The 2 Black Sabbath songs James Hetfield said are favorites

Formed in Birmingham back in 1968, Black Sabbath created Heavy Metal music with the release of their groundbreaking self-titled debut album and inspired countless bands in the following decades, including Metallica. The American Thrash Metal certainly wouldn’t have been the same without Sabbath’s influence and the band’s guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield always praised the band when he had the chance.

Over the decades he had the chance to pay tribute to them multiple times and also revealed which are some of his favorite songs from their discography.

The 2 Black Sabbath songs James Hetfield said are favorites

“Into The Void”

Released in 1971 on Black Sabbath’s third album “Master of Reality”, the song “Into The Void” is one of James Hetfield’s favorite songs of the Heavy Metal band. He revealed that in an interview with Classic Rock where he also said that Tony Iommi is his favorite guitarist when it comes to guitar riffs and rhythm.

“As far as being a riff and rhythm guy, my favorite guitarist is Tony Iommi, no doubt about that. He seemed like one of those quiet geniuses. At one time he was the frontman of the band and Ozzy was to one side. The riff was more important than the vocals. It was all in minor, it has that feel. He can go from the heaviest doom riff into a happy mode and it would still sound heavy. We can’t do happy, but Tony can pull it off. My favorite track is ‘Into The Void’,” James Hetfield said.

In an interview with Guitar Center back in 2014 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage), Hetfield had already explained why Iommi influenced him so much.

“Obviously Tony Iommi is a big influence on most metal guitar players. And obviously the riffs, the single note riffs and they sounded fat. When you analyze the sound it’s not really fat sounding. It’s got an edge to it that cuts,” James Hetfield said.

Curiously, “Into The Void” was also one of Eddie Van Halen‘s favorite ones.

“Black Sabbath”

Like everyone in the 70s, James Hetfield was also scared when he first heard the title track of Sabbath’s debut album. The bells, the rain, the demonic riff and the satanic lyrics really gave him the chills but he like it. That’s what he recalled during his speech when he had the chance, alongside his bandmate Lars Ulrich, to induct Black Sabbath into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back in 2006.

During that ceremony James and Lars were joined by their bandmates Kirk Hammett and Rob Trujillo to perform a couple of Sabbath tracks on stage. They played “Hole In The Sky”, “Iron Man”,

But it was in an interview with Rolling Stone that he listed that song as one of his favorites of all time. “This song scared the shit out of me. It’s beyond heavy.”

Sabbath is actually his favorite band of all time. He said that in an interview with San Jose Sharks back in 2015 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).

“(All time favorite) band is hard because there is so many. Led Zeppelin is in there, Motörhead, boy… they all offer (something) a little bit different. But if I was stuck for one: Black Sabbath,” James Hetfield said.

Metallica not only performed Sabbath songs live, but they also recorded their own version of the tracks. They covered “Sabbra Cadabra” and “National Acrobat” that were featured on their 1998 covers album “Garage Inc.”

In 2009 the Thrash Metal group played “Iron Man” and “Paranoid” with Ozzy Osbourne. It happened at Madison Square Garden as part of the 25th-anniversary celebration of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.