The work of Black Sabbath, in particular their first six albums, is inarguably the cornerstone of heavy metal. The satanic rumble of Tony Iommi’s guitar and Geezer Butler’s bass is the sonic blueprint for too many bands to name, and Ozzy Osbourne remains metal’s most iconic singer. So when word got out that the three of them were to reunite under the Sabbath banner, anticipation was understandably high. The product of this reunion, 13, has the unenviable task of living up to their legacy, or at least approximating it. Luckily, it's here where 13 succeeds.

The mission for this record was to apparently throw out much of their preview work and return to the jazz-blues roots of the first record. However, there are callbacks to many phases of their career, from “Zeitgeist's” aping of Paranoid's “Planet Caravan”to lifting the main riff from the Ian Gillan-fronted classic “Zero The Hero” for the standout “Live Forever.” The callbacks to their classic debut are also apparent on songs like “Loner,” which presents the listener with a variation on the “N.I.B” riff, and the blues harmonica echoes throughout “Damaged Soul” much as it did on “The Wizard” over forty years ago.

None of the new songs live up to those references (nor could they, realistically), but they are still quite good, in particular the opening one-two punch of “End Of The Beginning” and “God Is Dead?,” which, despite the latter’s rather cheesy nu-metal opening riff, recall the multi-part epics that opened some of Sabbath’s most beloved albums. “Zeitgeist” performs the role of the palette cleanser quite admirably, providing a welcome break from the album’s almost suffocating heaviness with its bongos and phased-out Ozzy vocals continuing the tradition of spacey Sabbath ballads (while avoiding the melodramatic elements of “Changes” or any solo Ozzy ballad for that matter). “Live Forever” and “Damaged Soul” provide a late album wakeup call and are the two overall heaviest tracks on 13. In particular, “Live Forever,” which possesses a hard-charging rhythm (reminiscent of “Hole In The Sky”) and headbanging riff that accompanies Ozzy’s pained refrain “I don’t wanna live forever, but I don’t wanna die,” is especially notable. However, 13 closes with its weakest track, “Dear Father,” dragging on for seven minutes without building any momentum.

Production-wise, 13 is sadly a bit flat-sounding, which seems to be par for the course for modern Rick Rubin records (Rubin also had a big hand in ruining Metallica’s comeback bid Death Magnetic). Still, that takes nothing away from the individual performers, specifically Iommi and Butler. Butler’s bass still manages to conjure up an unearthly growl, grooving more than any other metal bassist alive. Tony Iommi remains metal riffmaster supreme, his playing remaining as vibrant and remarkable as it was years ago. While he may never again discover the amazing tone he got on Master Of Reality and Volume 4, here he proves he can still find imaginative variations in areas well-tread for years. Ozzy remains Ozzy. If he doesn't quite embrace the darkness he did years ago, he can still bring it on a purely superficial level, his voice aging remarkably well in spite of whatever other ravages have overtaken him after years of substance abuse.

The main problem here, however, lies in drummer Brad Wilk. It’s not that he’s a bad player, in fact he’s solid and serviceable throughout, but he lacks the sloppy swing and dynamic that woefully underrated Bill Ward brought to the group. Ward's drumming was a key ingredient noticeable in its absence, as Wilk remains sadly one-note throughout in the meantime. His playing is heavy but leaden, never quite providing the spark these songs need, outside of his Ward imitation on “Live Forever.”

13 ends with the sounds of rain and chiming church bells, purposely bringing the record full circle to the opening of their debut. While the album never reaches the heights of that debut or its follow ups, it manages to slide seamlessly into second-tier Sabbath, pacing itself with the Dio-fronted albums, and outclassing Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die!, the final unfortunate Ozzy-era albums. At the very least, it also washes out the bad aftertaste of the post-Ozzy and Dio years. In the lead up to 13, Ozzy discussed wanting to end Sabbath the right way, and as far as that goes, Black Sabbath have accomplished that goal with this record.

Grade: B