Why is Tony Iommi covering his face on ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’?
Black Sabbath had always been a band that let their music do the talking first. As much as Ozzy Osbourne struck quite the intimidating figure when he was singing tracks like ‘War Pigs’ live, the allure of the heavy metal founders was always centred around the dark themes in their lyrics or the brutal guitar licks coming out of Tony Iommi. Although the guitarist could justifiably be considered the true leader of the group, he did favour the background during the press photos for Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.
Before they had even finished work on the album, though, Iommi was already struggling to find his muse again. He had steered the band through the most foundational pieces of metal, and after years of albums and tours, their descent upon a medieval castle to write resulted in absolutely nothing.
Once he found his bearings in the place, ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ became the lynchpin of the entire album, resulting in the rest of the record being filled out by legendary tunes like ‘Killing Yourself to Live’ and ‘Spiral Architect’. While they were still taking chances with collaborators like Rick Wakeman on ‘Sabbra Cadabra’, there was no question that Iommi was pushing forward, up until it came to shoot the gatefold sleeve.
Unlike the other rock and roll band shots that made everyone look menacing, Iommi did everything in his power to hide his face when working on the band’s press photos. Although the intimidating figures suddenly looked camera shy, the whole reason behind Iommi covering up his face was entirely practical.
So, why does Tony Iommi have his face covered?
Despite being one of the heaviest offerings they had ever made, the album did come at the expense of Iommi’s fantastic moustache. Although all work was completed for the album, Iommi had accidentally trimmed his iconic facial hair too much and decided it would be better for him to shave everything off and try to cover it up during the photoshoot.
While Sabbath was never known as the most fashionable band in the world, Iommi said he never wanted to make that mistake again, saying, “I cut too much off one side. I tried to balance it, and in the end, I thought, ‘F*ck it!’ and I shaved it off. We both felt strange, and I didn’t do that again.”
Even though Sabbath has always been about the music, there’s probably a good reason why Iommi kept the moustache going forward. Although there’s nothing wrong with him being clean-shaven, he ends up looking like a little kid trying to put together his first riffs rather than the metal god that we know him as today.
It shouldn’t have any impact on the music, but Iommi’s trademark facial hair is almost as important to his look as Slash’s top hat is for him. There’s nothing wrong with either guitarist going on without it, but without them, they feel incredibly naked compared to what the rest of the world knows them for.
