Angry Metal Mail

We don’t get a lot of hate mail here at Angry Metal Guy. As I said in the previous incarnation of Angry Metal Mail, “Because we have a good system for commenting, most of the venting, whining, and misdirected anger at childhood traumas and inability to perform in bed gets left in our comment boxes where we can respond to the person directly or where others can respond (with public shaming).” However, in this case, the person didn’t send the mail to me in regards to a post I’d made, but instead a comment I made at Blabbermouth. Here, I’ll let you read it.

Name: Agent 700 [Note, no real name. AMG]
Email: [email protected] [Probably not a real e-mail address, but this response will be sent to this address just in case it is one.AMG]
Comment: You’ve recenly posted a comment on blabbermouth.net saying that Black Sabbath is not relevant enough for you … You know what, asshole? Your miserable blog should be renamed into Angry Guy because Black Sabbath own the copyright on the word ‘Metal’ … So go listen to fucking Abba and Ace of Base … or better yet, go fuck yourself and die! …

Time: Friday April 5, 2013 at 12:05 pm
IP Address: 188.138.137.205 [Note IP address. AMG]
Contact Form URL: http://www.angrymetalguy.com/about/
Sent by an unverified visitor to your site.

Black Sabbath - 13I didn’t say that Black Sabbath aren’t relevant enough for me, I said that they’re not relevant. At all. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that they’ve done this to themselves through a few simple steps. Firstly, Ozzy Osbourne has become a living, breathing, hobbling joke. I feel bad for him, because I get the feeling the guy doesn’t even want to be doing this anymore but he’s got this little problem. And that little problem is going to suck him dry for the rest of his life – and probably after he dies as well. Remember No More Tours? Going out on a high note? Yeah, well… Ozzy Osbourne isn’t going out until death frees him from this life – because he is far too valuable of an asset for Ozzy Osbourne Inc., to be allowed to rest.

Secondly, Bill Ward. With all the love and respect for history that these guys have, selling the new Black Sabbath record as being a reunion record is cold, mean and disrespectful to the immense sound influence that is Bill Ward. The combination of Bill Ward and Geezer Butler is a huge part of the sound of the original Sabbath and with him not being there, this isn’t that. Sure, bands never regain their glory days when they reunite. Iron Maiden has never put out a new Seventh Son or Powerslave. Judas Priest has never repeated Turbo Lover… or wait, well, you get the point. The point is that Sabbath isn’t going to put out anything that will live up to their finest moments… but at least if Ward was involved it would feel moderately authentic.

The only reason I can think of really paying serious attention to this at all is because of Tony Iommi. His struggles with cancer, the likelihood that this will be his last recorded work, etc., makes this worth some time and effort – but that doesn’t make the record relevant to the current landscape of metal. And I’m going to go out on a limb and say that while Black Sabbath burned a new path, they were not alone and metal quickly left behind their style, feel, and roots in blues. The music, the culture and the art has developed into far more interesting and giving music than anything that Sabbath ever did. That someone was first doesn’t mean that they were the best.

And hey, it’s possible that Black Sabbath’s newest record will prove me wrong. One can always be surprised, but my expectations are quite low for 13 and no one has presented me any reason why it should be any good – except that Rick Rubin has a record with reviving bands at the ass end of their career (though I still think Death Magnetic was a disappointment).

Also, if anyone has “copyright” on metal, it’s probably Gene Simmons given his lust for commercialization and monetization.

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