February 13, 1970 – Friday the 13th. In the fog-choked streets of Birmingham, Black Sabbath released their self-titled debut on Vertigo Records. Recorded in just two days at Regent Sound Studios, this album didn’t arrive with fanfare or radio play. It cracked open like a thunderclap in the musical earth: doom-laden riffs, occult shadows, rainstorms in the intro, tritones that evoked ancient dread, and a sound so slow, heavy, and ominous that nothing like it had ever reached mainstream ears before. This wasn’t rock anymore. This was the birth cry of heavy metal.
Uriah Heep? I mean, Black Sabbath did have a distinct sound no doubt. Tony Lommi brought a lot to the table with down tuned guitars and very plodding drones and riffs. It’s interesting to me that Led Zep at the time was considered Heavy Metal, but really those boys were playing a lot of Blues Rock.