There’s no denying that 2013 has been a bombastic year for Black Sabbath. First there was the aptly named studio album, 13, the first one with Ozzy Osbourne since 1978’s Never Say Die. Naturally, a tour followed and now, it gets a little extended love with a live release. For Sabbath, who’s always thrived on a concert stage, Live…Gathered In Their Masses (on CD, DVD and Blu-ray), shot in Melbourne, Australia, is the culmination of everything the Black Sabbath reunion set out to be. And maybe even more.
After Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler’s colorful arrival and preshow rituals (nothing nefarious and evil, unfortunately), it’s showtime, starting with a vicious “War Pigs,” loaded with heavy riffs, a thunderous bottom end, and Ozzy offering up a fair share of F-bombs, along with a rallying of the troops for the first of many of “Hey!” chants to worm their way into the gap of those arching breaks Iommi so masterfully lays down. They’re even more annoying at the beginning and ending portions of an otherwise spectacular “Into The Void.” Such is Osbourne’s way to keep the audience involved and fired up.
Nevertheless, you can’t help but get caught up in metallic sheen of deep-rooted Sabbath gems like “Snowblind” and “Symptom Of The Universe.” Osbourne seems to be singing a half-step back of the tempo on “Black Sabbath,” but no one in the audience apparently notices. “Behind The Wall Of The Sleep” and ‘N.I.B.,” also from the band’s 1970 self-tilted debut, are adequate fill-ins, although a grand opportunity to slot in more cuts from Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Sabotage, maybe even Technical Ecstasy or the Never Say Die, is missed.
Of course, they have to leave room for the “new” songs, which, considering 13‘s goal of evoking the “classic” Sabbath sound, snuggle in quite comfortably with the older material. “Loner” slides in so effortlessly, the Australian headbangers obligingly raise their firsts to the tune’s infectious turnarounds. By contrast, “Methademic,” a bonus track on special editions of 13, is rather one dimensional without much else to offer. “End Of The Beginning,” arguably the strongest song on 13, drops in gloomily enough and settles into its “Electric Funeral” groove before wheeling off into a chunky trademark Iommi denouement. “God Is Dead?,” the first single from 13, rolls out in similar fashion and the masses hang on without the usual new-song-played-in-concert abandonment.
Drummer Tommy Clufetos has little trouble keeping pace before pounding out the familiar stomp of “Iron Man.” Yes, he rocks with tons of stamina, but the Bill Ward swing is still amiss. Of course, cancer survivor Iommi and Butler drive the ship without much alteration in the execution. And Osbourne, his voice at once strong and seemingly on the verge of cracking, dispenses buckets of water and trots across the frontlines like his life depends on it. The tease of “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” that precedes the night’s finale of “Paranoid,” indicates just how deep the band could go. Heading into 2014, perhaps further developments in this direction will create demand for another live set. Until then, Live…Gathered In Their Masses is what Black Sabbath could still do on a concert stage in 2013, documented in gory – ahem – glorious detail.
~ Shawn Perry
