Black Sabbath is one of those bands that serves as a major gateway drug when you’re young and first discovering music, and then you can sort of wind up taking them for granted. You forget just how mind-blowing it was to hear “War Pigs” for the first time, or if you’re of a certain generation your memories of Ozzy’s historical import get muddled up with The Osbournes. And then somewhere along the line you go back to them and remember just how awesome their albums are. Well, today the record label Sacred Bones is back with another reminder, by way of a new Black Sabbath tribute album.
Titled What Is This That Stands Before Me? — taken, of course, from the song “Black Sabbath” — the compilation collects nine covers by Sacred Bones artists. It’s positioned both as a special Bandcamp release as the site is once more waving its fees for the day, as well as marking the 50th anniversaries of both Black Sabbath and Paranoid. “Black Sabbath stands at the crossroads of every Sacred Bones employee and artist’s musical taste, and it was a great pleasure for us to work together to reimagine some of their most beloved songs,” the label wrote on their Bandcamp.
It’s a pretty impressive little collection of Sacred Bones artists bringing classic Sabbath tracks into their own world. The Soft Moon offers a noise-blasted take on “Black Sabbath,” Zola Jesus wraps her always-powerful voice around “Changes,” and the languid psychedelia of Moon Duo’s Stars Are The Light era is a perfect backdrop for their rendition of “Planet Caravan.” Check out the whole thing below.
What Is This That Stands Before Me? is out now on Sacred Bones. You can stream or purchase it here.
