Sabbatum: Black Sabbath done 14th Century style

Rondellus = One of the pet rocks of 2002-2003 music criticism. Unlistenable, by dint of being boring, background music semi-famous only for glomming onto Black Sabbath. Rondellus' music could have been taken from anything, no one who likes hard rock, or Sabbath in particular, would listen to even part of it more than once.

My copy came in th dreaded school termpaper folder much maligned on the p.r. for rock bands thread. That didn't stop anyone from covering it. An ideal record for journalists who never deigned to buy a record by Black Sabbath ca. 1970-78 to write about the novelty of Black Sabbath tunes allegedly rejiggered for skins and things that make scraping noises from dry wood, like a campfire ignition set.

George, your hatred of fun is inspiring.

More fun and inspiration, some blurble and review:

What's amazing is how well this album works. You likely won't be tempted to bang your head at any point of the recording, but you may well be amazed at the fluid alchemy from heavy metal to heady medieval. And any fears that this album will be dry listening should vanish early in the first track;

He studied music history...

I was fortunate enough to study music history a year and a half ago and at least have some concept of medieval chant music where I can right away identify with this disquieting female voice that surfaces seconds into the first song "War Pigs." My prejudice or impatience might've otherwise got the upper hand in other circumstances and the idea that we're running back through time where instruments as we know them are still two centuries removed from existence and the "Latinization" of what, for many, equals the Holy Grail of music would've been incomprehensible. Medieval Chant was the forbearer of what would follow up the ladder of our enriched Baroque and Classical Periods, either of which are usually synonymous with much of what we hear in traditional Heavy Metal music

Was 'After Forever' just head-banging and raw noise?

Without the hard driving characteristics of heavy metal, the melodies stand alone; the songs heard in Latin prove to musical purists and anti-heavy metal snarks that there is more to Sabbath music than just headbanging and raw noise.

The product of intense labor, fresher than the older, like the thing you left in the commode twenty minutes ago...

Each track is obviously the product of many hours of intense labor still the result flows as easy and as naturally as the originals and are obviously fresher than their thirty-year-old inspirations. Few records recorded in tribute can be considered true artistic triumphs; in fact this is for my ears the first. I can only hope that someone on the Grammy nomination committee finds a copy of the disc so that it might be given the recognition that it so eminently deserves

. The music is very peaceful, lilting, and good to mellow out to, that's something I never thought I'd say about Black Sabbath music! The music world is just full of surprises these days!

Transcends the future of heavy metal tribute:

This amazing band (four Estonians and a Swede or two) have done what can only be considered an absolute triumph in the history of music: the successful transmogrification of what normally would be at home with an electric guitar and such to harp, lute, bagpipe, positive organ and psaltery... The triumph is in the greatness of this album. First of all, this isn't your grandfather's Black Sabbath tribute. It's not contemporary, it's not expected, it defies and transcends what previous (and perhaps future) tributes to the Heavy Metal band are.

From someone at a small newspaper who hates Black Sabbath:

The album can't claim even an Ozzy-inspired tattoo of authenticity -- and I don't think its members are dumb enough to feign being bona fide -- but it's crafted well enough so it doesn't matter. Some of us might even prefer it to Black Sabbath itself.

From a guy who is responsible for weekly stupid joke novelty stories
in the features section of the Los Angeles Times:

Ever wondered what the heavy metal band Black Sabbath would’ve sounded like if its members had lived in the Middle Ages? Neither have we. But some musicians from the Baltic nation of Estonia have been pondering the question. And now they’ve recorded a CD.

Introducing ‘‘Sabbatum,’’ a Black Sabbath tribute album sung in Latin and performed with lutes, fiddles, bagpipes, harps and other Medieval instruments. The cover shows Ozzy Osbourne biting off the head of a gargoyle. OK, maybe we lied about Ozzy. But the rest is true.

Rondellus, a ‘‘renowned Estonian medieval music band’’ has transformed ‘‘War Pigs,’’ ‘‘Symptom of the Universe’’ and 10 more Sabbath tunes into 14th century ballads with such titles as ‘‘Verres Militares’’ and ‘‘Symptoma Mundi.’’ It’s the way metal was meant to be played.

Use of "surprise" when the "surprise" is like getting a fruitcake in the mail...

A surprise from every aspect. A band from Estonia playing Black Sabbath covers in Latin and with Medieval instruments. The music can be described as new age, with the chants and the acoustic instruments and it rocks. It simply rocks.

Hmmm, I wonder what the Sabbs themselves think of it?

If I was Geezer I would have been bemused. They went to the trouble of translating "Would you like to see the Pope on the end of a rope?" into Latin. It's awkward, losing the nice cadence Ozzy brought to it.