Surviving the void
Geezer Butler’s memoir chronicles his time in Black Sabbath
It is mid-February 1970. A storm crescendos slowly. Rain pours; a church bell rings in the distance; thunder rolls in before an ominous collision of bass, drums and guitars throttles into the mix. And it begins.
The now-seminal eponymous debut release from Black Sabbath not only became a part of rock’s history with a storm, but the Birmingham, England-formed quartet also, and unknowingly, spearheaded an influential career and a genre that now stretches across continents and through generations: heavy metal.
Though Black Sabbath officially retired in 2017, fans have personally received the band’s story via books from two of the band’s celebrated members, vocalist Ozzy Osbourne and guitarist Tony Iommi. Yet, it is the timid bassist and primary lyricist, Terrance “Geezer” Butler, whose input fans have been waiting for, as he is the man who penned the words they’ve been singing along with for decades.
With his recently released biography, “Into The Void: From Birth to Black Sabbath — And Beyond,” Mr. Butler answers many questions, providing readers glimpses of his personal story, as well as his take on the band’s trajectory from the working class streets of Birmingham to global fame.
Much of the book is a paint-bynumbers rock bio as it relates embarrassing and at times flat-out hilarious recollections about what Mr. Butler and his band members got up to during their heyday.
Mr. Butler dishes out a substantial number of anecdotes and, at times, it can be hard to gauge where they’re going. But his writing is strong enough to keep you locked in as he details episodes from his life and the band’s history as he remembers them — and there are passages where he confesses to not remembering the details precisely.
Recalling his early days, Mr. Butler credits his upbringing with his humility. He shares how much he values what he gained from his
Irish immigrant parents in a working-class post-warBirmingham where, like so many, his early playgrounds consisted of bombed out buildings and the remnants of military artillery.
Since Mr. Butler was the band’s primary lyricist, he offers clarification on the meaning of some celebrated Black Sabbath songs, many of which deal with his mental health. This may come as a surprise to many readers, even longtime fans, because he hasn’t addressed them at length before now.
This revelation is what truly brings home the lyrics of some of those early Sabbath songs, and why darkness feels so prevalent in their music: It is what Mr. Butler was living through.
He writes that he is in a better place now because of his family, especially his longtime wife, who helped him through his toughest and darkest moments.
Saliently, “Into The Void” allows us to gain his perspective on what happened to Black Sabbath during crucial points of their career, especially toward the end of vocalist Ozzy Osbourne’s run with the band, and the addition of the powerful Ronnie James Dio for a few albums.
Though Mr. Butler would leave Black Sabbath for a short period, the four original members would ultimately reunite and tour as part of the hugely successful Ozzfest tours for several years.
Again, Mr. Butler allows readers to peek behind the curtain over those crucial years that led to the band recording one final album, 2013’s “13,” and engaging in one final world tour that allowed past, present and future generations to send the working-class pioneers from Birmingham off with the celebration they had earned.
With Black Sabbath’s sound now enshrined in head-banging history, Geezer Butler’s “Into The Void” adds yet another thundering echo to their legacy.
Edward Banchs is a freelance writer, author and independent scholar based in Pittsburgh. His latest book is “Scream for Me, Africa!: Heavy Metal Identities in Post-Colonial Africa.”