{"id":11525,"date":"2022-10-26T20:28:58","date_gmt":"2022-10-27T00:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/millheiser.com\/hokeyblog\/?p=11525"},"modified":"2022-10-27T16:01:54","modified_gmt":"2022-10-27T20:01:54","slug":"buttkickin-halloween-songs-into-the-void-black-sabbath-1971","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/millheiser.com\/hokeyblog\/2022\/10\/26\/buttkickin-halloween-songs-into-the-void-black-sabbath-1971\/","title":{"rendered":"Buttkickin’ Halloween Songs: “Into The Void” — Black Sabbath (1971)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rocket engines burning fuel so fast
Up into the night sky they blast
Through the universe the engines whine
Could it be the end of man and time?
Back on earth the flame of life burns low
Everywhere is misery and woe
Pollution kills the air, the land and sea
Man prepares to meet his destiny…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ah Sabbath, bloody Sabbath…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listen, you don’t need me to convince you of the majesty of Black Sabbath. You either know it already, or you haven’t delved deep into their material besides the big radio hits (all one the same album, 1970’s landmark Paranoid). <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paranoid <\/em>is a fine album, no doubt, but in my opinion it ain’t no Master of Reality<\/em>, their 1971 followup. Accordingly, we take today’s selection from that record, and we’re going with the epic album closer Into The Void<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an aside, it is in my none-too-small opinion that Sabbath really became Sabbath with Master of Reality<\/em>. And that’s no slight on Black Sabbath<\/em> (their 1970 debut) or Paranoid<\/em>. However, Master of Reality<\/em> downtuned the guitars to C#, cranked up the monstrous riffs to herculean proportions, and galvanized listeners with an inimitable cosmic distortion that made Messrs. Butler, Iommi, Osbourne, and Ward the reigning forefathers of metal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, with all that said, why Into The Void<\/strong> then? Because Holy Moley Macarole Terre Haute Indiana, listen to that terrifyingly crushing<\/em> opening riff. Tony Iommi forgets more amazing riffs in a single day than most guitarists will ever know in a lifetime. This sinister eldritch energy evokes our planet destroyed by pollution, war, and all kinds of unspeakable horror. Mostly of the Satanic nature, it seems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As such, the last of Man has left the Earth and hurled themselves into the titular void, away from their annihilated homeworld. Satan has our home planet firmly in his grasp; the survivors looking to start a new world elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or some such nonsense. For the gloomy, oppressive vibe of the song alone, Into The Void<\/strong> is pure Halloween creepification. I mean, sometimes you have to plummet blindly into the cold abyss of the unknown to find Heaven somewhere in the antithetical otherness. Eternity beckons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rocket engines burning fuel so fast
Up into the black sky so vast
Burning metal through the atmosphere
Earth remains in worry, hate and fear
With the hateful battles raging on
Rockets flying to the glowing sun
Through the empires of eternal void
Freedom from the final suicide<\/em>…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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