There have been numerous excellent tribute compilations to the mighty Black Sabbath over the years. The two, super-star-studded Nativity in Black albums. Earache's Masters of Misery comp featuring Sleep, Godflesh, Cathedral and more. In These Black Days, Hydra Head's six-volume Sabbath tribute series with gnarly covers from Neurosis, Converge, Botch and others. Now, forward-thinking record label Sacred Bones has jumped into the fray with What Is This That Stands Before Me?, a nine-track collection assembling wide-ranging takes on the Drab Four's doom classics by everyone from Marissa Nadler and Zola Jesus to Thou, Uniform and the Soft Moon, who reverently deconstruct and reinvent. Listen below.
The official description of the comp reads: "To celebrate the 50th anniversary of both the self-titled Black Sabbath album and Paranoid, Sacred Bones is proud to present What Is This That Stands Before Me?, a compilation of Sabbath covers recorded by artists from across our roster. Black Sabbath stands at the crossroads of every Sacred Bones employee and artist's musical taste, and it was a great pleasure for us to work together to reimagine some of their most beloved songs. Here you'll find Sabbath through the filter of the post-Soviet darkwave of Molchat Doma, the experimental folk of Hilary Woods, the laid-back psych of Moon Duo, and a half dozen more genres besides. Satan's coming 'round the bend."
