LeftyBassist.com

I used to be a die-hard metal guy since I start playing guitar/bass until around 1995, when I started getting into funk, jazz and everything else, but I still listen to a lot of metal throughout the day.

How about that new Black Sabbath album? On first listen, I wasn't too impressed, but after a few days, I think it's pretty good! Really digging the bass sound, and Ozzy is singing pretty good. Too bad Bill Ward wasn't part of it - that really would have been the icing on the cake. Tommi Iommi is a genius in my opinion.

I like it. I agree it gets better after you have listen to it som more times. There's some nice heavy riffs and the bass sounds just perfect.
Bill Ward should have been on it but, as usual, Sharron managed to fuck things up.
Only bad thing, imo, is that while the singing on the album is ok, Ozzy is totally baked and sounds like crap live.

I've only heard, "God is Dead" in full and 1 minute snippets of the rest so far, but it sounded like vintage Sabbath to me (albeit with better modern production values), with several sections and sounds that seem to be reminiscent of their classic stuff. Ozzy sounds great, BTW (I may be the only man on the planet who always loved Ozzy's voice ).

I'll pick it up. Also really digging the new Alice in Chains too.

Was reading the Bassplayer interview with Geezer and he said that before they started the producer had them listen to their first album (which they hadn't done in decades). Geezer said they were all surprised by how blues-based it was and that was the focus of this album.

I haven't heard it yet but I'll be picking it up soon, especially if it is more like their early stuff.