Hands of Doom

"The world today is such a wicked place," Black Sabbath declared in 1969, when they recorded their debut album, set against a backdrop of war, assassinations, social unrest, and disillusionment. Cries for justice from the Civil Rights Movement, and for peace and love from the culture of "flower power," had been met with violent backlash from the ruling class. It was on this stage that Black Sabbath entered—the heaviest rock band the world had yet known. This band was shaped by a working cla...