Cvlt Nation Sessions : Black Sabbath's s/t debut

My family over at Cvlt Nation is unleashing another tribute this time to Black Sabbath's self title debut. While Black Sabbath is one of my all time favorite bands that I grew up with, I have heard enough covers that I am not as protective of them as I am bands that might not have the same following, because after you have been listening to them for over 30 years you are going here their songs get butchered in every imaginable fashion. I was already sold on the opener before I hit play as it is Beastmaker tackling the eponymous title track. The singer's baritone gives the song a little more of a creepy feel. Sacramento's Chrch hit "the Wizard" with a well balanced blend of being both heavier and more surreal. Eva coats her voice in weird effects which is an especially wise choice, since Ozzy's vocals are so distinct.

Jupiterian coats "Behind the Wall of Sleep" in a grave dirt doom. The gurgled vocals sit well in the blown out wall of fuzz they drag you into. They do not drench their sound in a ton of effects , but a combination of the mix and their power creates a vortex of sound to summon a very pleasing atmosphere. They take all the blue boogie out of it and bury it with the charred fragments of their souls. When Mindkult's tour bus opens it doors the results must be similar to that of the Mystery Machine. Their singer who sound more like Steve Miller than Ozzy, was clearly stoned when he stepped into the booth for this. This is a much better description of what stoner rock should sound like than anything I could weave adjectives together for. After the first four songs I feel a little underwhelmed by Witchthroat Serpent's take on "Evil Woman" The bass player is on it with out a doubt and home boy can sing alright, but no wow factor.


 I am pretty impressed by Frown and want to check out their original material after hearing their take on "Sleeping Village" there is a dark Nick Cave like thing happening amid some of their doomy wonder. I am not as impressed by the version of " Warning" that Trapped Within Burning Machinery vomits out. It is very Eyehategod like, though the vocals have a hint of black metal nastiness to them. To their credit they do pull off the more jammed section toward the end. Space Bong takes on "Wicked World" to close things out. They play it pretty straight except for the growled vocals. Things begin to get a little weirder around the midway point . Granted the source material is awesome, but this is on of the better Cvlt Nation sessions if not not the best, I'll round it up to a 9.5.