The Upcoming Black Sabbath album

[Axe fiend]

Excited about the new album? Let's discuss what little we know about it.

Well first of all, One of the things I'm really looking forward to with this album is Geezer's lyrics if he is indeed writing them! A Sabbath album can only benefit when Geezer puts pen to paper.
I'm also interested to hear how much variety will be contained in the album. Will there be an instrumental? How about a fast track or two? Will there be a radio single? Obviously no one knows yet, but it's interesting to wonder. Will Bill be on the album? I'm sure everyone including the other band members are hoping so. Whatever happens, I'm sure the new album is going to be awesome!!

I made (Or mangled) an album cover just for fun the other day, check it out:

[The Mighty Sab]

My big question is what the hell is the overall sound gonna be like? I mean the guys haven't done this since 1978. According to Geezer, it has the old Sabbath style and sound, but I can't help but feel it would be like The Devil You Know with Ozzy (at least somewhat).

[sn0wb1ind0zzy]

My big question is what the hell is the overall sound gonna be like?

I have been citing this example back and forth, but considering how Rick Rubin kicked ass with Trouble's self titled as well as Manic Frustration, I know its going to be amazing. I imagine the production will be similar to this:

[SDMF Jon]

.... I can't help but feel it would be like The Devil You Know with Ozzy (at least somewhat).

It better not sound like TDYK, and I don't see how it could sound worse. Rick Rubin has proven he can produce classic sounds (like the Trouble example above or Metallica's "Death Magnetic"), so I'm not worried about that. I just don't want another "Black Sabbath" debut album. They did so much better work after that, so I'm disappointed he chose to sit them down and listen to it as his example. My preference would have been a 3-hour revisit of "Vol 4" thru "Sabotage."

[MobRules]

I was unaware that overcompressed shit sounded good. That trouble thing sounds horribly thin.

[SDMF Jon]

You might want to not listen via YouTube then.

[Soul Sucker]

You might want to not listen via YouTube then.

Oh, please...

Death Magnetic's sound quality has been criticised by a HUGE amount of people, as I'm sure you're aware of. The songs are brick-walled. It's a fact.

To show you how compressed the album is:

[jacksabbath]

Excited about the new album? Let's discuss what little we know about it.

Well first of all, One of the things I'm really looking forward to with this album is Geezer's lyrics if he is indeed writing them! A Sabbath album can only benefit when Geezer puts pen to paper.
I'm also interested to hear how much variety will be contained in the album. Will there be an instrumental? How about a fast track or two? Will there be a radio single? Obviously no one knows yet, but it's interesting to wonder. Will Bill be on the album? I'm sure everyone including the other band members are hoping so. Whatever happens, I'm sure the new album is going to be awesome!!

I made (Or mangled) an album cover just for fun the other day, check it out:

thats fucking awesome btw axe fiend. really like it.

i hope the album doesnt sound "modern" if you know what i mean. TDYK an example. something along the lines of
DEP/FUSED would be good. though not sure ozzy can pull the vocals off without being digitised a lot. i also hope
we see a bit of variety in tonys playing. not sure if anyone has noticed but his riffs and guitar tone have been quite
samey lately. the devil cried, atom and evil, follow the tears etc...

would love a fast track, if it is tommy clufetos playing, i think they should make use of him and do a thrashy/SOTU type
song. basically not just 10 mid paced plodders with a robot ozzy. i think they can do it.

[CrystalWorld]

What is this brick-walled business about? what does it mean?

I tried to Google it but pink Floyd made all searches about brick walls and music come to them.

As for the album I'd rather listen to it recorded like their first album no matter how bad it sounds that way, rather than some digital franken-song spliced in and altered here and there.

[Axe fiend]

What is this brick-walled business about? what does it mean?

From what I understand, brickwall=Compress the shit out of it during mastering to compete with other brickwalled music. Modern technology allows mastering engineers to make music unnaturally loud using digital compression. If you were to use these compressed masters for vinyl, it wouldn't work because the needle would jump out of the groove!

thats fucking awesome btw axe fiend. really like it.

Thanks Jack!

[SDMF Jon]

Oh, please...

Death Magnetic's sound quality has been criticised by a HUGE amount of people, as I'm sure you're aware of. The songs are brick-walled. It's a fact.

To show you how compressed the album is:

Yes, that all happened AFTER the production was complete. Two comepltely different processes, and Rick had nothing to do with the finished product in that regard.

[Tha Beast]

From my understanding - brickwalling is a technique used to push the vocals and guitar up front resulting in a thick layer of sound. Drums and bass are typically muddled. Don't quote me though...that's a recollection of what I've read.

I hope the new record doesn't sound like any one of Ozzy's last three records or TDYK. Unfortunately that seems to be the current trend for modern hard rock.

[MobRules]

From what I understand, brickwall=Compress the shit out of it during mastering to compete with other brickwalled music. Modern technology allows mastering engineers to make music unnaturally loud using digital compression. If you were to use these compressed masters for vinyl, it wouldn't work because the needle would jump out of the groove!

Which is precisely why I will buy the vinyl.

[Jaydeeboxster]

I'm looking forward to this album immensely. I am hoping for an album with contrasts in pace and volume, and with space for each of the instruments (rather than the wall of sound found on many modern albums) in the tradition of the great Sabbath albums. I am hoping to hear something that captures the energy and spirit of the Birmingham 02 gig this year.

[crispyvenom]

That album cover is sweet, but it would work better for an Ozzy solo album because only Ozzy is on it.

[mikesline]

since when is a post taken out because of my belife it should'nt be called black sabbath because bill ward is not there ,the band should be called "sabbath"
that is a valid post,who runs the show here ,if you dont like my opinion then eat shit,but dont take it out. maybe if you know the origines and were there inthe seventies you might agreed cause that was the real black sabbath not the one you see today.

[Axe fiend]

That album cover is sweet, but it would work better for an Ozzy solo album because only Ozzy is on it.

Look harder.

[crispyvenom]

Ahhh now I see

[Van Sabbath]

Axe Fiend, that is an awesome cover man! I completely didn't notice Geezer and Tony at first.

[Krish]

Absolutely great cover and the beauty of it is that this is the formation they play in - at least that's how it was with RJD with Geezer to RJD's right (our left) and Iommi to RJD's left (our right). Fantastic!

[KazolOrajia]

I'm pretty confident it will be a good album. The Devil You Know was proof that Iommi and Geezer can still create awesome music together, and I'm sure Ozzy can produce some great vocals in a studio setting. I'm not worried about the drums either. I doubt it will live up to the first six albums, but I'm pretty optimistic, and very excited regardless.

[Danimal77]

The Devil You Know is some of Tony's weakest material he has put out in years. His 3 solo albums from 1996-2005 were far more interesting. Fused (2005) was a KILLER album, with a ton more energy and far better riffs than The Devil You Know.

[Jeff]

What is this brick-walled business about? what does it mean?

"Brickwalled" refers to mastering where everything is squashed to keep pretty much everything peaking at 0. It ruins dynamics, and causes everything to just sound loud without the punch and power that comes with mastering that allows for huge differences between soft and loud like actual music sounds. It's particulary hard on drums. Think of "I Go Insane" as a good example of a drummer hitting the crap out of a kit but the dynamics just kind of won't let the impact of the drums shine.

Obviously "brickwalling" basically refers to the extreme cases of digital limiting and/or compression, but
this very brief video is a good way to learn why more and more people are sick of compression being used in digital mastering:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ

[Axe fiend]

Axe Fiend, that is an awesome cover man! I completely didn't notice Geezer and Tony at first.

Absolutely great cover and the beauty of it is that this is the formation they play in - at least that's how it was with RJD with Geezer to RJD's right (our left) and Iommi to RJD's left (our right). Fantastic!

Thank You Guys! Cheers!!

[Phil]

I really like that cover !!!!!!

[19Barras92]

Yeah great cover, just the Faces of Iommi, Geezer and the Drummer should be also on the cover and then it would be perfekt xD

But to the Album...
Errrr.... yeah I think the Album will be like the song on Iommi's Solo Album "Who's fooling who". I like this song, but yeah it isn't a Black Sabbath Song. I really hope the Album will be like "Volume 4" or "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath". But I think Rubin said that he wants to try to make a new "Paranoid", I could live with this decision.

[Tha Beast]

"Brickwalled" refers to mastering where everything is squashed to keep pretty much everything peaking at 0. It ruins dynamics, and causes everything to just sound loud without the punch and power that comes with mastering that allows for huge differences between soft and loud like actual music sounds. It's particulary hard on drums. Think of "I Go Insane" as a good example of a drummer hitting the crap out of a kit but the dynamics just kind of won't let the impact of the drums shine.

Obviously "brickwalling" basically refers to the extreme cases of digital limiting and/or compression, but
this very brief video is a good way to learn why more and more people are sick of compression being used in digital mastering:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ

Without a doubt one of the things I fear the most about the new album. I hate this type of production.

Been listening to the Kill Devil Hill CD (Vinny) and must say that it sounds pretty good sonically regardless of what you're listening to it thru. Vinny's drums sound a lot like the way he envisions them to sound (at least....this is my guess). All instruments are audible and the overall tone is not too bad.

[rar]

My big question is what the hell is the overall sound gonna be like? I mean the guys haven't done this since 1978. According to Geezer, it has the old Sabbath style and sound, but I can't help but feel it would be like The Devil You Know with Ozzy (at least somewhat).

I thought I was the only one concerned about this. The general opinion seems to be that TDYK was a great album. I think all of the band members on that album were great, but I found TDYK to be very bland.
In terms of the sound on that album, I'm not all that impressed either. They had a much more raw sound in the old days, and it was less processed. Geezer spoke (I remember reading this a few years back) about how there wasn't as much layering and such on the older albums, and it gave him room as a bass player to be a bit more creative. That's the sort of thing I'm looking for in the "old Sabbath sound". Not so much processing and layering of the guitars. Hell, I'd rather the guys just record it all at once, like they used to, and tweak it a bit from there. The layered guitar sounds fit more with the Dio era sound, but Ozzy-era Sabbath should have simpler mixes. Here's hoping.

[WallOfSleep]

For me, TDYK was slightly one dimensional in song structure. It had fast songs, medium songs and slow songs, but not much variety within the individual songs. I always suspected that it was written with a drum machine and then Vinnie was brought in later. Probably not, but that's what it sounded like to me.

[TenCommandments]

I'm eager for more news about it. I really do hope they use Bill Ward or Vinny Appice for drums though. Not Tommy Clufetos. Really another variation on Sabbath? Honestly Scream is Ozzy's weakest solo album and I didnt care for Tommy's work with Sabbath at download. As for the album I'm sure it wont disappoint.

[Josef_K]

For me, TDYK was slightly one dimensional in song structure. It had fast songs, medium songs and slow songs, but not much variety within the individual songs. I always suspected that it was written with a drum machine and then Vinnie was brought in later. Probably not, but that's what it sounded like to me.

Well, first of all if I remember correctly Vinnie isn't credited as writer for any of the songs. Also didn't he confirm that the album was written with a drum machine? There was a thread about that somewhere on the forum not too long ago.

[Tha Beast]

Well, first of all if I remember correctly Vinnie isn't credited as writer for any of the songs. Also didn't he confirm that the album was written with a drum machine? There was a thread about that somewhere on the forum not too long ago.

This is true although there are two accounts of the TDYK recording: 1) Vinny apparently isn't happy with the sound or the performance and admits there was not much "freedom" to deviate from the drum machine recordings. 2) Mike X. claims this is all false (or much of it is false). So it all depends on who you want to believe. A lot of Vin's recent comments lead me to believe he was not happy with his last studio experience and he did a complete 180 with Kill Devil Hill. The general consensus is that the drum performance on TDYK is kinda bland - I agree.