band from Birmingham, formed in the late 1960s and widely credited as one of the founding acts of heavy metal. Built around dark, blues-derived riffs, ominous lyrical themes, and a heavier, slower sound than their rock contemporaries, the band's early albums established a template that would shape decades of metal to follow.

Songs like «Black Sabbath», «Paranoid», «Iron Man», and «War Pigs» defined the group's signature sound, pairing crushing guitar riffs with lyrics touching on war, isolation, and the occult, while tracks such as «Planet Caravan» and «Changes» showed a more psychedelic and reflective side. «Heaven and Hell» marked a notable stylistic shift later in the band's career, bringing a different vocal approach while retaining their heavy foundation.

Often cited as pioneers whose influence extends across virtually every heavy metal subgenre, from doom to thrash to stoner rock, Black Sabbath's early catalog remains a foundational reference point for hard rock and metal musicians. Their combination of heaviness, atmosphere, and dark thematic weight set a lasting standard for the genre.