Mission Swansong successfully accomplished - A review of Black Sabbath's ''The End''

''The End'' is a valuable gem since it's probably Black Sabbath's final release with new studio tracks if the band doesn't organize another reunion with Tony Martin or again with Ozzy Osbourne in the future. This EP is only sold at live shows during their final tour this year if there isn't going to be a bland re-release in the future. Let's just hope that the band remains authentic, credible and honest and doesn't release the material on this record again or bring out another studio release which would decrease this release's initial value and rightfully offense the most faithful fans. My friend and I were actually able to get a copy of said album each without any problems and supplies didn't seem to be limited at all so far on tour. Thirty dollars are a lot of money at first sight but you get a historical release from a historical band and the whole release is filled with just under one hour of music which makes this EP longer than many regular studio albums. I didn't regret purchasing this release for one second.

The four new songs are very similar to songs that were already released on the last full length output ''13''. Therefor, it makes sense that they didn't make it onto said release. Especially the gloomy stomper ''Cry All Night'' is ridden with guitar effects and ends with sounds of rain, thunder and bells just like the similar ''End of the Beginning'' on the previous output. The heavy ''Isolated Man'' convinces with psychedelic vocal effects and offers lyrics that are extremely similar to the straighter and catchier ''Loner'' released two and a half years ago. The slow-motion groover ''Season of the Dead'' would have had its righteous spot on the predecessor since it's quite catchy in its smooth simplicity while the shortest cut ''Take Me Home'' would have rather had a filler spot on the last full length effort even though it's somehow saved by a surprising middle part with some acoustic guitar parts reminding me of folk tunes from Southern Europe. In the end, ''Cry All Night'', ''Isolated Man'' and ''Season of the Dead'' are all solid good to slightly above average Black Sabbath material while ''Take Me Home'' is clearly below average in my book.

The four live tracks have been recorded in Australia, Canada and New Zealand over the past three years. The sound quality of the tracks recorded in the southern hemisphere isn't much better than bootleg recordings from soundboards or cheap recording devices and especially ''God is Dead?'' sounds somewhat muddy and unbalanced and this amateurish recording doesn't do the engaging original any justice. The two tunes recorded in the northern hemisphere sound a little bit more differentiated and organic and the opening sequence of ''Age of Reason'' is also a perfect example for Ozzy Osbourne's sympathetic interactions with the crowd. In the end, despite the fact that I personally prefer the original songs which were recorded in the southern hemisphere, the two songs recorded in Canada have a much better production and portray the band's entertaining live qualities accurately.

Even though this release is far from being a masterpiece and has its obvious flaws in form of inconsistent productions for the live section and predictable song writing repetitions for the new cuts, I simply adore the band's gloomy atmosphere carried by slow-motion riffs and psychedelic solos, pumping bass guitars, focused and precise drumming and especially Ozzy Osbourne's perfectly imperfect vocals filled with authentic charisma. This mixture that inspired a new kind of music still works flawlessly nowadays for me four and a half decades after its invention. I'm really happy to own this record and true fans of the band should try to get their hands on this authentic, charismatic and unpretentious output.

Final rating: 8/10