Leave it to the Estonians. When the North American television airwaves are polluted by the Osbornes, as in bat-biting Ozzy, offspring and wife, who would never have recived the chance to do a “show” (?) had it not been for Ozzy’s fame — or rather infamy — as a heavy metal rocker, Estonian musicians have chosen to focus on the beauty, not the vulgarity, of Ozzy’s tunes.
Ozzy and his band Black Sabbath ruled the high-decibel bands in the 1970-s, and were known for pyrotechnics both on stage and off. It was of course the notoriety of the band’s performance antics that led to Ozzy getting his own TV show. One that the slimster hastens to add he is only aware of through media bombardment. Even “good” TV is not worth wasting “free” time on. Concerned parents and Christian groups levelled charges that the band was a vehicle of Satan, preaching through noise and questionable lyrics sermons written by Beelzebub. The notoriety added to the group’s popularity, thus stoking the fires of eternal damnation.
But — for those who actually cared, the music was pretty good once you got past the de rigeur riffs and the thundering drums. The slender one even recalls a ballad or two that showed sensitivity, balancing the bombast.
Others noticed as well. Mihkel Raud, producer at the Estonian record company Beg the Bug Records has been a fan of Black Sabbath since their heyday, a time when Estonia was under Soviet rule, and western music was nigh impossible to acquire. Raud also noticed then that the music was of an intensely introspective quality. He chose 2002 to launch a project that inintially begs skepticism — is the company buggy? but satisfies all musical requirements.
In a recent interview Raud stated that “once you take away the wall of sound from many Sabbath songs, what you have is pure 14th century music.”
Heck of a claim — but Raud backs this up. His record company has released an album of Black Sabbath songs played by a quintet specializing in music from the middle ages. To add to the medieval approach the lyrics have been translated and are sung in the language of the time — Latin.
Thus was born Sabbatum — Latin for Sabbath. On this 12-track album you’ll find Sabbath classics like “War Pigs” (“Verres Militares”) and “Wheels of Confusion” (“Rotae Confusionis”). No screaming hoarse lyrics, no crashing chords — rather soft syllables, whispering harps and gentle finger tapped drums.
Raud notes that the medieval makeover is the reverse of what most bands do — take an old tune and add modernity to known music.
Frankly, you’d be surprised what an excellent recording this is, appealing to classical tastes with an underworld undertone (it is Black Sabbath after all) Anathema for head-bangers, sure. But medieval music fanciers will get great pleasure from Sabbatum’s interpretations.
No word yet on how to acquire this disc. However, for those doubting Thomases that find this musical transformation hard to accept the Net serves as an introduction. The official album site is http://www.sabbatum.com You need to have RealPlayer to hear selected excerpts.
A must listen for fans of both categories. Have to hand it to those concerned parents of the 70’s who worried that their teenagers would turn into Satanists. They were not far off the mark — the music of Black Sabbath is indeed the work of the devil — in the hands of Sabbatum it becomes devilishly beautiful.
Music notes: Devilishly beautiful — Sabbatum
Archived Articles | 20 Aug 2002 | Otepää SlimEWR
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