mi_jah, Jul 01, 2008
This actually is a very underrated release, IMO. It does sound DIFFERENT from most Black Sabbath releases, but it has a very distinctive, haunted sound. It seems more focused on atmosphere than clean sounds, and that's exactly why this album has made such an impression on me since it's release. The album has been built up brilliantly up to 'digital bitch'; after that the tension collapses, as the next songs fall out of style being much softer. I think this could have been a really dark and almost disturbing mini-album if the last 3 songs would have been left off... There's an 'unmixed' version of this album to be found on the internet, and a lot of people like this better as it has a cleaner sound. But i think Robin Black has done a hell of a job with the mix of this album and made all the right decisions... Some of the tracks were made shorter ('stone henge') to keep them interesting and the 'glammier' and softer tracks were put at the end the album. So the first half belongs with my all-time favourites, and the last 3 songs are like a preview of (glamrock hairband) times ahead...
3.8/5 (