Band:	Black Sabbath
Album:	Headless Cross
Style:	Hard rock, Heavy metal
Release date:	April 24, 1989
A review by:	Pierre Tombale

01. The Gates Of Hell
02. Headless Cross
03. Devil And Daughter
04. When Death Calls
05. Kill In The Spirit World
06. Call Of The Wild
07. Black Moon
08. Nightwing

The rather slow (or better mid-tempo), but same time powerful and dark to doom sounding 'Headless Cross' album was recorded with singer Tony Martin. In fact with Ozzy the whole thing is not imaginable, for with his Martin's rather strong voice the sound has a deep impact, the spheric keyboards the underline the songs do the rest. You feel like directed from a cemetery right into hell in a late 80's manner.

The intro 'The Gates Of Hell' makes clear your soul is going to sigh low before going under ground. 'Headless Cross' the title track generates the whole feel of the album, held in a rather slow doom metal way, but with a gothic kind of touch that leads into a sound of it's own. In a whole the guitars are played with my favourite effects of a regular overdrive plus chorus, so I can't make out any really weak song, but outstanding is number three 'Devil And Daughter' the real highlight of this album, a bit faster than the other songs, stronger, not to forget because of the great solo.'When Death Calls' begins like a ballad, really slow sad and somehow relaxing, speeding up in a later part, quite powerful. 'Kill In The Spirit World' starts like a kind of 80's pop/rock chart song, turning the darker side out through thy lyrics and later musically in the refrain. Just another dark pop/rock song is 'Call Of The Wild', but good enough to suit this album well. 'Black Moon' is a kind of doom blues with strong guitars and a clockwork of drums kicking in your ear. The from slow to fast variying 'Nightwing' marks the end of the record and you can say it's just another gem, fading out with a ground shaking double bass attack, but in the meantime you can enjoy acoustic and e-solo's, great chords and vocals.

In general I'm not a fan of rather slow or mid-tempo held albums, because they tend to get boring, but 'Headless Cross' with it's strong singer, mighty guitars, and atmosperic keyboarding as well as a great accentuated drumming make this album an good 8. Not necessary to say that I don't like each song as much as 'Devil And Daughter' but they all make a solid performance, some are highlights, but all contain a highlight in themselves.