If you look at your favorite metal band’s list of influences, you’re probably going to see Black Sabbath somewhere in the mix. They were one of the first truly heavy bands and inspired countless artists. Tony Iommi’s monolithic riffs, Geezer Butler’s dark lyrics, Bill Ward’s thundering drums, and Ozzy Osbourne’s vocals laid the groundwork for an entire genre of music. However, some bands stuck a little closer to the Sabbath formula than others.
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Sure, Black Sabbath influenced everyone from Metallica to Cannibal Corpse in one way or another, but bands under the doom metal umbrella take that influence to another level. If you’re a fan of Sabbath’s first few albums, you’re going to dig these bands.
1. Acid Mammoth
Formed in 2015, this Athens, Greece-based band has released four full-length albums and participated in several split EPs for their label, Heavy Psych Sounds Records. Acid Mammoth wears their love of Black Sabbath and other early metal bands on their collective sleeve. This is especially true for their label debut, Under Acid Hoof, on which their vocalist, Chris Babalis Jr., sounds like he learned to sing by listening exclusively to Ozzy Osbourne.
2. Candlemass
Formed in 1984, this Swedish doom metal band takes the sound created by Black Sabbath in their early albums and expands upon it. The title of their 1986 debut album, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, is widely credited with helping give their subgenre its name. That album is also a doom metal classic with clear ties to Sabbath in its riffs, lyrics, and tempos. They’ve continued to expand and refine their sound over the years, with their 2022 album, Sweet Evil Sun, delivering a modern take on their classic sound.
3. Pentagram
Formed in 1971 in Alexandria, Virginia, Pentagram is hailed as one of the originators of doom metal. They’ve drawn many comparisons to Black Sabbath over the years. They released their self-titled debut album in 1985 and have since dropped a total of nine LPs. Their most recent, Lightning in a Bottle, dropped earlier this year. Whether you call them doom metal or, as vocalist and only original member Bobby Liebling prefers, heavy hard rock, Pentagram were the American answer to Sabbath.
4. Cathedral
Formed in 1989, this British band gave the world a doom masterpiece with their 1991 debut album Forest of Equilibrium. Over the years, they added elements of other subgenres to their sound and became influential in both doom and stoner metal. Unfortunately, they split after releasing their tenth album, The Last Spire, in 2013.
Many doom metal bands have sonic connections to Black Sabbath. However, few can say they’ve had a member of the iconic band on one of their albums. Tony Iommi played guitar on the song “Utopian Blaster” from their 1995 album The Carnival Bizarre.
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