V/A – Earache Records – Masters Of Misery (1992)

November 3, 2024

I got this CD for pennies (it was one of the reissues with the white jewel case and it had the tracklist that included Anal Cunt – for some reason there appears to be multiple versions of this compilation with different tracks, even different covers by different bands! I guess a band like Cathedral has an emergency stash of various Sabbath covers to break out in times of need hahaha).

Now, a band like Sleep, or the aformentioned Cathedral, seem well at home here. Even Brutal Truth, for all their grinding fury, seem at home covering Sabbath (just give them a few joints first). However, hearing fucking Anal Cunt doing “Killing Yourself To Live” is certainly interesting. Godflesh’s droning, brainless version of “Zero The Hero” really has to be heard to be believed. Fudge Tunnel’s “Changes” is almost as bad as the version with Kelly Osbourne on it. Pitch Shifter’s “N.I.B.” is a war crime. 

The truest oddity here for me is the Scorn version of “The Wizard”. Now, if you’ve heard Scorn’s Deliverance EP (LP lol) then you have heard this cover before. Now, only, on Scorn’s Deliverance record, this exact same tune appears as either “Deliverance” or “Deliverance Through Dub”. What we get here, as “The Wizard” is basically exactly the same as these tracks, but with the vocals switching out to include the words from Sabbath’s “The Wizard”. Truly, fucking bizarre on all accounts.