Friday, February 15: Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi, “In for the Kill”
Time has been far kinder to Seventh Star than even its early admirers would’ve expected: for one, people have been willing to accept that it was envisioned as a Tony Iommi solo album and listen to it on those terms as opposed to just dismissing it as an out of character Black Sabbath album (or worse, as a “Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi” album). And in that context, one could appreciate Iommi’s attempts at exploring new textures and tones in his still-remarkable riffing and playing, as well as Glenn Hughes’ powerful singing. But what sometimes gets lost in Seventh Star’s reappraisal is the fact that many of its tracks found Iommi trying to keep up with mid ‘80s metal, and specifically its American variant (or, if we’re being less charitable, with Ozzy and his concurrently released Ultimate Sin). For this was where tracks like “In for the Kill” lived, with Eric Singer’s power metal drumming high in the mix while Iommi came as close as he ever would to straight-up shredding. Hughes’ attempts to bring some soul to the track’s tale of marauding were admirable if a little awkward, but his investment matched that of Iommi and his band of journeymen- Singer always brought his A-game, and while Jeff Glixman’s production tied Seventh Star to 1986, it still held up better than Ron Nevison’s grating recording on The Ultimate Sin. “In for the Kill” was a prototypical mid ‘80s metal track, yes, but there was no mistaking the power of both the guitarist and singer, and as a result, the tune felt weightier than not only its competition, but also pretty much everything else Iommi would release under the actual Sabbath banner in the coming years.
