The always omnipresent “Iron Man,” Black Sabbath guitarist and co-founder Tony Iommi, can now add another accolade to his illustrious career: an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Coventry University in Coventry, England “in recognition of his contribution to the world of popular music.”

You can view the video here below of Iommi receiving the honorary doctorate last week.

After basically re-sculpting and redefining the entire hard rock genre, and then using what he did in Sabbath as a precursor to the Heavy Metal boom that followed and continues to be passionately revered by scores of fans globally, Tony Iommi created riffs for a multitude of songs that are instantly recognizable to the sound, attitude, and style of the band, by the staunchest fan or the lightest Sabbath treader.

Every Halloween, when it comes to entertainment, most people immediately think of horror films…but what about music? Over the years many artists have attempted to bring the “shock” back into rock.

So, if you are hosting a Halloween party this year, here are some performers that will help you turn it into a heavy metal Halloween.

Black Sabbath is coming to Universal Studios Hollywood!

This fall, the theme park’s famed Halloween Horror Nights will feature an all-original horror-themed 3D maze called Black Sabbath: 13 3D, a new attraction based on the legendary band’s lyrics that will also include scenes inspired by their latest album, 13.

While going through the attraction, guests will reportedly face Lucifer and his bride, blood-soaked dead bodies, and bubbling pools of “radioactive water,” all while songs inspired by classic Black Sabbath tunes “Luke’s Wall,” “Iron Man,” “Paranoid,” “War Pigs,” “Electric Funeral,” and the haunting “Black Sabbath” boom at high volumes through the confines of the maze.

The maze’s design contains “horrifying graveyards, disturbing madhouses, and bone-chilling battlefields,” along with imagery of the godfathers of heavy metal themselves – Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler, the co-founders of Black Sabbath, currently on tour promoting 13, their first studio album together in 35 years.

Check out the announcement video here below, which includes a preview of the new attraction.

Right now, Live Evil by Black Sabbath is on sale in MP3 format for only $5.99. The double CD is currently $14.17 and is an AutoRip, which means it comes with a FREE MP3 download of the album. (You’ll also get a $1 Amazon MP3 Credit when you buy the CD.)

Released in 1983, Live Evil is a live double album featuring the vocals of Ronnie James Dio, who had replaced original vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. The 15-track album features Dio-Sabbath tunes like “Heaven and Hell,” “Neon Knights,” “Mob Rules, and “Children of the Sea,” as well as the Ozzy songs “Iron Man,” “Paranoid,” and “War Pigs.”

Six dollars. 15 Black Sabbath songs. Ronnie James Dio. That’s all you need to know. Grab this now.

Browse all 100 albums on sale this month for only $5 each, as well as several albums on sale for $0-$5 each and select live albums on sale for $5.99 each.

Classic Albums: Black Sabbath – Paranoid
Netflix | Amazon | Google Play | YouTube
DVD | Blu-ray
Directed by Matthew Longfellow
Starring Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward, Henry Rollins, Jim Simpson, Tony Allom, Deena Weinstein
Eagle Rock Entertainment
Originally Released: June 30, 2010

With drummer Bill Ward‘s birthday today, May 5, and with all the news surrounding the upcoming Black Sabbath album, 13, (despite Ward not being involved), I thought it would be timely to delve back into the past for this week’s streaming review. This week, we take a look at the band’s classic album called Paranoid, a ground-breaking release that established them as an international phenomenal, and put Black Sabbath’s name down on the history books as the first heavy metal band.

The significance of Paranoid, in union with the other first four releases by Black Sabbath, is unparalleled. Combining musical influences of rock and roll, blues, jazz, swing, and classical; and swarming it among darker occultist lyrical topics, the band laid down a basis that would not only establish their own careers, but also form the basis for all metal bands that would follow as well as all of the subgenres to break off from metal. Black Sabbath’s contributions to the early development of metal are incomparable to all who would follow.