When it comes to heavy, Black Sabbath essentially laid the groundwork for what we would come to know as heavy metal today. And during a recent interview with Matt Pinfield on Los Angeles' 95.5 KLOS, Slash paid his respects to the legendary band's work, even calling out one of their songs for having the heaviest riff that he could think of.
The guitar great told Pinfield (as transcribed by Ultimate Guitar), "The first Sabbath record just had the biggest impact on me. Because, when you think about it, in the landscape of all the other music that was happening at the time, there's this one dark record that comes out that really created what you would consider dark heavy metal and created the path for everything that was to follow. And so yeah, that record is especially poignant."
But his praise for Sabbath didn't stop there as he went on to add, "I also love the Sabbath Bloody Sabbath record. I mean, really all those records... But the first one and the Sabbath Bloody Sabbath record probably had the biggest impact on me."
The guitarist then added, "The title track, that breakdown towards the end of the song. There's just nothing that's ever come out that's heavier than that. Not one band that I can think of has a riff that is as heavy as 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.'" Have a listen to the song below.
Black Sabbath, "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath"
Slash has previously sung the praises of Black Sabbath, revealing in a 2021 Instagram posting that he felt Sabotage was the band's most underrated album.
"Out of Black Sabbath’s legendary first six albums, Sabotage is the least celebrated for some reason. I on the other hand think it’s criminally underrated because this record came at a time when the band was putting out one platinum record after the next and they were starting to get the attention of the masses. While most fans might not agree with my opinions due to the presence of synthesizers in a Heavy Metal record, I feel this is probably the heaviest record in Black Sabbath’s entire discography."
He would call out "Symptom of the Universe" as his favorite song, adding, "This is a song with a riff that sounds like something you’d find in a new wave of British heavy metal record (Perhaps the inspiration for Diamond Head’s 'Am I Evil?'). To my ears, this song is the sonic predecessor to thrash metal, and apart from the riff my favorite part of the song is Ozzy’s vocal performance as he’s displaying enough range, power and confidence to foreshadow his hugely successful solo career.”
