Vinyl Record

Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality

Buy Black Sabbath’s Master of Reality vinyl LP reissue from Kilmorna in Listowel—monumental riffs, deep grooves and essential early heavy metal.

LP · Metal · 1971

Available from Kilmorna Collection in Listowel.

Buyer notes: 1971 LP, currently available from the Kilmorna Collection Metal shelf. Pay for pickup in Listowel, ship within Ireland from EUR 5.95 per record or outside Ireland from EUR 12.00 per record.

On Master of Reality, Black Sabbath reduced heavy music to its most potent elements: colossal riffs, deep rhythmic pull and a sense of space that makes every entrance count. “Sweet Leaf” opens with a cough before locking into an enduring groove, while “After Forever” balances blunt momentum with sharp changes of pace. The brief instrumental “Embryo” leads into “Children of the Grave,” where Bill Ward’s driving drums and Tony Iommi’s guitar create one of the album’s most urgent performances. The second side broadens the mood without weakening its impact. The delicate acoustic “Orchid” clears the air before “Lord of This World” returns to dense, low-slung heaviness. “Solitude” is hushed and melancholy, giving Ozzy Osbourne an unusually intimate setting, while “Into the Void” closes with a sequence of immense, tightly controlled riffs. Concise, varied and remarkably physical, the record became a cornerstone for doom and an enduring reference point for generations of heavy bands.

Master of Reality made heaviness feel both more concentrated and more expansive. Its low, crushing riffs helped establish the vocabulary of doom metal and strongly anticipated stoner metal, yet acoustic interludes and the fragile “Solitude” give the album unusual range. It is a compact blueprint whose influence remains audible across heavy music.

This 2015 European BMG edition presents Master of Reality as a single-LP album reissue under catalogue number BMGRM055LP. Its eight-track sequence preserves the contrast that defines the record, placing the short instrumentals “Embryo” and “Orchid” between the major vocal pieces rather than treating them as detachable extras.

Low-slung, dense and commanding: monolithic guitar, thick bass, propulsive drums and stark vocals, offset by brief acoustic passages and the subdued melancholy of “Solitude.”

What tracks appear on this vinyl edition of Master of Reality? The album contains eight tracks: “Sweet Leaf,” “After Forever,” “Embryo,” “Children of the Grave,” “Orchid,” “Lord of This World,” “Solitude” and “Into the Void.” Is this Master of Reality vinyl an original pressing? No. It is a 2015 European single-LP reissue released by BMG with catalogue number BMGRM055LP. Why is Master of Reality associated with doom metal? Its slow, low-slung riffs, dense guitar sound and deliberate use of space established key traits later central to doom, while its groove also became highly influential on stoner metal.