‘Iron Void’: the rejected Black Sabbath band name etched into the streets of Birmingham
When listening to a band, you can often hear something that makes up a huge part of their sound. This might be other musicians who influence them. For instance, in early Bob Dylan recordings, you can certainly hear elements of Woody Guthrie. However, there are some bands that are less a product of what they like and more a product of where they’re from. Black Sabbath are the latter.
You can see parts of Black Sabbath everywhere in their home of Birmingham and hear the city in their sound, too. Tony Iommi lost the tip of his fingers working in a steel factory, leading to the toned-down sound that Sabbath had. A lot of the city’s population was working in these kinds of factories at the time, meaning that it is fitting they contributed so much to the sound the band became famous for, even if it was the result of a horrible accident.
Not many people were playing bass in the city at the time, either. As such, when Geezer Butler took up the mantle of bassist for the band, he didn’t know how to write pretty bass runs like a lot of other musicians in America were doing at the time. Instead, he played the riffs that Iommi played on guitar, which led to the deep sound Sabbath became famous for.
On top of that, life in the city was miserable during that time, which is why so many of the band’s early songs are about mental health and drugs. There was no one who could vocalise this pain better than Ozzy Osbourne; with his twisted lyricism and vocal power, he was the addition that the band needed.
The band’s impact can still be felt in the city, too. For instance, their recent appearance in Aston Villa’s ad showed how much the city they’re from still thinks of them. Also, Osbourne has revealed he would only do farewell shows at Villa Park because he wants to finish things where they started. It all shows that despite decades of success, Black Sabbath still feels that connection with their hometown.
Parts of the band can still be seen in the streets of Birmingham. When Osbourne returned to visit his childhood home, he bent down and pointed to a brick near the floor. “You see that?” He said, “I wrote that on the wall.” He had etched into the wall a band name that he was thinking of using before they decided on Black Sabbath. “Iron Void,” said Osbourne, reading the name aloud.
“I was just thinking of band names, I thought Iron Void, that’s a good name for a band,” he explained to the man walking around with him. In the end, it didn’t end up being the band’s name, as they settled on Black Sabbath after being inspired by a film of the same name. The name became such a pivotal part of their early years that they even called a single and their debut album after it. It remains one of the most iconic band names in the world and can still be heard ringing out around the streets of Birmingham to this day.
