“I would have liked to have not chopped the ends of my fingers off. It became a burden”: The Devil, the blues and a factory accident – the story of the Black Sabbath song that kicked off heavy metal

Black Sabbath in 1970.

Rain patters down as the wind whistles. Church bells ring, thunder cracks. Then, you’re enveloped in the ominous sound of the Devil’s tritone as a distorted voice wails, “What is this… that stands before me?”

Within 30 seconds, Black Sabbath’s self-titled song seals itself as the sound of pure evil in musical form. It telegraphed that the landscape of rock ’n’ roll was changing when released in 1970 – removed from feelgood hippie blues to the polar opposite, the chilling presence of the supernatural. And now it’s hailed not just as the first song of its creators’ legendary, 50-year-long career, but the touchstone of the entire heavy metal genre.